Season-By-Season Review |  Roster History |  Distinguished Alumni

The present-day Winnipeg Goldeyes are members of the eight-team Northern League, an independent circuit that was resurrected in 1993 by Baseball America founder and one-time Durham Bulls owner Miles Wolff.

Six teams (Duluth-Superior (MN), Rochester (MN), Sioux City (IA), Sioux Falls (SD), Thunder Bay (ON) and St. Paul (MN)) took the field for the league's inaugural season. Winnipeg replaced Rochester for the 1994 season, Fargo (ND) and Madison (WI) were added in 1996 and then the Northern League merged with the eight-team independent Northeast League to start the 1999 campaign to form a 16-team league.

Following the 2002 season, league owners voted to split up what had become an 18-team circuit, as the eight clubs in the Eastern Conference returned to what had been the Northeast League while the 10 Central Conference clubs would maintain the Northern League name.

Winnipeg kept its place in the North Division and was joined by St. Paul, Gary (IN) and Joliet and Schaumburg, two Illinois cities just outside of Chicago. In the South, Fargo-Moorhead was grouped with Sioux Falls, Sioux City, Lincoln (NE) and the Kansas City (KS) T-Bones, which relocated to Kansas from Duluth-Superior.

The 10 teams welcomed two new clubs in 2005 with the arrival of the Calgary Vipers and Edmonton Cracker-Cats as league membership grew to a dozen. But that lasted for all of one summer when, less than two weeks after the season ended, Lincoln, St. Paul and Sioux Falls announced they were leaving. Days later, they were joined by Sioux City in starting up the rival American Association.

After the dust settled, the Northern League was left with eight teams, its lowest number since the 1998 season. Winnipeg returned to the West Division and was joined by Calgary,
Edmonton and Fargo-Moorhead while the defending champs from Gary were joined in the
East by Joliet, Kansas City and Schaumburg.

Calgary and Edmonton departed for the Golden League following the 2007 season, leaving the Northern League with six teams for the first time since 1995. But, just like in 1996, expanding to eight teams was once more in the league's future as a pair of Iliinois-based clubs in Lake County and Rockford were added for the 2010 campaign.

Professional baseball returned to Winnipeg in 1994 when the Northern League welcomed the Goldeyes, filling a void created when the Rochester Aces folded. The city had been home to baseball on-and-off since 1902 and had last hosted it in 1970, when the Whips were the chief affiliate of the Montreal Expos, and were most recently in the Northern League in 1969 as a member of the Kansas City Royals minor league system.

The modern-day Goldeyes were league champs in their inaugural season, drawing more 
than 212,000 fans (avg. 5,314 per game) to Winnipeg Stadium, a facility far more suited to football than baseball. It would be the first of 10 straight post-season appearances for
the Fish, a feat unmatched by any other team in the league.

Following five successful years at Winnipeg Stadium, where they averaged more than 4,000 fans per game, the Goldeyes moved into state-of-the art Canwest Park to start the 1999 season. Located downtown near the confluence of the Red & Assiniboine Rivers, the 6,140 seat facility was a hit, as almost 300,000 fans packed the park to see the Goldeyes reach their fourth Northern League final. For the year, the Goldeyes averaged 6,048 fans per game, representing 98.5 per cent of capacity.

As good as 1999 was, 2000 was even better. In selling out 34 of 42 home dates, the Goldeyes led the league in regular season attendance by drawing 271,513 fans to the ballpark. When added to their pre-season and playoff totals,
that number again approached 300,000 for the year. As well, their per-game-average of 6,465 during the regular season established a new league record and was the top average attendance of all 50 teams in independent baseball.

The 2001 season was a success in every sense of the word for the Goldeyes. Not only did they reach the playoffs for the eighth time in their eight-year history, they broke the league average attendance record they set the previous year and added the league total attendance record to
their collection en route to a berth in the Northern League Championship Series.

 

During the regular season, of which 35 of 45 home dates were sellouts, the Goldeyes welcomed a record 292,095 fans to Canwest Park, an independent baseball-leading average of 6,491 per game. When added to the fans who came to see Winnipeg's three exhibition and seven playoff games, attendance on the year grew even larger. And when the most successful all-star game in league history is factored in, when 5,011 fans turned out for the July 30 skills competition and a ballpark-record crowd of 6,942 came out on July 31 for the game itself, a total of 362,848 people turned out to see Northern League baseball at Canwest Park in 2001.

