Independent Baseball Enters the 21st Century

Indy Ball Finds Its Niche in the Hearts of True Baseball Fans

Dec 4, 2008

Entering its second decade, modern indy ball has become an accepted brand of pro baseball, as the leagues continue to set attendance records, and make expansion plans.

After the initial success of the Northern and Frontier Leagues in 1993 (see The Return of Independent Baseball), independent baseball spent the next five years expanding at a rapid pace, with mixed success until the Atlantic League in 1998 (see Independent Baseball's Growing Pains). Going into the 21st century, the modern independent brand of baseball continues to settle and stratify.

1999-2000: All Quiet on the Independent Front

By 1999, independent baseball had settled into five leagues: The Atlantic, Frontier, Northeast, Northern, Texas-Louisiana, and the Western Leagues. Following the 1998 season, the Northeast League and the Northern League merged, to be known as the Northern League East and Northern League Central respectively. The East and Central, however, only met in the Championship series, much like the American and National Leagues of major-league baseball prior to 1997.

Meanwhile, the Frontier League expanded to 10 teams in 1999 while the Western League contracted to six. The Texas-Louisiana League played with an uneven seven teams for the '99 season before expanding to eight teams in 2000, a situation that later inspired league-run travelling teams in the Atlantic League and Northeast Leagues in subsequent years, as the 7-team alignment kept a team idle for up to four days at time.

For the first time in three years, a new independent league was born in 2001, the All-American Association. But unlike the last successful startup -- the Atlantic League -- it was one-and-done. But like the previous failed leagues, the strongest team financially -- The Fort Worth Cats -- found a home for 2002 in the Central League, the new name of the Texas-Louisiana League beginning that season as well.

Born out of the ashes of the All-American Association, the Southeastern League was quickly founded and began in 2002, but its proximity to affiliated baseball, in addition to the hurried planning, assured its demise after just two seasons. Like All-American League, one owner managed to survive, purchasing a franchise in the Central League and renaming it after his Southeastern League team, the Pensacola Pelicans.

After dominating the Northern League's "world series" from 1999-2002, the Northeast League and Northern Leagues went their separate ways. After just two seasons (2003-2004), the Northeast League renamed itself the Canadian-American Association of Professional Baseball in order to sign a formal charter, as the league had been operating on an ad-hoc basis since its founding in 1995.

Meanwhile, the Northern League suffered two "divorces." The first came in 2005 when four teams, including the flagship St. Paul Saints, left to join the newly formed American Association of Professional Baseball (AAPB). The second came in 2007, when the Edmonton and Calgary franchises opted to join the Golden Baseball League (GBL) that had begun in 2005.

In addition to the AAPB, yet another independent league was born in 2006, the United Baseball League, comprised of one 2005 Central League team (San Angelo), three revived Central League teams, and two expansion teams. In 2007, two more expansion leagues were formed, the Texas-based Continental League, which has played the 2007 and 2008 seasons, and the Georgia-based South Coast League, which suspended operations in the spring of 2008.

The 2008 season saw one expansion team in an established independent league, the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of the Atlantic League. The Frontier League has plans to replace its last remaining original franchise, the Chillicothe Paints, and its travelling team with two teams in 2009, then perhaps to 14 teams in 2010. And another league, the Atlantic Coast League, appears poised to try again in Georgia in 2010.

Whether these expansions actually take place remains to be seen, of course, but with nearly every independent league having set attendance records during the past three seasons, the reborn "rebel" baseball leagues do appear as if they're going to stay.

The copyright of the article Independent Baseball Enters the 21st Century in Baseball History is owned by Luke Erickson. Permission to republish Independent Baseball Enters the 21st Century in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.