Royals’ Crow Latest Talking Point for American Association

     The American Association already has plenty of talking points for the inauguration of its sixth season next week, not the least of which is its five new franchises and its expansion to 14 teams, more than in any other Independent Baseball league.       Its newest headline-drawing major league pitcher could be another point of [...]

Some Thoughts Far Away as Indy Season Launches

     While the Atlantic League inaugurates the Independent Baseball season in its normal Eastern-based cities Friday night, Founder Frank Boulton and his associates must surely have growing thoughts—and perhaps a little anxiety—over what is to come 12 months from now.        This 14-year-old league, which always has lofty goals with new stadiums and most of [...]

Broadcaster Gets to Majors; ‘Electric’ Hurler Hopeful

     Almost without exception, the goal of those who get into Independent Baseball is to get out.  The faster, the better.       This isn’t a plague-on-the-house type of thing.  It is that the major leagues are the goal.        Today’s lesson, class, is about the guy who achieved his dream and the one still determined [...]

MARK PRIOR COULD JOIN JAKUBAUSKAS, RICHMOND WITH MAJOR LEAGUE TIME

     It is good to see that two of Independent Baseball’s brightest “finds” of recent seasons have not gotten lost in the shuffle because injuries interrupted their time in the major leagues.       Chris Jakubauskas has joined the parent Baltimore Orioles and fellow right-handed pitcher Scott Richmond got a brief return call to the Toronto [...]

Another Indy Milestone Achieved With 150th Major Leaguer

     Independent Baseball reached another impressive milestone shortly after the major league season opened.             Appearances by rookies Tom Wilhelmsen and Aaron Crow plus a re-appearance by Eric Almonte, who is at the game’s highest level for the first time in eight years, jumped the non-affiliated branch of baseball past the 150 mark in getting [...]

Wilhelmsen, Almonte Step Up, Give Indy Game 14 on Opening Day Rosters

     Erick Almonte’s unexpected jump onto the Milwaukee Brewers’ bench grabbed much of the Independent Baseball attention during spring training, but now that the reality of Opening Day is here the 32-year-old, who has not been in the major leagues since 2003, has to share the spotlight with a quartet of pitchers who also have [...]

Coste Adds Phils TV Job While Elbow Heals

     One of Independent Baseball’s favorite sons, so designated because of the dogged determination in which he did not debut in the major leagues until his was 33, has a new job in broadcasting, but at the same time is continuing his comeback from Tommy John elbow surgery with hopes, at 38, of landing a [...]

Many Indy Players in Running Two Weeks Before Openers

     The axe started dropping this week, sometimes unexpectedly, dashing the hopes of several former Independent Baseball players of being on Opening Day rosters with their parent major league clubs.  It does not have to be a forever disappointment, but a reality check at least for right now and their names will appear in minor [...]

Daubach Interesting Choice as Bryce Harper’s First Manager

     One of the charms of spring training that builds so much momentum for a baseball season is the great writing that emerges, and the memorable stories those in the baseball-writing business dig up.        Washington Post writer Dave Sheinin brought to the surface the fact Brian Daubach, who managed in the Can-Am League at [...]

Prior, Cramer Draw Early Attention Among Indy Players

     When it comes to what could be significant news in major league spring training camps, some of those in the spotlight include pitchers Mark Prior and Bobby Cramer, both off stints with the Orange County (Fullerton, CA) Flyers of the Golden League, as well as catchers Mike and Rene Rivera.       Prior is getting [...]

If Only All 48 Indy Players Could Catch This Break

    Robert Coello has only been pitching for four years after starting his professional career as a respected catching prospect, but the 6-foot-5, 250-pound right-hander no doubt is the envy of many of the other products of the Independent Baseball leagues who have their nameplates posted on a dressing cubicle in a major league clubhouse [...]

‘Excited’ Amarillo Adds to American Association

The American Association has expanded from 10 to 14 teams this offseason so it’s only natural that a giant share of the attention has been on the four franchises moving from the long-established Northern League. Still, some of the greatest excitement is being generated in Amarillo, TX, which also is new to this mushrooming league. [...]

One Gets Look from Cards While Other Star Waits

     The stories of players who have come through the Independent Baseball ranks and show some major league promise are forever fascinating.  Will they get a break by being in the right organization at the right time and make the most of the opportunity or have to settle for a decent minor league career?       [...]

Yankees Won This Battle With Texas

    This will shock some, but it turns out while neither of the supposed top two bidders won Cliff Lee’s heart, the New York Yankees did beat out the Texas Rangers for one player.  The Bombers got Mark Prior, the onetime National League All-Star (Chicago Cubs), a free agent who had been in Texas’s system [...]

Indies Have Banner Day With Five Taken In Draft

While Boston’s apparent signing of Carl Crawford seemed certain to steal the spotlight on the last day of the Winter Meetings in Orlando, Thursday also was a banner day for Independent Baseball. No fewer than five former Indy players, including three who signed during or after the season, were taken by new organizations during the [...]

Lindsey Looms Large Even With New Indy Players Appearing

We have pinpointed at least two worthy candidates who could break into the major leagues for the first time in 2011, but even if they make it they will have some distance to travel before they nudge this year’s best headline-maker into the shadows.  Big John Lindsey continues to do and say the things that [...]

Frontier League Meeting Could Hold Key for Many Indy Teams

    While some stories had pointed to a decision in the middle of this week on the fate of the dozen or so teams without more than a four-team league in which to operate next season and the Golden League had projected an announcement for today (Thursday), I cannot help but believe Monday’s Frontier League [...]

Helping World Series Phenom Buster Posey

    Ken Joyce was talking mile a minute.  He had input for any of my questions, many times offering more than I knew to ask.  How he got started in baseball, his time in the Florida Marlins and Toronto Blue Jays organizations, the big names he has worked with, his years managing and coaching in  [...]

