By Michael Heilman
Baseball season is in full swing and most people are aware of the MLB and their Single-A, Double-A and Triple-A affiliates. But other leagues exist that you may not be aware of that participate in the Independent Baseball Leagues.
The players in these leagues are former MLB players and Minor league players looking to get back into the major leagues. Some big-name players have played in these leagues such as Ricky Henderson, Tim Raines, Roger Clemens, John Rocker, Pedro Feliz, Jared Weaver, and Gary Carter. Former MLB players have even managed the teams such as Cecil Fielder and Mitch Williams.
These two leagues operate independent of each other but with them being in close proximity a merger into one league may benefit them. Last month, the Rockland Boulders of the Can-Am Baseball league announced that they are planning to leave the league as early as 2019 but no later than 2020 to join the Atlantic League. The Boulders, who are located in Pomona, NY are situated close to other Atlantic League teams. Rather than the Boulders leaving one league for another perhaps a merger should be in the future.
The benefits of merging these two leagues would be that the number of teams competing would increase to fourteen. There would be competition within the divisions and rivalries would be created within the league that would create excitement for the fans and fills the stadiums. By having teams fighting for divisional titles you could create battles such as the "The Battle of New York" between Long Island Ducks and Rockland Boulders, “The Garden State Battle” between the New Jersey Jackals, Somerset Patriots, and Sussex County Miners and even a “Battle of Pennsylvania” featuring the Lancaster Barnstormers and York Revolution. These teams along with those currently in the league located in Canada and as far south as North Carolina could create quite an exciting league.
These leagues need to grow and create excitement for the public to support them and to be successful. Since the inception of the ALPB (1998) and Can-Am (2005), both leagues have remained stagnant. The leagues have seen teams fold due to low attendance or leave to join the Collegiate summer baseball leagues which is an amateur baseball league for college players that runs from June to August.
So rather than moving to a new league for competition a merger might be just what the leagues need in order to have more competition, create rivalries, and bring the fans back to the Independent Baseball League.
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