Independent Professional Baseball

Here is a short video which shows clips from an independent professional minor league baseball open tryout from the Newark Bears, of the Can-Am League: http://vimeo.com/32982540 This may help those of you who want to make the jump to professional baseball in the independent leagues but may not yet have attended one of these tryouts. If you want [...] - 6 months ago

Andrew Starke, the president of the California Winter League, answers questions from members of the mailing list on the following topics: How to play international professional baseball Chances of an international player making a professional independent baseball team What it takes to become a bullpen catcher in the independent leagues The realities of older players trying to make an [...] - 9 months ago

Here is a rather unique interview which most people involved with the independent minor league baseball industry do not get to hear:  an interview with the owner/operator of a winter instructional and developmental league.  The interview is with Andrew from the California Winter League, and it covers information about professional independent minor league baseball tryouts, [...] - 17 months ago

One of the biggest problems facing prospective professional baseball players is the lack of knowledge of how to transition from the college game to the pro game, especially in the independent minor leagues.  There is a lot of confusion, so a new product was created to help players learn: how to find out about independent minor [...] - 2 years ago

If you are looking for independent minor league baseball tryouts in 2010 then be sure to join the tryout database which offers two things: Sending your information to independent baseball teams across all 8 leagues for open tryouts, private workouts, and other opportunities Sending you updates on independent baseball tryouts throughout 2010 You can join the database at [...] - 2 years ago

Onetime Yuma, AZ (Golden League) first baseman Reynaldo Rodriguez hit his 10th home run Thursday night for Boston's Double-A Portland, ME club. The 26-year-old also has a dozen doubles and has driven in 25 runs while hitting .256. Checking up on a few other former Independent players after getting the Independent Baseball Insider column out for the week: --Brandon Kintzler is finally back to regular work in the Milwaukee system after battling injuries for quite a spell. The St. Paul, MN (American Association) and Winnipeg, Canada (then in the Northern League) right-hander is working his way back toward the majors with six outings at Class A Brevard (FL) County (3.00 ERA) and three appearances in five days for Double-A Huntsville, AL (0.00 in 2.2 innings). --Greg Smith (Grand Prairie, TX, American Association) has gone 0-2, 4.34 in 18.2 innings for the Angels' top club in Salt Lake City after a 2-1, 4.37 start with Double-A Arkansas. --Clay Zavada, the lefty released earlier this year by Cincinnati, has worked two scoreless innings (two games) since St. Louis signed him to play at Memphis. Still only 27, Zavada pitched in the Frontier League (Southern Illinois) in 2008 and rapidly climbed to the parent Arizona Diamondbacks a year later with a 3-3 record and 3.35 ERA in 49 relief appearances. CANSECO'S PRODUCTION LIMITED Jose Canseco's first five games for Worcester, MA (Can-Am League) have produced only four hits in 20 at-bats (.200) with one run batted in. He has struck out seven times. SUBSCRIBE TO THE INDEPENDENT BASEBALL INSIDER FOR 2012. Subscriptions to the Insider $48 from now through December, 2012. REQUEST A FREE WEEK OF THE INDEPENDENT BASEBALL INSIDER Get the independent minor league baseball trivia question of the day by clicking this link: Independent Minor League Baseball Trivia Questions

With the start of a new week, I checked up on some of the former Independent players who have been among league leaders in Class AA and AAA leagues: Will Savage (Wichita, KS, American Association, and Lancaster, PA, Atlantic League) continues to share the Pacific Coast League lead with seven wins after taking a no-decision Saturday. Savage has been in 11 games for the Dodgers' Albuquerque farm club, starting six of them, and is 7-0 with a 3.40 earned run average. Teammate Mike Parisi (Long Island, NY, Atlantic) has moved up to second in the PCL earned run average race. He is at 2.61 and has 32 strikeouts in 38 innings. On the offensive side, outfielder Justin Christian, who started in Indy baseball (River City, Frontier League) and also has played for Southern Maryland (Atlantic), is still in second place in the PCL in hitting (.373) with four home runs and 23 RBI plus seven stolen bases. He is with San Francisco's Fresno farm club. First baseman Reynaldo Rodriguez (Yuma, AZ, Golden League) is tied for second in home runs with nine in the Double-A Eastern League and is hitting .257 with 23 ribbies for Portland, ME, a Boston farm club. SUBSCRIBE TO THE INDEPENDENT BASEBALL INSIDER FOR 2012. Subscriptions to the Insider $48 from now through December, 2012. REQUEST A FREE WEEK OF THE INDEPENDENT BASEBALL INSIDER Get the independent minor league baseball trivia question of the day by clicking this link: Independent Minor League Baseball Trivia Questions

