Pro baseball coming to Whitefish next year

An upstart professional baseball league has reached a tentative agreement to bring a franchise to Whitefish next spring. The Glacier Grizzlies and will play at Memorial Park. Mike Greene, founder and commissioner of the newly formed Mount Rainier Professional Baseball League, traveled to Whitefish last week and met with officials from the Glacier Twins American Legion Baseball organization. 

Both parties came to an agreement to establish a franchise in Whitefish, with the new pro team sharing the field at Memorial Park.

The new league includes Washington teams from Moses Lake, Ellensburg, Skagit Valley and Grays Harbor and Oregon City, Ore.

“We wanted to be in cities that were happy to have professional baseball, and the support has been incredible,” Greene said in a press statement. “We will do our best to bring a quality entertainment value to the people of Whitefish, Columbia Falls and Kalispell.”

The team will be owned by the league for its first season. Glacier Twins board member Lindsay Fansler said that’s a big advantage for getting a franchise in Whitefish.

“They are responsible for all the startup costs,” Fansler said.