NEW NORTH AMERICAN LEAGUE STEPS OUT TO SPONSOR CAR IN 24 HOURS OF DAYTONA THIS WEEKEND

How is this for an interesting venture by the North American League?

The league, made up of franchises from the Golden, Northern and United Leagues, has yet to play a game and still must deal with issues such as the economic mess involving the Schaumburg (IL) Flyers, but it is stepping up promotional activities by sponsoring a car in this weekend's Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona race. Photos show a huge NAL logo on the hood of a car owned by TRG/Nadeau Motorsports so it presumably is not exactly a nickel and dime sponsorship.

Bob Doyle, Jim Michaelian and Coulter Mulligan will take turns behind the wheel of the Porsche, and race/baseball fans can follow the action that starts at 3:30 p.m. EST Saturday via Speed Channel or www.DaytonaInternationalSpeedway.com.

Meanwhile, the Illinois Department of Revenue and the Village of Schaumburg seem to have agreed the Flyers will be evicted from Alexian Field if the team is not sold and its sizeable debt repaid by February 24. The clock keeps ticking on this issue.

THREE MORE GET NON-ROSTER INVITATIONS

The Continental League is no more, but it has its first former player with an invitation to a major league spring training camp. Left-hander Brandon Sisk, who started his pro career in the Houston region with the Bay Area Toros in 2007-08, is an invitee of the Kansas City Royals after two full seasons of averaging well over a strikeout per inning.

Another who started his career in Independent Baseball, Greg Burke, is back for another shot at making the San Diego Padres bullpen corps. Burke was with the Padres for much of 2009. He started out with Atlantic City, NJ in the Atlantic League. The other new non-roster invitee is infielder-outfielder Erick Almonte (Long Island, NY, Atlantic League), who will get another look from Milwaukee after hitting .320 with two homers and 38 runs batted in during 110 games for Triple-A Nashville last season.

Our count of former Indy players with major league non-roster invitations is up to 22with a few more expected.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE INDEPENDENT BASEBALL INSIDER FOR 2011. FORTY-ONE COLUMNS FOR ONLY $45.

REQUEST A FREE WEEK OF THE INDEPENDENT BASEBALL INSIDER

BUSINESS 'GETS TOUGHER' EVEN FOR ATTENDANCE LEADERS LIKE WINNIPEG

I had a nice chat with Winnipeg Owner (and Mayor) Sam Katz a few days ago with two especially interesting points emerging.

I knew that Sam and new Hall of Fame electee Pat Gillick were friends, but what I did not realize was that "he (Gillick) got me into baseball". The friendship has had continuing threads with Gillick throwing out the first ball when the Goldeyes opened their stadium, newly renamed Shaw Park, in 1999 and with Seattle (with Gillick as general manager) purchasing pitchers Bobby Madritsch and George Sherrill, both of whom went on the play in the major leagues. Sherrill has had quite a career, of course, with Atlanta his newest bullpen stop for this season.

Madritsch got sidetracked by injuries, but Katz still looks back on him "as a winner." Katz said if Winnipeg "had a losing streak and he was pitching you felt good" about the team's chances.

The other comment that hit home was Katz's overall take on baseball business today: "It gets tougher, not easier", which drives home the lesson about the need to work extra hard to stay on top since Winnipeg not only led the former Northern League in attendance one more time in 2010 and also ranked second (to Long Island, NY) in average attendance in Independent Baseball at 5,654 fans per game. While still an impressive average, this was a drop from 6,180 one year earlier.

Katz, like others I have talked to in Winnipeg, is enthused about the opportunity "to renew old rivalries" now that the Goldeyes have moved to the American Association.

BYRDAK JOINS METS, GETS NON-ROSTER INVITE

Tim Byrdak could well be one of those left-handed relievers who goes on and on. Now 37, Byrdak has been in 343 major league games--every one of them in relief--with most of them since pitching for Gary, IN and Joliet, IL when both were in the Northern League in 2003.