A year later, while in their fourth season at Canwest Park and ninth overall in the Northern League, the Goldeyes continued to draw fans in record numbers. The 303,786 who turned out to see
Winnipeg qualify for the playoffs in 2002 for the ninth straight year eclipsed the 300,000 mark in regular season attendance for the first time in league history.

While setting that record, which saw the club lead the league in attendance for the third straight year, Winnipeg's average attendance of 6,200 was the 
second-highest among all 58 teams in the six independent leagues and was also higher than 13 of the 30 teams playing AAA baseball.

Along the way, the Goldeyes welcomed the one-millionth fan to a regular season game at their downtown home, doing so on August 8 when Rory Newton came to see the defending Central Conference champs take on the Joliet JackHammers in the first game of a four-game set.

As well, single-game attendance topped 7,000 on no fewer than three occasions, reaching a new high on September 19 when 7,056 watched the Goldeyes host New Jersey in game two of the Northern League Championship Series.

When Canwest Park underwent a facelift following the 2002 season, it was to be bigger and better when the Goldeyes opened their 10th Northern League season the following May against the St. Paul Saints.

Well, with the addition of more than 1,200 seats, six skysuites, six concessions, a mother's lounge, a patio deck, a grass berm and a full- service restaurant, it was definitely bigger. And, as fans discovered over the course of the 2003 season, it was definitely better.

Those fans, whose numbers would exceed 300,000 by season's end once more, had to wait initially to see their team in its new-and-improved home. But the wait was definitely worth it, as the Goldeyes reached the playoffs for an unprecedented tenth time in 10 years, advancing to the Northern League Championship Series for the seventh time.

In becoming the inaugural winner of the Northern League's Organization of the Year award, the Goldeyes welcomed a league-best 300,760 fans to Canwest Park during the regular season, putting them among the leaders in all of minor league baseball. They also averaged a league-record 7,161 per night, becoming the first independent team ever to average more than 
7,000 fans per game.

The fact that their Goldeyes missed the playoffs for the first time in franchise history may cause some fans to want to forget the 2004 season, but so much happened that it was still very much a season to remember.

As an organization, the Goldeyes welcomed 323,241 fans to Canwest Park to break their own league record. As well, their average crowd of 7,027 surpassed 7,000 for the second straight year. The only NL franchise to draw more than 300,000 fans a season, the Goldeyes are also the only independent league club to average more than 7,000 fans per game.

As individals, several players had seasons to remember, from all-star appearances to setting personal and franchise bests. And it wasn't just players who had reason to be proud, for general manager Andrew Collier was honoured as the Northern League Executive of the Year for the second time in three years.

He first won the award in 2002, the same year pitchers George Sherrill and Bobby Madritsch were teammates on the Goldeyes. Just two years later, Sherrill and Madritsch became the fourth and fifth former Goldeyes, respectively, to play in the Majors when the pair were called up to the Seattle Mariners in July.

With hopes of returning to the playoffs after a one-year absence, the Goldeyes were all business in 2005, posting their best-ever exhibition record. But upon hitting the road to open the year, they hit the wall, dropping six of seven games. They looked good at times during the year, but never really looked like they did in the pre-season, posting the worst-ever record in franchise history while missing the playoffs for the second year in a row.

Their fans, though, showed that wins and losses meant very little. Winnipeg welcomed 322,758 fans, or 6,867 per game, to lead the league in attendance for the sixth straight year and mark the fourth consecutive year where attendance eclipsed the 300,000 mark, a feat unmatched by any other Northern League team. That total included a crowd of 8,668 on August 29 against Lincoln, shattering the old ballpark record of 7,930 set just 19 days earlier against Calgary.

Along the way, three pitchers left Winnipeg during the season when their contracts were picked up by Major League clubs, the most ever in mid-season in team history. And speaking of Major League clubs, infielder Brian Myrow, who played here from 1999-2001, became the sixth former Fish and first position player to make the Majors when the Los Angeles Dodgers promoted him in September.

Almost lost among these accomplishments was another Canwest Park milestone. Just three years after welcoming the one-millionth fan to a regular season game at their downtown home, the Goldeyes saluted the two-millionth fan to attend a regular season game at the ballpark on August 25 when they hosted the Fargo-Moorhead-RedHawks.

When the 2006 season began, it marked the dawn of a new era. Not only were there just three players back from the 2005 squad, but there was also a new manager, and there was no mistaking that this team was his team. The third manager in franchise history, Rick Forney made it known that his first priority was to get the Goldeyes back to the post-season following a two-year absence.

