Independent Leagues — Baseball Bench Coach

One of my great pleasures has been taking my daughters on baseball trips, featuring swings through MLB and minor league ballparks in the Midwest. Our minor league travels included stops in Peoria, Cedar Rapids, Springfield, IL and MO, and Des Moines, among other cities. This past week I took a short car ride to Rosemont, IL, and checked another box on my bucket list. You see, your Coach had the pleasure of being the guest commentator in the third inning of an American Association of Professional Baseball (AAPB) independent league game between the Chicago Dogs and the Milwaukee Milkmen. It was an unbelievably fun night at the ballpark, especially those 20 minutes of broadcasting fame.

First, some background. MLB teams survived last year in the pandemic with the shortened season and full postseason. Minor league baseball (MiLB) teams though suffered as no games were played. The plight of MiLB players received much press. During the last offseason, MLB stepped up its game by introducing a new MiLB model that includes player salary increases, modernized facility standards, and reduced travel. Players in the top four levels of MiLB play saw salary increases ranging from 38 to 72% for the 2021 season. Another key feature is the realignment of Triple-A affiliates closer to their parent MLB clubs. Five former MiLB teams were announced as founding members of the MLB Draft League, which gave player prospects a chance to show their skills prior to the MLB Draft last week.

Some small towns though lost their teams and searched for affiliation with independent baseball leagues, which are professional baseball organizations that are not operated in conjunction with an MLB team or an MiLB team. Independent leagues are clearly fan favorites and have been for many years. Indeed, the AAPB was founded seventeen years ago. Last season independent leagues kept their gates open and continue to flourish today. Because their independence allows teams to be close to MLB teams without their consent, you see many of these leagues huddled around major MLB strongholds, like New York, Chicago, California, and the Mid-Atlantic. Great baseball is played in these independent league ballparks, as evidenced in my visit to Impact Field in Chicago this past week.

And MLB is starting to recognize that. Four of the independent leagues, Atlantic League, AAPB, Frontier League, and Pioneer League, have now been designated MLB Partner Leagues to collaborate with MLB on initiatives to increase interest in the game. In fact, the Atlantic League has become an experimental league for MLB rule changes. Atlantic League teams will begin the second half of the season with a pitching mound moved back a foot. In the past couple years, the experiments have included robot umps, a three-batter minimum for pitchers, restricting defensive shifts, and reducing mound visits. Sound familiar?

My experiment this past week of course was at the microphone of the Chicago Dogs. The voice of the Dogs is Sam Brief who graciously hosted me. I felt at ease during my inning of fame, discussing minor league baseball, Pete Rose, Wrigley Field, and the baseball blog. Sam, a fellow Northwestern alum, will be a voice to be reckoned with in the future. I see him following in the MLB footsteps of someone like Matt Vasgersian, who now is the Angels’ play by play announcer as well as ESPN’s Sunday night baseball. Vasgersian got his start as a sportscaster for the Cubs’ Rookie League affiliate in Huntington, West Virginia. Sam’s passionate and professioal play by play call also reminds me of another Cubs sportscasting connection, Len Kasper. Kasper is now the radio voice of the White Sox, having served in the television booth for the Cubs for the past 16 seasons. Kasper first began calling games for the Beloit Snappers.

The story on the baseball diamond at Impact Field that night was a battle at the top of the North Division of AAPB. The Milkmen held a 1 ½ game lead going into the contest, having won six games in a row and the first two games of the series with the Dogs. Chicago’s 10-7 win cut Milwaukee’s lead to ½ game and provided much offense for the fans to enjoy. Dogs’ speedster centerfielder Anfernee Grier ignited the 4-run first with a single to left field and two stolen bases. The Dogs’ lineup is solid, led by veteran catcher Ryan Lidge and his .360 batting average. Batting cleanup is first baseman K.C. Hobson, son of Dogs’ manager Butch Hobson. Butch is a former star third baseman for the Boston Red Sox who went on to manage the Red Sox for three seasons. The Milkmen feature left fielder, Adam Brett Walker II, the MVP of AAPB last season and a designated “veteran” player on Milwaukee’s roster.

The roster make-up for independent league teams is an interesting story. By AAPB rules, rosters are limited to a maximum of 5 veteran players (a player with 6 or more years of service) and a minimum of five rookies. What this means for teams is that they see player turn over year-to-year. Similar to AAA-ball in MiLB it’s a story of players on the rise combined with others on the downside of careers. One independent league player, Mat Latos of the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, was one of my favorite Cincinnati Reds pitchers during his 9-year MLB career. After his MLB career ended in 2017, Mat joined an independent league team, New Jersey Jackals, and continues to follow his dream. The Dogs in 2019 also featured a former MLB player, Chicago Cubs’ legendary pitcher (and slugger) Carlos Zambrano. I recall watching Big Z come out of the bullpen during one of my visits to Impact Field that season.

MLB players who have had stints in the independent leagues include the Diamondbacks’ outfielder David Peralta. Peralta began his career as a pitcher in the Cardinals organization, but after numerous injuries and shoulder surgeries he resurrected it as an outfielder in independent league Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings, Wichita Wingnuts, and Amarillo Sox. Another success story is Stephen Cardullo, who played two seasons of independent ball for the London Rippers, Florence Freedom, and Rockland Boulders, before playing for the Colorado Rockies. My favorite one though is current MLB pitcher Rich Hill of the Tampa Bay Rays. His career began in the Cubs organization in 2002 and included time with the Orioles, Cardinals, Red Sox, Indians, Angels, Yankees, and Nationals, before being released in 2015. Hill quickly found a spot with the independent league Long Island Ducks and rejuvenated his career. This past May Hill was named the American League Pitcher of the month by posting a 0.78 ERA.

As I look back at my night at Impact Field this past week, I keep thinking about the Chicago Dogs’ mantra, “Every Day is Fan Appreciation Day”. With affordable ticket and food prices and between inning activities for the fans, fun is the name of the game. This fan in turn had a lot to appreciate – the beauty and welcoming feeling of the ballpark (Impact Field was voted Best of Ballparks 2018 in its first year); the quality of play on the diamond; the broadcasting craft of Sam Brief (who calls the game, keeps score, and directs television lead-ins and promotions, all while interviewing a guest in the booth); and the once in a lifetime chance for me to work a baseball game behind the microphone. Getting a chance, and in many cases a second chance, is what the independent leagues are all about.

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach