Independent Baseball Tops Seven Million Fans, But Best News May Be in Expanding Opportunities for Players

While increased attendance sounded a high note for Independent Baseball this season, improved opportunities for players on the world stage most certainly must at least share top billing as the non-affiliated brand of the professional game nears the wrap up of its second decade of competition.

As enthusiastic as they were when it all began in 1993, founding fathers could hardly be expected to visualize that several of their better players would be in position to play in major league postseason games or that 25 of them would be ending the season on big-league rosters with nearly 200 others in the affiliated minor leagues or that doors would be open for many an Indy star to have an opportunity in winter leagues or in the World Baseball Classic, which did not even become a reality until a few years ago.

But it is all real.

We won’t know how many players will be in this year’s major league postseason for another few days although even a few will be mighty impressive, but recent seasons have seen an explosion of roster slots open to Independent players in winter leagues and the WBC qualifiers of recent days reinforce the presence of the persevering battlers representing countries all over the globe.

Spain and Canada are the latest countries to lock up spots in next spring’s third WBC, and both had an abundance of current or former Independent players.  While players in the qualifying tournaments are not assured roster spots for March, some of them will return and likely be joined by other Indy players who will dot the rosters of such countries as Italy and Australia.

Spain had more than a dozen Independent players with Yunesky Sanchez of the 2012 Laredo (TX) Lemurs one of six who has played in the American Association in just the past two years.  Sanchez was 4-for-6 with three runs batted in while Gabe Suarez, currently a Los Angeles Dodgers minor leaguer, went 3-for-4 with two runs, Paco Figueroa of Southern Maryland (Atlantic League) 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI and Yasser Gomez (McAllen, TX, North American-United League) 1-for-2 with both a run and an RBI.  Suarez played extensively in Independent leagues from ’05-11, starting with Lincoln, NE and finishing last season with Kansas City, KS of the American Association and the Atlantic League’s Road Warriors. 

Southpaw Andrew Albers, who played for Quebec (Can-Am League) in 2010, limited Germany to three hits and a run in six innings of the qualifier in Regensburg, Germany, to lift Canada into the WBC’s spring series although the overall standout for the Canadians was former Sugar Land, TX Atlantic League first baseman Jimmy Van Ostrand, who pounded out four homers, hit .538, drove in 10 runs and scored nine in the tournament.

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Marlins to Give Adam Greenberg Another Major League Plate Appearance 

One of Adam Greenberg’s recent tries to play baseball on a major stage ended prematurely a few days ago when Team Israel bowed out one victory short of qualifying for next spring’s World Baseball Classic, but the outfielder had a major wish granted this very day when the Miami Marlins surprised the 31-year-old during a Today Show appearance that they will sign the Guilford, CT resident to a one day contract and give him his second major league plate appearance against the New York Mets on Tuesday.

Many fans are familiar with the heart-tugging story of Greenberg’s first major league game July 9, 2005when as a Chicago Cubs pinch hitter the first pitch thrown struck him on the back of the head.  Months of post-concussion syndrome, vertigo and severe headaches followed although the determined left-handed hitter came back to play in four major league farm systems as well as four seasons (’08-11) with the Bridgeport (CT) Bluefish for whom he stole 126 bases and set the Atlantic League team’s record for triples (28), mostly as a pesky leadoff hitter.

Bridgeport Manager Willie Upshaw, a longtime major league player and coach, called Greenberg “one of the hardest workers I have ever managed, and he has persevered through his setback to earn this chance.”

Independent Attendance Up Nearly 300,000 to 7,073,079

Spurred by record years in both the full-season Atlantic League and the 100-game American Association, attendance in the five Independent leagues climbed by nearly 300,000 fans to 7,073,079 during the regular 2012 season.

The final regular season attendance as reported by the Pointstreak, the official league statisticians, and compiled by the Independent Baseball Insider:

*Includes attendance reported to the Insider forMaui and the Hawaii Stars

(This is an excerpt from the column Bob Wirz writes year round on Independent Baseball.  Fans may subscribe for 2012 at reduced rates at www.WirzandAssociates.com, enjoy his blog, www.IndyBaseballChatter.com, or comment to RWirz@aol.com.  The author has 16 years of major league baseball public relations experience with Kansas City and as spokesman for two Commissioners and lives in Stratford, CT.)