UNofficial Northeast League Independent
Baseball Page.
The only Northeast League page to be online
continous since 1995.
-= Baseball Links =-
Northern League Central Fan.
This page is truly the best way to experience the Northern League's original
teams, now the Central Division. It is done by a fan and holds no biases
or a lack of information that many team owned sites have often. This page
is 10 times better then mine as far as content.
Click here to go
to the best minor league links page. It's all you need to know.
North Atlantic Baseball League
- A Competitor to the NorthEast League which folded after 2 years.
Digital Ballparks
- a place to see digital images of minor league ballparks.
FYI
- If you're interested in the Cities that the author of this page has been
to in his attempt to go to every minor league ballpark in the country,
check out this page.
Latest news
-
The purpose of this page is to preserve the history of the NorthEast Baseball
League. If you want information on the now Eastern division of the Northern
League, please go to the Northern League Page.
-
If you have information or stories that you think would be a nice addition
to this page, please send them to speigletown@hotmail.com
-
the New Jersey Jackals are the 1998 Northeast League Champions. Not only
are they the first team outside the State of New York to win the championship,
but they are the first team to be in the finals from outside the state.
-
Ex-Newburgh Nighthawk Joel Bennett is 10-0 with the Rochester Redwings.
He got called up to the Baltimore Orioles on Monday, July 14th 1999
Northeast Notes
[Notes from previously years of interest]
-
The Landsharks played in Little Falls in 1995 due to Torrington's, CT failure
to build a stadium for the 1995 season.
-
Cooperstown vetoed a plan to move a team into doubleday field for the 1996
season. This would have been the first team to play in the stadium while
using Doubleday as a permanent home field.
-
Mohawk Valley and Adirondack's playoff game in 1995 was played in Glens
Falls due to the poor attendence of Little Falls even though M.V. had a
far better record.
-
The Glens Falls Redbirds led the NY-Penn league in attendence in 1993 but
moved to N.J. because this was the plans for the team by the parent Cardinals,
using Glens Falls while the stadium got built.
-
In 1986 the A-C Yankees were the only team in the EL to be over 100,000
fans with around 316,000 in attendence, but when they moved in 1994, they
were last in the league with close to 112,000.
-
The Waterbury Spirit were originally going to be called the Wizards, but
the Fort Wayne wizards balked at the name and were going to file a lawsuit.
This prompted Waterbury to come up with a new name.
-
Just found this online. Relix Magazine, March 1995: Meanwhile in
Bethel, the president of a newlyformed Independent Northeast Baseball League,
Jay Acton, is eyeing the 37-acre field on Hurd Road and West Shore Drive,
site of the original 1969 Woodstock Music and Arts Festival, as a potential
playing field for one of the nine teams in his fledgling, semi-professional
league. "It's big enough, it's close enough and it has an aura about it
like none other," says Acton. "I'll call the team 'The Aquarians' or `The
Woodstockers."' At press time, this idea for the site was still in question.
-
Check out this link,
about a team going in Monticello, NY
-
Hello
and goodbye: tenures of Hudson Valley teams
-
Cougars sitting
out '99
-
Baseball big-leaguer
"O.B." Oberkfell manages Sullivan Mountain Lions
Independent Baseball
The 1995 season marks the explosion of independent baseball in the U.S.
After the success of the Northern League, the Texas-Louisiana League, and
the Frontier League, the thought of providing cities with professional
baseball has created a boom in both the U.S. and Canada. Eleven independent
leagues plan to play this season and many others plan to play in 1996.
If all these teams operate, 1,500 ballplayers will get a chance to continue
their dreams, while 72 cities get to host and experience professional baseball.
The first independent leagues died out in the 1930s, and were
replaced by the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues.
The Association works with the Major Leagues, who supply the players, managers
and coaches. However, in the 1990s as the price to attend a major league
game approached $100 for a family of four and the players became very distant
from the average fan, new independant leagues formed with the propose of
returning baseball to its grass roots.
Cities Past and Present of the NEL
[Included is the nicknames for each team so in the future there will be
a link to the team or to the city and Prev will mean the previous team
in the city and the league for that team plus designation of league]
* = Inactive
City Years in League
Albany 4 = 95-98
Diamond Dogs
Prev - Albany-Colonie Yankees ; EL ; AA [1994]
Glens Falls 4 = 95-98
Adirondack Lumberjacks
Prev - Glens Falls Redbirds ; NY-Penn ; SS-A [1993]
Elmira 3 = 96-98
Pioneers
Prev - Elmira Pioneers ; NY-Penn ; SS-A
*Mountaindale 3 = 95, 97-98
Sullivan County Mountain Lions 95
Catskill Cougars 97-98
Prev - Catskill Cougars ; North Atlantic ; Indy [1996]
Last - Catskill Cougars ; Northern ; Indy [2000]
Allentown 2 = 97-98
Ambassadors
Prev - Allentown Red Sox ; Eastern ; A [1960]
*Waterbury 2 = 97-98
Spirit
Prev - Waterbury Indians ; EL ; AA [1986]
Last - Waterbury Spirit ; Northern ; Indy [1999-2000]
*Lynn 2 = 97-98
Massachusetts Mad Dogs
Prev - Massachusetts Mad Dogs ; North Atlantic ; Indy [1996]
*Bangor 2 = 96-97
Blue Ox
Prev - Bangor Maroons ; New-Brunswick Maine ; D [1913]
*Newburgh 2 = 95-96
Nighthawks
Prev - Newburgh Hummingbirds ; North Atlantic ; C [1946]
Last - Newburgh Black Diamonds ; Atlantic ; Indy [1998]
Current - Summer College League
Montclair 1 = 98
New Jersey Jackals
Prev - None
*Little Falls 1 = 95
Landsharks
Prev - Little Falls Mets ; NY-Penn ; SS-A [1988]
*Yonkers 1 = 95
Hoot Owls
Prev - Yonkers ; Hudson River ; C [1907]
*West Warwick 1 = 96
Rhode Island Tigersharks
Prev - None
Current - Summer College League
Many of these teams have a storied history of minor league teams. Mountaindale
and West Warwick are the only two not to ever have had a minor league team
before and Yonkers had a team in only 1905 and 1907. For basic information
on the other teams, check out the The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball
put out by Baseball America [email me for more information if need be]
Teams in League each year
1995 - 6 Teams
1996 - 6 Teams
1997 - 8 Teams
1998 - 8 Teams
1999 - Merged with the Northern League.
About the author of this page
My name is Mike Engle, and I am centrally located near Albany, NY for the
Northeast League. I especially like the Northeast and Atlantic Independant
leagues. I collect programs from all the stadiums that I go to. In the
baseball links you can check the cities that I've been to for baseball.
I try to get all the programs for every NEL team every year, so far so
good cept for 1997 Massachusetts. My favorite league though is the NY-Penn
league cause it capture the true spirit of the game and it's relationship
to the fans. The Independant leagues are a close second to the NY-Penn.
My goal is to make it to every minor league stadium in my lifetime. Thi
is why the page with the cities is also helpful for me. Please send any
comments about this page, how it can be made better, or just a hello.
To send me mail, send it here! speigletown@hotmail.com
You are patron number 4,385 thru the turnstiles.
Last Edited, December 25th, 2000 B.C.
Back to my homepage
Lycos City Guide
----------- Future projects [reminder to me]
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