Independent Ball

Indy Ball – The British Are Coming

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About a month ago, I met Joey Mellows through twitter (@BaseballBrit).

He mentioned that he has a new love for baseball, specifically independent baseball, even though he has never seen an indy ball game in person… yet.

Here is his story:

Indy Ball: The British Are Coming
by Joey Mellows
IMG_20171119_154017.jpg
@BaseballBrit on Twitter

 

In June 2018 I intend to fly 6,515 miles from Seoul to Kansas to watch a baseball game between the Kansas City T-Bones and Lincoln Saltdogs. I have never watched an independent league game before but want to learn more about baseball that is played and operated outside of the monopolistic Major and Minor Leagues.

 

At the age of 32 I have decided to roll the dice with my life (and career) and have informed my current employer of my intentions to leave my steady, well-paid job, in June 2018 so that I can watch, document and write about the current state of independent baseball within the USA.

 

I am also a Brit, with little experience of baseball except for three recent summers spent following the Orix Buffaloes in Japan, the LG Twins in Korea and the Texas Rangers in the MLB. My upbringing is similar to many from the UK with soccer, cricket and rugby dominating my early sporting interactions growing up in England.

 

The plan at present is still highly flexible, and that is where I hope, you, the readers of Kayla Thompson’s excellent Indy Ball Island website, can help contribute as I travel throughout the USA in 2018 and 2019 following players, teams and stories around the various traditional summer independent leagues.

 

I would love to hear from you via a direct message to @BaseballBrit on Twitter or joe_mellows@hotmail.com if you wish to contribute or be included in my research and travels.

I am particularly interested in the joys, frustrations and day-to-day lives of people associated with Indy Ball.   

 

This is especially true if you are a:

  • fan of a specific team
  • player (current, past or aspiring)
  • coach/ manager
  • front-office worker (intern, part-time or full-time)
  • broadcaster/ podcaster
  • scorer/ statistician/ historian
  • owner
  • local resident from a town/city with an Indy Ball team
  • local resident/ business owner from a town/city where an Indy Ball team has sadly left

 

I intend to chronicle the stories, eccentricities and business elements of independent baseball – particularly geographical regions of the country that have been overlooked or ignored until the arrival/departure of independent ball.

 

Recommendations on ballparks, the independent baseball life, famous fans, books, websites, and people to follow on Twitter would be gratefully received and I hope to hear from many of you before next summer – so please get in touch!

 

About Joey Mellows (@BaseballBrit)

 

I caught the baseball bug whilst attending my first game in Osaka, Japan as a means of keeping my visiting British parents occupied for the evening. Since then I have spent the majority of my free time watching, reading, discussing, and travelling to baseball games with an assortment of characters with a shared passion for the KBO, NPB, MLB and SABR.
I am also intent on helping to further baseball interest among British fans with a group of podcasters from www.batflipsandnerds.com and run the UK fan accounts for the Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers on Twitter.

 

I encourage all of you to help out Joey on this adventure in any way that you can!

 

Independent Ball

An Off Season Start-Up… Is Anyone Even Surprised Anymore?

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Recently, I was contacted by the co-founder of the Arizona Winter League (AWL) warning me about a new start up that appears to be scamming players already. The National Urban Professional Baseball League (NUPBL) has a new website up and running.

Last year, when I first heard about this potential start-up through posts on Facebook and inquiries from various players, I asked (who I believe to be) the owner how they expected to run a league, pay the players, etc… I was promptly told off and blocked when I was trying to do my research as I always do with these leagues.

The tryout section of their new website lists the name “Arizona Fall League” which has been leading players to believe that it has something to do with the AWL. Many players were contacting the winter league to ask about their tryouts in Mississippi, but they obviously had no idea what was going on as they have no affiliation with this NUPBL.

The website says:

2017 Upcoming Tryout Dates:
Arizona Fall League
 Spring/Summer League May – August 2018 
But then right under that the page says that teams will be located in Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas.
Tryouts are also listed to be happening in California as well as Mississippi and Tennessee.
But…. payments are to be sent to an address in Chicago, IL.
It also claims that all players will be paid including a paid winter league.
Their “About Us” profile offers some more information, although it’s nothing we haven’t heard before:
The league in its initial conception will consist of four teams with plans for future expansion.
 
Play a ninety game schedule between
May thru August in addition to play-offs
6 games per week
45 away games/45 home games
 
Team (s) will consist of
1 team manager
2 coaches
24 players per team
Targeted ages for the team will be players 17 years old and older (that have completed or will be completing their H.S. eligibility).
The players in this league will be paid
Tryouts will start in May 2017
Fall team in Arizona
The league starts in the spring of 2018
 
We will form the teams by selecting players (not withstanding their racial back round) from across the United State and the World by way of open try-outs to be held at a number of sites (see tryouts).
 
After the teams are formed the players that will makeup these teams will actively take part in preplanned promotion activities.
The website lists season tickets, job opportunities and a Go Fund Me (go figure…). There is also a contact us page where everyone working for the league appears to be living in a different state.
The website is unorganized and really weird to navigate… just like every other start-up we’ve seen over the last few years.
Players… just DO YOUR RESEARCH and watch out for leagues that pop up every off season.

Writing and sharing stories about Independent Baseball.