So What Is This Site Really About?

I am often asked… “So what exactly do you and your site DO?” 

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Some people complain that there aren’t stats, game recaps and transactions on this site.  Well, that would be basically impossible (one woman show here!), boring and unnecessary.

This website was created to include independent baseball as a whole.  Just think, if I posted that type of information for every indy league (Atlantic, American, Can-Am, Frontier, United Shore, Pacific, Pecos, and the new Thoroughbred League), this site would be bogged down with information, and readers would lose the true story of independent baseball.

Stats, game recaps, and transactions can all be found on each league’s individual websites.  If you’re looking for that information, support their sites and check them out!

No. Indy Ball Island has been and will always be about the players.

This site includes tryout information for players who are looking to get into indy ball, advance to a higher independent league, or find a tryout after being released.

There are Q & A’s with front offices of various leagues to give players an insight that they normally wouldn’t be able to get in their position.

I’ve also tried my hardest to tell stories that give the players a voice and show a human side to this sport.

New this season, Indy Ball Island is featuring guest blogs from players and coaches all across independent baseball. These blogs aim to give both players and fans a real life look at what goes on behind the scenes throughout a season.

But what Indy Ball Island really does – what I do – outside of this website is so much more.

It’s giving out my personal cell phone number just to let players vent about this lifestyle and ask questions. It’s letting them know that even though it might seem like it, they aren’t alone.

It’s creating bullpen bags and care packages for teams and players just so I know they won’t go hungry until their next paycheck. It’s stockpiling coupons for free or cheap meals so the boys can eat without worrying about how much money they have left in their bank account.

It’s birthday cards and encouragement notes even when they’re a thousand miles from home just so they know that someone cares about them and their career. It’s cheering for them in the pouring down rain when there’s 50 people in the crowd on a week night because I want them to feel like they’re in the big leagues.

As a teacher (my day job), I educate, encourage, and help others follow their dreams.  I hope that I do the same through Indy ball Island.

Indy Ball Island is so much more than this website. It’s about the people I’ve met at every step of their baseball journeys. We’re all in this together.

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Experience… How Much Does It Really Matter in the Frontier League?

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The Frontier League is the only independent league (of the top four – Atlantic, American Association, Can-Am, and Frontier) that has a maximum age for players.

The league prides itself on being a league for younger players who are looking to get promoted, either to affiliated baseball or to a “higher” independent league.

This results in a wide range of experience for players on Frontier League rosters.  While they have their own designations for experience levels (Rookie-1, Rookie-2, Experienced, Veteran), these levels are broken down by total pro experience including both affiliated and independent playing time.

This article breaks it down a step further and disregards total years of experience, while focusing solely on the type of experience. Each roster is broken down by the number of players who have regular season affiliated experience, independent league experience only, and then the players who have college only experience and are true professional rookies.

Here is the break down of every Frontier League team’s active roster as of 5/15/17.

 Affiliated
Experience
Indy
Only
 College
Only
 Joliet
Slammers
 13  7 3

 Lake Erie
Crushers

 9  13  2

 Schaumburg
Boomers

 13  8  3
 Traverse City Beach Bums  9  10  4

 Washington
Wild Things

 14  6  4
 Windy City
Thunderbolts
 8  12  4
 Evansville
Otters
13 6 5
Florence
Freedom
4 15 5
 Gateway
Grizzlies
 12  4  8
 Normal
Cornbelters
 13  6  5
 River City
Rascals
 8  12  4
 Southern
Illinois Miners
9 10 5

*Roughly half of the affiliated players were just released from an organization and have no independent league experience, the other half have been in indy ball for at least a full season, including some for multiple seasons.

Throughout the season, Indy Ball Island will check these numbers. Do they stay at relatively the same ratio, or will one specific group’s numbers fall or rise as the season continues.

We’ll also look at if the type of experience on each team matters when it comes to the overall league standings.

Currently the team full of the least amount of affiliated experience players (the Florence Freedom) are 6-0 and at the top of the Frontier League West Division standings.

Writing and sharing stories about Independent Baseball.