Independent League Baseball
Independent baseball leagues are professional baseball organizations located in the United States and Canada. They are not operated in conjunction with either a Major League Baseball team or an affiliated minor league team. Being independent allows teams to be located close to major-league teams without their consent. They have been around for many years and were once known as "outlaw leagues" due to their position outside the rules of affiliated minor league baseball.
The Northern League and Frontier League both started play in 1993, and the Northern League's success paved the way for other independent leagues like the Texas-Louisiana League and Northeast League. The Atlantic League has had more marquee players than any other independent league, including José Canseco, Rickey Henderson, Ozzie Canseco, Rubén Sierra, Carlos Baerga, and John Rocker. The Northern League alumni include Leon "Bull" Durham, J. D. Drew, and Darryl Strawberry.
Independent leagues have flourished in northeastern states, where dense populations can often support multiple franchises. Because they are not subject to the territorial limitations imposed on affiliated minor-league teams, independent clubs can relocate as close to affiliated teams (and one another) as they choose to. For example, the city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania cannot have an affiliated team because of its proximity to the Harrisburg Senators and Reading Phillies, leaving the Atlantic League to place a team — the Lancaster Barnstormers — to fill the void. Another example is the greater New York City metropolitan area, where there are many independent teams: the Bridgeport Bluefish, Long Island Ducks, New Jersey Jackals, Newark Bears, and the Somerset Patriots; and three affiliated teams: the Brooklyn Cyclones and Staten Island Yankees in New York City and the Lakewood BlueClaws in New Jersey. Not only is the Kansas City area home to the Major League Kansas City Royals, but also the independent Kansas City T-Bones. The St. Paul Saints share a market with the American League's Minnesota Twins; both teams have frequently worked together to promote baseball in the Upper Midwest.
Read more about Independent League Baseball: Defunct Independent Baseball Leagues
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—Thomas Boswell, U.S. sports journalist. “The Church of Baseball,” Baseball: An Illustrated History, ed. Geoffrey C. Ward, Knopf (1994)