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Northern League (baseball, 1993–2010)

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This article refers to the modern Northern League. For the original incarnations of the Northern League, which operated between 1902 and 1971, see Northern League (baseball, 1902-71)
Northern League
File:Northern League.png
Northern League logo
SportBaseball
Founded1993
No. of teams8
Country United States
 Canada
Most recent
champion(s)		Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks
Most titlesFargo-Moorhead (5)
Official websitewww.northernleague.com

The Northern League, based in Chicago, is an independent baseball league which operates in the Northern United States and the Canadian province of Manitoba, affiliated with neither Major League Baseball nor the organized minor leagues.

The Northern 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 Northern League play can be categorized as between A and AA[citation needed], players in independent baseball are usually not scouted heavily by Major League teams. Many Major League alumni have called Northern League teams home in an effort get back to the Majors.

History

The current incarnation was created in 1993 through the efforts of the first commissioner Miles Wolff. Wolff started the league after many midwestern cities contacted him (through his affiliation with Baseball America) asking how they could get a minor league team. After visiting some of them, most notably Wade Stadium in Duluth, he started contacting potential owners to start the league.

The league started in 1993 with 6 teams: Duluth-Superior Dukes (Duluth, Superior WI), Rochester Aces (Rochester, Minnesota), St. Paul Saints (St. Paul, Minnesota), Sioux Falls Canaries (Sioux Falls, South Dakota), Sioux City Explorers (Sioux City, Iowa) and Thunder Bay Whiskey Jacks (Thunder Bay, Ontario). The prospects for the league were originally "cloudy." Many forecast an early demise especially in St. Paul where competition with the Minnesota Twins led many local sportswriters to consider it a "beer league."

In fact the league was, overall, quite a success with only one franchise, Rochester, failing to attract significant crowds. The ailing Aces franchise was sold to an owner in Winnipeg, Manitoba (Sam Katz) and renamed the Winnipeg Goldeyes.

Part of the success of the league is the structure of the teams with both salary caps and roster rules. Teams are permitted no more than 4 veterans (5+ years professional experience) and required to have at least as many rookies. The rest of the rosters are made up of players with various years of experience (listed as LS-1 to LS-5 for "limited service).

The league expanded from six to eight teams in 1996 with the addition of franchises of the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks (Fargo, North Dakota) and Madison Black Wolf (Madison, Wisconsin). After the 1998 season, Thunder Bay, originally with the second best attendance in the league, was sold and became the Schaumburg Flyers (Schaumburg, Illinois) in 1999.

In 1999, its eight teams merged with the Northeast League, which had begun in 1995. During these years the original Northern League franchises made up the Northern League Central and the Northeast League teams became the Northern League East. Despite becoming one league, the 2 divisions only played each other during the league championship series. In 2002 expansion in the Central added the Joliet JackHammers (Joliet, Illinois) and Gary SouthShore RailCats (Gary, Indiana).

The relationship between the two leagues ended at the conclusion of the 2002 season. The Northeast League was reestablished as a separate league (which later reformed as the Can-Am League). It was the final year that Miles Wolff remained associated with his creation. Mike Stone replaced him as league commissioner.

During this same period two more teams struggling with attendance and difficult stadiums relocated. In 2001, the Madison Black Wolf became the Lincoln Saltdogs (Lincoln, Nebraska) while in 2003 the Duluth-Superior Dukes became the Kansas City T-Bones (Kansas City, Kansas).

In 2004 expansion to Alberta was announced, which created the Calgary Vipers (Calgary) and Edmonton Cracker-Cats (Edmonton).

After the 2005 season, the St. Paul Saints, Sioux Falls Canaries, Lincoln Saltdogs, and Sioux City Explorers left the Northern League to establish their own independent minor league, called the American Association. Soon after that, Mike Stone stepped down as commissioner and was replaced by Jim Weigel.

The Northern League played the 2006 season as a two-division, eight-team league. In 2007 Clark C. Griffith replaced Jim Weigel as commissioner. Following the 2007 season, the Calgary Vipers and Edmonton Cracker-Cats left the Northern League to join the Golden Baseball League.

Over 12 seasons, over two dozen former Northern League players have played in Major League Baseball. These include players such as J. D. Drew, Kevin Millar, Chris Coste, Jeff Zimmerman, and Rey Ordoñez. Several former MLB players have played in the league including Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd, Darryl Strawberry, Jack Morris, Pedro Guerrero, Jermaine Allensworth, Ken Harvey, Mike Caruso, Bo Hart, Leon "Bull" Durham, and Brant Brown. Former MLB players and coaches have also coached or managed in the Northern League including Terry Bevington, "Dirty" Al Gallagher, Jackie Hernandez, Danny Jackson, Maury Wills, Tim Johnson, Ron Kittle, Hal Lanier, Darryl Motley, Matt Nokes, and Wayne Terwilliger.

League structure

When the Northern League consisted of between eight and twelve teams, it played a split season 96-game schedule with two divisions from late May until early September. The division winners in each half qualified for the post-season, though if a team were to win both halves, the team with the best overall record, regardless of division, qualified as a wild card. Both the league semi-finals and Championship Series were best of five.

When the league dropped to six teams in 2008, it still played a 96-game schedule, but did not split the season and did not have divisions. Instead, the top four teams qualified for the playoffs. First best of five round is between the first and fourth-place finishers and between second and third-place finishers. The winners of the first round then play a best of five championship series.

In October 2009 the Northern League voted to expand from its 96 game season to a 100 game schedule, effective for the 2010 season. The playoff format was to remain the same, with the top 4 clubs making the playoffs.

Rosters

During the season, rosters are limited to 22 players, broken into seven classes based on a players years of service. One year of service is defined as one National Association (affiliated) season, or two independent league seasons.

  • Rookie: A player with less than one year service. Each team must carry a minimum of five Rookies.
  • LS-1: "Limited Service", a player with less than two years.
  • LS-2: A player with less than three years.
  • LS-3: A player with less than four years.
  • LS-4: A player with less than five years. Only four players may be LS-4's.
  • LS-5: A player with less than six years.
  • Veteran: A player with six or more years. A maximum of four players may be veterans.

Current franchises

Northern League
Team Founded City Stadium Capacity
Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks 1996 Fargo, North Dakota Newman Outdoor Field 4,513
Gary SouthShore RailCats 2002 Gary, Indiana U.S. Steel Yard 6,000
Joliet JackHammers 2002 Joliet, Illinois Silver Cross Field 6,016
Kansas City T-Bones 2003 Kansas City, Kansas CommunityAmerica Ballpark 6,537
Lake County Fielders[1] 2009 Zion, Illinois Zion Ballpark 8,000
Rockford RiverHawks[2] 2002 Rockford, Illinois Road Ranger Stadium 4,246
Schaumburg Flyers 1999 Schaumburg, Illinois Alexian Field 7,048
Winnipeg Goldeyes 1994 Winnipeg, Manitoba Canwest Park 7,481

Former teams (1993-)

Former Northern League East teams (1999-2002)

(Left to re-form Northeast League, then later Can-Am Association)

Champions

All-star game

The Northern League has hosted an annual All-Star Game since 1997. The venue changes annually. Its format pits the all-stars from each division against each other. In 2008 and 2009 there were no divisions during the regular season so the league temporarily split to have the "Chicagoland" clubs play the "I-29" clubs in 2008 and the "Great Lakes" clubs play the "Great Plains" clubs in 2009. In 2010 and 2011 the Northern League all-stars will play the Golden League all-stars.

Game Results

  • 1997 - East 2, West 1
  • 1998 - West 10, East 7
  • 1999 - Central 7, East 5
  • 2000 - East 10, Central 5
  • 2001 - East 7, Central 4
  • 2002 - Central 12, East 3
  • 2003 - East 4, West 2
  • 2004 - South 8, North 5
  • 2005 - North 5, South 1
  • 2006 - East 7, West 6
  • 2007 - South 7, North 5
  • 2008 - Chicagoland 6, I-29 5
  • 2009 - Great Lakes 5, Great Plains 5

Most Valuable Players

  • 1997 - Nate Vopata, (Madison Black Wolf)
  • 1998 - Marc Gutfeld, (Sioux Falls Canaries)
  • 1999 - Bryan Warner, (Duluth-Superior Dukes)
  • 2000 - Jon Mueller, (Albany-Colonie Diamond Dogs)
  • 2001 - Ryan Kane, (New Jersey Jackals)
  • 2002 - Brent Sachs, (Winnipeg Goldeyes)
  • 2003 - Cory Harris, (St. Paul Saints)
  • 2004 - Chris Weekly, (Schaumburg Flyers)
  • 2005 - Richard Austin, (Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks)
  • 2006 - Stubby Clapp, (Edmonton Cracker-Cats)
  • 2007 - Christian Snavely, (Schaumburg Flyers)
  • 2008 - Jay Pecci, (Gary SouthShore RailCats)
  • 2009 - Freddie Thon, (Joliet JackHammers)

References

  1. ^ LAKE COUNTY, IL TO FINALLY HAVE ITS MINOR LEAGUE “FIELD OF DREAMS”
  2. ^ RiverHawks to join Northern League in 2010
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