Thursday, February 19, 2009

ONE TRYOUT INVOLVES TEAMS FROM THREE INDEPENDENT LEAGUES

A few rambling thoughts as I work on today's subscriber-driven Independent Baseball Insider column...

It is great to see the cooperation among teams from various Independent leagues. A recent example is the April 4 tryout camp in York, PA which will be run by the host Revolution of the Atlantic League, but also will include the Washington (PA) Wild Things of the Frontier League and the American Defenders of New Hampshire, the Can-Am League team formerly known as the Nashua Pride.

Players with a military background get one more opportunity via the 8 a.m. signup at Sovereign Bank Stadium. The American Defenders' operations team also will be looking for highly-skilled players for its traveling U.S. Military All-Stars.

14 CAMDEN PLAYERS NOW IN MAJOR LEAGUE ORGANIZATIONS

If any Independent team is looking for a challenge, try matching what the Camden (NJ) Riversharks have accomplished. With three more announced signings, 14 players from last year's Atlantic League team have garnered opportunities with major league organizations.

All of them would no doubt like to join former Camden players Arizona shortstop Stephen Drew and Milwaukee pitcher Mark DiFelice with major league contracts.

MORE FORMER INDY CITIES JOINING COLLEGIATE LEAGUES

We wrote some time back on the subject of cities too small for success in Independent leagues taking a look at collegiate baseball where the budget is a fraction of any pro team. Two more additions, at least for now, are Macon, GA and Anderson, SC, both joining the Great South (collegiate) League. They were part of the professional South Coast League which played only one season.

Speaking of former Independent teams, Matt McDermott, who is both an enterprising marketer on his own (see www.IndependentMinorLeagueBaseball.com) and a front office devotee with the Dallas Aviators (formerly McKinney Blue Thunder) of the Continental League, shared a list he compiled of teams that have come and gone since the Indy engine started up in 1993. Would you believe the list included 171 names, although some teams have changed nicknames from time to time without moving from one venue to another.


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