Shuffle Leading to Three Dominant Indy Leagues

While a last minute change of heart apparently has kept the American Association from becoming a super-sized league approaching 20 teams, it is becoming increasingly apparent when all of the dominos have stopped falling sometime in the next couple of months Independent Baseball will have three dominate circuits. The non-affiliated brand of professional baseball started [...]

Major Shakeup Taking Place in Independent Baseball

This may be the most important period for Independent Baseball since it started in 1993.  Make it the most important ever since not all that much was really expected when the first two professional leagues of non-major league-affiliation formed 18 years ago. That’s a bold statement, to be sure, but this is what seems to [...]

Can-Am May Be First League to Add Teams for ’11

While October always means autumn leaves, cooler temperatures, pumpkins and major league baseball postseason excitement to many people, it also is the month when Independent Baseball leagues seriously shake the trees to see if all their franchises are ready for the next season.  Rumors begin to become fact. This certainly will be true starting as [...]

Independent Baseball Crowds Back Above Eight Million

Strengthened by the addition of two more teams in the Northern League and with gains reported in three other leagues, Independent Baseball attendance climbed back above eight million fans for the 2010 regular season.  It is the third time in four years the non-affiliated clubs have drawn above that level, this time finishing at 8,130,646.  [...]

What Fabulous Match-Ups in Major League Games

The influx of Independent Baseball players into the majors this month has been exciting, and it is much more than a pure numbers game.  Think about these feats, which should have every non-affiliated player, executive and fan jumping for joy: When Bobby Cramer made his debut in a start for Oakland his mound opponent was [...]

Newest LA Dodgers’ 16 Years Pay Off

It was raining in Quebec and the first Can-Am League playoff series was being delayed by 24 hours, but New Jersey Jackals Manager Joe Calfapietra did not seem at all distressed.  In fact, his mood was clearly that of a happy man. Joe’s year already was a success, and only in part because the veteran [...]

Another Independent Player Gets to Major Leagues

      It was not such usual candidates as Michael Ryan or Scott Richmond or John Lindsey or Randy Williams, but Independent Baseball has had one interesting promotion in the first couple of days since major league teams started taking advantage of the opportunity to expand rosters in September.  This ranks right up the excitement level [...]

Those Who Dominated the Mexican League in Offense Now Back in Indy Leagues for Late-Season Run

It is not uncommon early in an Independent Baseball season to see a number of quality players opt to play in Mexico or an Asian league where they can make more money.  But the Mexican League ends early so some of those who have been prominent do an about face and come back to the [...]

Northern League Making Attendance Statement

The Northern League made a major move in 2010 when it got back to a more attractive eight-team operation, and now it is making a challenge that might not have been easy to forecast. In its 18th season, the Northern is chasing the Atlantic League for the highest average attendance for every time the turnstiles [...]

Gibbons Makes Another Statement for Indy Leagues

Jay Gibbons has struck another harmonious chord for Independent Baseball with his splashy re-entrance into the major leagues with the Los Angeles Dodgers.  A longtime Baltimore Orioles outfielder (2001-2007), the left-handed Gibbons erged from a brush with being named in the infamous Mitchell Report to start cleansing his reputation with the Long Island (NY) Ducks [...]

Daubach Has Pittsfield Overcoming Obstacles

The Pittsfield Colonials faced a monumental uphill task when they joined the Can-Am League this season because they got a very late start in putting together the remnants of Owner Buddy Lewis’s ill-fated team from Nashua, NH.  The Berkshire Mountain area in Western Massachusetts is renowned for its summer culture, which does not necessarily include [...]

‘Well, Yeah,’ Why Wouldn’t Pensacola Boss Enjoy Record-Setting 15-Game Win Streak?

All too often when the Florida Panhandle is in the news it seems to revolve around an oil spill or a hurricane bearing down on the area.  A more pleasant “hurricane” has swept through the area this month in the form of a stunningly-hot Pensacola Pelicans baseball team. The final game of a lackluster first [...]

It Was a Busy Week From Northern League All-Star Dominance

With reports that at least 10 major league scouts were on hand to watch, the Northern League jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first three innings and never looked back in taking a 9-3 victory over the Golden League in the only All-Star Game between two Independent leagues in front of a reported [...]

Atlantic League Managers Provide Wonderful Material For Major League Trivia Buffs

It is probably an understatement of sizeable proportions to say that the eight men who manage Atlantic League teams have quality career baseball profiles.  After all, they have a combined 109 seasons—an average of 13.6—as major league players. The popular nation-wide group SABR (Society for American Baseball Research) took note recently when it made the [...]

Quartet of Former Indy Players Back in Majors; Two Games Explode for 76 Runs

Any week we can report on players reaching the major leagues is a good one so two new promotions and two additional repeat selections during the early days of July represent the type of fireworks Independent Baseball should always celebrate. The elevation of outfielder Matt Watson to the parent Oakland Athletics could be looked at [...]

Shreveport Claims Title, York Nearly In As Numerous Indy Players Named to All-Star Squads

Shreveport-Bossier, LA has become the first team to wrap up a first half divisional title, currently leading by six games in the American Association’s Southern Division although the York (PA) Revolution have nailed down no less than a tie in the Atlantic League’s Freedom Division with four games to play.  Ricky Van Asselberg, who led [...]

Ambitious Ventura Sports Will Deliver Two More American Association Teams in ’12, And That Is Just the Start

“A solid community builds and thrives around a minor league baseball team.  And when that team has its own stadium there’s almost no end of opportunities to get people together.” This is the opening paragraph on the Ventura Sports Group’s web site, and while it probably could be echoed by any of several aggressive developmental [...]

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