While New Leagues Are Slow to Develop, Independent Roster in Majors Grows Rapidly

Independent Baseball is continuing to turn out major league players in impressive numbers—two more just this week—but operators are not finding it nearly as easy to start new leagues or even to nail down new franchises. A new league has not started and lasted since the Can-Am League launched in 2005, and even that was […]

As Atlantic Season Opens, Kirk and Other Owners Eye Spanning USA With Two Eight-Team Divisions

When Sugar Land inaugurated its lavish new ballpark near Houston on Thursday, the Skeeters helped usher in the 20th season of this improbable success known as Independent Baseball. Two decades of professional play apart from the major leagues is quite an accomplishment for those who have given their sweat and their dollars, but I feel I can safely […]

Bob Goughan Already Has Eight Championship Rings, But Another Would ‘Mean a Lot’ to Bridgeport GM

Bob Goughan is anything but a rookie in baseball even though this is his first season as general manager at Bridgeport, and even though he has eight previous championship rings it would have extra meaning if he could add one with the Bluefish. “It (championship) would mean a lot”, says Goughan, who is in an […]

Camden’s Von Hayes and Chiaravalloti Doing Double Duty

Camden Manager Von Hayes and part-time cleanup hitter Vito Chiaravalloti both have a lot on their mind these days, and it is only partially due to the Riversharks’ uphill battle to make the Atlantic League playoffs.             The postseason is immediate priority No. 1, but Hayes, the onetime Philadelphia Phillies star, also heads up a […]

Moved by Jose Lima’s Death, Joe Klein Looks Back at Going To the Dominican to Sign Him and on His Atlantic League Days

Jose Lima’s sudden death was felt throughout baseball, amplified by the fact he was pitching as recently as last summer, but the depth of the loss of the fun-loving 37-year-old may not have been felt much deeper than in the Atlantic League’s home office in Camden. “I knew Jose when he was 16, and I […]

Atlantic League Economics Seem Bright As 2010 Independent Baseball Season Launches

As best we can read it, the economic picture could not look a whole lot better than it does in the Atlantic League as the 13-year-old circuit prepared to raise the curtain on the 2010 Independent Baseball season this very evening (Thursday). Definitive figures are not easily assembled, but Camden (NJ) Riversharks General Manager Adam […]

Front Office Changes in Newark and Bridgeport Steal Some Attention Away From Early Camp Days

It is on the diamond where all of the outward attention is being focused these days around the Atlantic League, especially with all eight teams in action and shaping their rosters toward Opening Night just nine days from now.  Yes, the April 22 openers are that close.