What fun it had to be for onetime Atlantic League (Camden, NJ, 2010) infielder Mike Costanzo to get his first major league hit this afternoon (Saturday), and to do it at Yankee Stadium during a 6-5 victory for his Cincinnati Reds because he predicted ahead of the series he was likely to hear a great deal of razzing through the similarity of his name and that of Seinfeld television character George Costanza. Costanzo benefitted from interleague play because it allowed him to get his first major league start as the designated hitter. The 28-year-old, primarily a third baseman and first baseman, went 1-for-3 with his second sacrifice fly since joining the Reds. He is now 1-for-7 at the plate with the other appearances in pinch-hitting roles. Of the expectation of being called 'Lord of the Idiots' as the sitcom star sometimes was known, Costanzo told FoxSportsOhio.com in advance of a five-game invasion of New York City (Cincinnati played two games against the Mets before moving to Yankee Stadium) "I hear it all the time and I know I'll hear it a lot in New York". It certainly helps that he now has a major league batting average, even if it is only .143. DAZZLING ATTENDANCE The American Association has gotten off to a terrific start at the gate, joining the Atlantic League in that fashion. El Paso, TX and Kansas City, KS have both had a 7,000 gate in the first two days of play with the Diablos drawing 7,823 Friday night for a two-day total of 12,042. The T-Bones had 7,026 fans show up for their opener, which also started interleague play with the Can-Am League. Amarillo, TX drew 6,518 for its opener Friday, and Laredo, TX, debuted in the league and opened a new ballpark with crowds of 5,923 and 5,116 in successive games. The league drew 62,992 the first two nights, according to figures compiled by Pointstreak, the American Association's official statistical house. Meanwhile, the Atlantic League has already drawn 356,262 fans, an average of 4,345 for 82 openings with the new Sugar Land (TX) Skeeters leading the way with an average of 6,921 for 10 home games. AMERICAN WEST LEAGUE CHECKS IN It was nice to pick up the phone Friday afternoon, and hear from Michael Cummings, the CEO of Godfather Media and the man behind the American West League which expects to start next season. Godfather Media owns the Yuma, AZ franchise formerly in the North American League, and Cummings told us he hopes to have at least six teams committed by mid-summer for a 2013 startup. He also confirmed players will be paid, which is a pleasant departure from at least one other league playing as an Independent but without paying all of its players. We will have more of what Cummings had to say in next Thursday's subscriber-driven Independent Baseball Insider column. SUBSCRIBE TO THE INDEPENDENT BASEBALL INSIDER FOR 2012. Subscriptions to the Insider $48 from now through December, 2012. REQUEST A FREE WEEK OF THE INDEPENDENT BASEBALL INSIDER Get the independent minor league baseball trivia question of the day by clicking this link: Independent Minor League Baseball Trivia Questions

It has been quite a week for former Independent players in the major leagues starting with Stu Pomeranz's call-up and two shutout appearances for Baltimore, then followed quickly by another impressive Daniel Nava start with Boston, lefty reliever Raul Valdes joining the Phillies and third baseman Mike Costanzo getting his first call to The Show with Cincinnati. (Comment: We featured Pomeranz in this week's subscriber-only Independent Baseball Insider.) The action lifts the current total of onetime Indy players in the major to 17, including three who are disabled. Nava, whose Independent time was for 72 games (12-59-.371) with Chico, CA of the then Golden League in 2008, will forever be remembered in Boston for the grand slam he hit on his very first time at bat in the majors (2010). It was his only round-tripper in the 60 games he played for the Red Sox that season. The 5-foot-10 lefty-hitting outfielder appears to be a more mature player overall now at 29, hitting .316 with three homers and 17 runs batted in for his 27 games at Triple-A Pawtucket before arriving for his second stint at Fenway Park. He has played three consecutive games since joining the Red Sox, and in addition to a couple of sparkling defensive plays has been on base twice for every three times at the plate. Nava is 4-for-8 with two doubles, two runs, an RBI and four walks. When Valdes steps on the mound for the first time the Cuban native will be appearing with his fourth major league team in three seasons, adding the Phillies to a list that already includes both New York teams and the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals for whom he made seven appearances. He was 9-4 in 21 appearances (16 starts) in the Can-Am League in 2006, mostly with the New Jersey Jackals, who also had Pomeranz for a season. While Costanzo was a second round draft choice by Philadelphia (2005), he topped out at Class AAA with both the Phillies and Baltimore, and needed a fresh start in the Atlantic League (Camden, NJ) before Cincinnati signed him. He hit .278 in 16 games with the 2010 RiverSharks with four homers and 10 RBI. Now 28, the onetime Coastal Carolina University slugger was at 6-24-.303 in 34 games for Louisville, KY when he got his major league call as veteran third baseman Scott Rolen went on the disabled list. If he debuts Sunday it will come against Washington. SUBSCRIBE TO THE INDEPENDENT BASEBALL INSIDER FOR 2012. Subscriptions to the Insider $48 from now through December, 2012. REQUEST A FREE WEEK OF THE INDEPENDENT BASEBALL INSIDER Get the independent minor league baseball trivia question of the day by clicking this link: Independent Minor League Baseball Trivia Questions