Independent Baseball's Growing Pains
The New Indy Leagues Spend the 1990s Just Trying to Survive
Dec 4, 2008
1994-1995: Massive Expansion and Spectacular Failure
Once the veteran minor-league operators saw that independent baseball could be revived (see: The Return of Independent Baseball), the next five years saw a gold rush of sorts, as new independent leagues were quickly formed in the hopes of repeating the success of the Northern and Frontier Leagues in 1993. Most, however, suffered the growing pains that plagued the lesser-known Frontier League, which began the season with eight teams and finished with six after two teams folded less than a month into an already short season of just 52 games.
Three new leagues joined the independent ranks in 1994: the Great Central, the North Central, and the Texas-Louisiana. Only the latter two survived. Seven leagues started up in 1995, including the Atlantic Coast, the Golden State, the Mid-America, the North Atlantic, the Northeast, the Prairie, and the Western League. The first two folded within their first month. The North Central folded in the second month of its second season, while the Mid-America League -- which were largely the same operators of the failed Great Central league from the year before -- folded at season's end
1996-1997: Contraction and Reorganization
Two more leagues launched in 1996 -- the Big South and Heartland Leagues -- making a total of 12 new leagues over three seasons. It was also a high-water mark in that all nine indy leagues completed their seasons and just one team folded during the season. But it was largely due in part to retraction and reshuffling during the 1995-96 offseason.
The next offseason, 1996-97, saw the North Atlantic league effectively killed when its two strongest franchises left for its geographic rival, the Northeast League. A similar move occurred between the Big South and Heartland, as three franchises jumped ship. Unlike the North Atlantic, the Big South survived for one more season, folding along with the Prairie League after the 1997 season. Unlike the Northeast League, the Heartland did not survive for the long term, folding after the 1998 season.
1998: A New League, New Direction
The 1998 season saw the emergence of a new player in the independent leagues: The Atlantic League, which sought to fix the problems that had plagued independent baseball over the previous five years:
- It had a much higher salary cap.
- It had no roster rules in terms of service.
- It would play a much longer season.
- It would focus on players with at least six seasons of professional experience
- It would play in stadiums that conformed to the NAPBL standards.
Financial stability was the keyword, even if it meant cross-ownership (and it did) as was major-league ties. It began with several notable major-leaguers as coaches, managers and/or owners, including Brooks Robinson, Bud Harrelson, Rick Cerone, Sparky Lyle and Mike Easler. And unlike the other indys, the league set up shop without regard (or apparent fear) of proximity to established teams, including other independent leagues.
The different direction, the deeper pockets, and the bigger population base made the league a huge success (compared to most first-year leagues), with attendance of more than 600,000 and 41 players with major-league experience signed. As a result, some 12 players were sold back into the affiliated ranks, making it the league of choice for older players and helping to establish a clear pecking order for the indys as they entered the penultimate year of the 20th century.
Next: Independent Baseball Enters the 21st Century