It may have taken until the final series of the season, but the Goldeyes clinched a playoff berth and a date with Fargo-Moorhead. Cast as the underdog, Winnipeg pushed the eventual champs to the brink of elimination in the West Division Final, falling in the final at-bat of the deciding game. It was heart-breaking, but the Goldeyes had nothing to hang their heads about, as awards and accomplishments were numerous for individuals as well as the organization itself.

In a year where eight Goldeyes represented the club at the Northern League All-Star Game and another three were named post-season all-stars, five players were picked up by Major League clubs, the most in one year since the 2001 season. Collier, meanwhile, received the nod as the NL Executive of the Year for the third time in five years. And the awards did not stop there.

As an organization, the Goldeyes were saluted once more for what they do. Thanks to the 312,213 fans that came to CanWest Global Park, Winnipeg surpassed the 300,000 mark for the fifth straight year and led the league in attendance for the seventh straight year. Those numbers attracted attention from around the league, as the Goldeyes were named the Organization of the Year, becoming the only two-time winner since the award was first handed out in 2003.

There was a lot of optimism in the Goldeyes clubhouse at CanWest Global Park when training camp opened in 2007 and for good reason. Never in the team’s 13 previous seasons had there been four former Major Leaguers in uniform this early in the year and that boded well for a good start.

Of the four, though, only one would still be around when the regular season came to an end in Edmonton. But who wasn’t there was meaningless compared to who was there as the playoff-bound Goldeyes geared up for a first-round meeting with the Gary SouthShore RailCats, the league’s top team during the regular season.

Like the year before, Winnipeg pushed the eventual champs to the brink of elimination, only to fall in the deciding game. Still, there was a lot to be happy about as the Goldeyes led the league in attendance, drawing more than 300,000 fans or an average of 6,542 a game to place them among the top 20 of more than 200 teams in all of minor league baseball.

There were also some impressive individual performances. Six players wore Goldeyes colours at the Northern League All-Star Game while another three were placed among their peers at season’s end for being the best at what they do. And then there was Collier, who was named the NL Executive of the Year for the second straight year and fourth time in six years.

The 2008 season marked an important milestone in Goldeyes history. Not only was it the 15th season in the Northern League, it was the 10th played downtown. Hard to believe, when it seemed like just yesterday that the team played out of a football stadium and the site of the ballpark was littered with broken glass and shopping carts.

To help celebrate this important season, the Goldeyes played host once more to the Northern League All-Star Game. Spread out over two days in early July, the hosts were well represented, giving more than 12,000 fans that took in the festivities plenty of reason to cheer.

The cheering continued into September as the Goldeyes qualified for the playoffs for the 13th time in 15 seasons, yet it was silenced with another loss to Gary. It was a bad way to end a year that had so much good about it, including the knowledge that Winnipeg not only led the league once more in total and average attendance, but that average attendance of 6,464 was highest among all 58 teams in independent baseball for the ninth-straight year.

As well, in addition to the franchise-record 11 players that suited up at the all-star game, three found themselves joining their league peers at season’s end. And then there was the fact the Goldeyes were once again named Organization of the Year, becoming the league’s first-ever three-time winner.

A different atmosphere permeated the Goldeyes clubhouse when the 2009 season began. With only six players back from 2008, and only one was here in 2007, there were a whole lot of new names on the lockers. The occupants of most of those lockers were not only new to Winnipeg, but also to independent baseball, yet it didn’t take them long to play like they had been here for years.

Unlike many of their predecessors that were perennial slow starters, these Goldeyes burst from the gate like a champion thoroughbred, surpassing the powerhouse 1997 squad for the best start in franchise history. Boasting a solid defence, a pitching staff full of quality starters and relievers plus an offence that pounded the ball on a nightly basis, Winnipeg was the class of the Northern League.

That breakneck pace slowed somewhat in the second half, but not enough to keep Winnipeg from yet another spot in the playoffs. Facing their arch-rivals, the Goldeyes and RedHawks staged another epic battle, one that saw Fargo-Moorhead emerge victorious in the fifth-and-deciding game. It was disappointing, certainly, but really the only disappointing thing about the season.

Several players joined Collier in earning individual honours while the franchise itself was similarly honoured for the fourth time. It was easy to see why, as the Goldeyes led the league in total and average attendance for the tenth-straight year, As well, that average attendance of 6,180 landed Winnipeg in 26th of the 267 teams in 31 leagues that filed regular season attendances.