He will bid to hurl for his fifth major league team when he reports to the New York Mets next month, even though his free agent signing was to a minor league contract with a major league spring training invitation. Byrdak went 2-2, 3.49 in 64 appearances for Houston last season. The fact he has held left-handed hitters to slightly better than a .200 average in his career gives the 5-foot-11 hurler an excellent chance of staying in the majors.

His competition this spring could include a more recent Independent Baseball player, Mike O'Connor, who spent a portion of 2009 at Southern Maryland (Waldorf) in the Atlantic League. O'Conner, a 30-year-old southpaw, has some major league time, mainly as a starter, with Washington. He struck out 70 International League hitters in the same number of innings for the Mets' top farm club in Buffalo, NY in 2010.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE INDEPENDENT BASEBALL INSIDER FOR 2011. FORTY-ONE COLUMNS FOR ONLY $45.

REQUEST A FREE WEEK OF THE INDEPENDENT BASEBALL INSIDER

TWO HURLERS WHO STARTED IN INDY LEAGUES AND PAIR OF CATCHERS EARN MAJOR LEAGUE INVITATIONS

It is days like this when the benefit of working out of a home office is pretty easy to understand. With something like 14 inches of new snow stacked on top of a couple of previous snows, well, you get the idea.

But better things are coming. That is pretty clear with non-roster invitations to major league spring training camps continuing to pile up. We accounted for 10 such invitations to former Independent players in last Thursday's Independent Baseball Insider, and already can name four more with several teams not yet revealing any invitees.

The new group includes two pitchers and two catchers, all with some major league experience.

The neat thing about the two right-handed hurlers is that they threw their first professional pitches in Independent Baseball. Chris Oxspring was with Cook County (Crestwood, IL) and Josh Kinney at River City (O'Fallon, MO), both in the Frontier League. Kinney had a magical season in 2006, joining the parent St. Louis Cardinals in the second half of the year and being a key member of their World Series bullpen that same campaign. Kinney is headed to the Chicago White Sox, according to published reports, including MLB.com. Oxspring has been away from the game for a time, but has had a solid winter in Australia, and Detroit has signed him.

Minnesota invited catcher Rene Rivera, who played for Camden, NJ (Atlantic League) as recently as last season before signing with the New York Yankees for the balance of the year. The other backstop is veteran Mike Rivera, who is back in the Milwaukee organization. His greatest major league success has been with the Brewers although he was with Florida at the end of the '10 season. Mike Rivera played at Atlantic City when the Surf were part of the Atlantic League.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE INDEPENDENT BASEBALL INSIDER FOR 2011. FORTY-ONE COLUMNS FOR ONLY $45.

REQUEST A FREE WEEK OF THE INDEPENDENT BASEBALL INSIDER

INDEPENDENT GAME LOSES A FRIEND IN SCOUT MIKE DE ANGELO

Independent Baseball lost a friend from the scouting fraternity over the weekend.

Mike DeAngelo died Friday night from heart trouble.

A onetime college player at the University of New Haven who also signed with the Montreal Expos and later scouted for more than 20 years, DeAngelo had been involved in recent times in scouting both the Atlantic and Can-Am Leagues.

"We enjoyed having him around; he was constantly looking for players", Bridgeport (CT) Bluefish General Manager Bob Goughan said. DeAngelo had been involved in the Bluefish signing of major league veteran Wily Mo Pena in 2010. Pena's contract was later sold to San Diego, and the first baseman-outfielder hit .324 (.390 on-base percentage) with nine homers and 34 RBI in only 142 at-bats at Triple-A Portland.

DeAngelo, who is credited with signing major leaguers Mark Sweeney and Charlie Morton, has been serving as Special Advisor to the New York State League, a scouting service that will serve as the official developmental league to the Can-Am League and will supply players for the league road team to be known as the New York Federals.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE INDEPENDENT BASEBALL INSIDER FOR 2011. FORTY-ONE COLUMNS FOR ONLY $45.

REQUEST A FREE WEEK OF THE INDEPENDENT BASEBALL INSIDER