Atlantic League of Professional Baseball

This article refers to the modern Atlantic League. For the original incarnations of the Atlantic League, which operated between 1896 and 1915, see Atlantic League (1896-1915)

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball
Sport	Baseball
Founded	1998
No. of teams	8
Country(ies)	United States
Most recent champion(s)	Somerset Patriots
Most championships	Somerset Patriots (5)
Official website	atlanticleague.com

The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball is a professional, independent baseball organization located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic United States, especially the greater metropolitan areas of Baltimore, New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. It operates in cities not served by Major or Minor League Baseball teams and is not affiliated with either. The Atlantic League requires cities to have the market for a 4,000 to 7,500-seat ballpark and for the facility to be maintained at or to exceed AAA standards.^[1]

The Atlantic League exists so that professional baseball players who are not signed by a Major or Minor League organization could have another chance at playing at a higher level. Although the level of Atlantic League play can be categorized as between AA and AAA, players in independent baseball are usually not scouted heavily by Major League teams. Many former Major League ballplayers have called Atlantic League teams home in an effort get back to the Majors. The league also caters to players who are not quite talented enough to play at a higher level.

History

Bluefish

Riversharks

Ducks

Barnstormers

Bears

Patriots

Revolution

Blue Crabs

In 1998, the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball played its inaugural season. The creation of the league was the result of the New York Mets' objection to Frank Boulton's proposal to move the former Albany-Colonie Yankees to Long Island. The Mets objected to the move because of its territorial rights to the region. Boulton, a Long Island native, decided to create a new league that would have a higher salary cap for its players and a longer season than most of the other independent baseball organizations. He modeled the Atlantic League after the older Pacific Coast League, with facilities that exceed AAA-level standards. Boulton also emphasized signing players of Major League Baseball experience for all Atlantic League teams, raising the level of play above other independent leagues.

The Long Island Ducks continue to be a strong draw in the region, averaging 400,000 fans a season, and have seen the likes of such Major League alumni as Edgardo Alfonzo, Pedro Borbón, Jr., José Offerman, Donovan Osborne, Bill Pulsipher, Armando Ríos, John Rocker, and Mark Whiten. In 2007, Frank Boulton expressed his contentment with the Atlantic League and the Ducks to Baseball America, saying: "The Long Island Ducks are the best thing I've ever done in baseball."^[2]

Expansion

• Opening Day Partners is close to breaking ground on a new ballpark in the Northern Virginia market, specifically in the Kincora Village development near the Washington Dulles International Airport.^[3] In a public hearing of the Loudoun County supervisors on June 8, 2009 to move the project forward, a majority of the public present were in favor of the development, and the vote passed by a vote of 7-2 among the supervisors.^[4] On June 29th, the team cleared the next hurdle by gaining the recommendation of the Board of Supervisors' Transportation/Land Use Committee by a vote of 2-1. ^[5] The team is expected to debut in the 2011 season.

Current franchises

Atlantic League Championship Series

see Atlantic League records

Alumni

References

See also

• Independent league baseball

External links

• Atlantic League of Professional Baseball
• Atlantic League blog
• Atlantic League Independent

Team websites

• Bridgeport Bluefish
• Camden Riversharks
• Lancaster Barnstormers
• Long Island Ducks
• Newark Bears
• Somerset Patriots
• Southern Maryland Blue Crabs
• York Revolution