The 'Golden Baseball League', based in
Pleasanton, California, is a professional,
independent baseball league which operates in the
Western United States.
The GBL is not affiliated with either
Major or
Minor League Baseball but features many players with MLB experience (Rickey Henderson, Jose Canseco, Alex Arias, Bud Smith) as well as top young prospects. It formed in
2004 and began play on
May 26,
2005. The GBL uses the
designated hitter rule.
As an independent baseball league, the GBL exists to give professional baseball players who are not currently under contract with a Major or Minor League organization another chance at playing at the professional level. The GBL level of play is considered to be at the double A standard. Over 50 players have been sold to MLB organizations over the past two seasons. Player salaries range from $750 to $3,000 per month, the standard at the double A level.
The GBL's presenting partner is
Safeway Inc.. Other investors in the GBL include
Wheel of Fortune host
Pat Sajak, former
National Football League players
Mike Sherrard and
Christian Okoye, and executives from
Cisco Systems,
Taleo and
Draper Fisher Jurvetson.
History
In its inaugural season, the league was comprised of eight teams that played their home games in city- and university-owned stadiums, with the exception of the
Japan Samurai Bears, a traveling team of Japanese players that played all of its games on the road. Three of the GBL's teams, the
Chico Outlaws,
Long Beach Armada, and
Yuma Scorpions, operated in former
Western Baseball League cities.
On
May 9,
2005,
Major League Baseball's all-time
stolen base leader,
Rickey Henderson, signed a contract to play the 2005 season with the GBL's
San Diego Surf Dawgs, the first GBL Champions.
José Canseco, another retired star, signed with the Surf Dawgs in 2006 as part of his attempt to return to baseball and promote his book , along with its upcoming movie adaptation. Canseco was traded to the
Long Beach Armada after only one game. He said that the move was to be closer to his daughter.
The 2005 season ended with a four team championship tournament on
Labor Day Weekend. The tournament ended with San Diego winning two games on the final day, knocking off the
Mesa Miners in the second game to wrap up their championship season.
Before the
2006 season, the
Mesa Miners and
Surprise Fightin' Falcons suspended operations and a new team, the
Reno Silver Sox, was created, becoming the first GBL club in Nevada. The league chose to move to a 6-team format and did not have the travelling Samurai Bears return.
The GBL added the
St. George Roadrunners for the
2007 season. The league is looking to add additional teams in California, Arizona and
Oregon.
Golden Baseball League Teams
Defunct Teams
★
Japan Samurai Bears, a traveling team made up of 24 Japanese players.
★
Mesa Miners from
Mesa, Arizona.
★
Surprise Fightin' Falcons from
Surprise, Arizona.
★
San Diego Surf Dawgs from
San Diego, California.
Teams that never played
★
Tijuana Toros from
Tijuana, Mexico.
2005 Season
:'Standings'
x-Division Champion y-Wild Card (Division champions and top two wild card teams go to Championship.)
:'Playoffs and Championship'(4 team double-elimination, final 2 teams face in one game playoff)':'
| Game 1 | SAN DIEGO 9 Chico 0 |
| Game 2 | MESA 8 Long Beach 0 |
| Game 3 | CHICO 7 Long Beach 5 (Long Beach eliminated) |
| Game 4 | MESA 2 San Diego 0 |
| Game 5 | SAN DIEGO 2 Chico 1 (Chico eliminated) |
| Championship Game | SAN DIEGO 9 Mesa 6 (San Diego wins championship) |
| MVP | Cody Clark, San Diego |
:'Awards:'
| Year | Most Valuable Player | Pitcher of the Year | Rookie of the Year | Rookie Pitcher of the Year | Manager of the Year | Executive of the Year |
|---|
| 2005 | Desi Wilson, 1B/OF, Surprise | Grant Gregg, LHP, Chico | Nick Guerra, C/3B, San Diego | Manny Ayala, RHP, Mesa | Terry Kennedy, San Diego | Bob Linscheid, Chico[2] |
'All-League Team:' None
'Gold Glove winners:
[3]'
'Pitcher:'
Adam Pettyjohn, Long Beach
'Catcher:'
Cody Clark, San Diego
'First base:'
Yuji Nerei, Samurai Bears
'Second base:'
Kenichi Miura, Samurai Bears
'Third base:'
Sean Walsh, Fullerton
'Shortstop:'
Jeremy Hernandez, Long Beach
'Outfielders'
Marcus Knight, Mesa;
Billy Brown, Surprise;
Travis McAndrews, Long Beach
2006 Season
:'Standings:'
z-1st half champion and best overall record, x-2nd half champion (Champions of each half face in 5 game series for championship. If one team wins both halfs, team with next best overall record receives championship bid.)
:'Championship'(best of 5 game series)':'
| Game 1 | RENO 11 Fullerton 4 |
| Game 2 | RENO 5 Fullerton 4 |
| Game 3 | FULLERTON 9 Reno 5 |
| Game 4 | RENO 5 Fullerton 3 (Reno wins championship) |
| MVP | Doug Gredvig, Reno |
:'Awards:'
| Year | Most Valuable Player | Pitcher of the Year | Rookie of the Year | Rookie Pitcher of the Year | Manager of the Year | Executive of the Year |
|---|
| 2006 | Peanut Williams, 1B/DH, Fullerton | Chris Jakubauskas, RHP, Fullerton | Matt Maloney, OF, San Diego | Phil Springman, RHP, Chico | Les Lancaster, Reno | Becca Hoffer, Chico |
'All-League Team:'
'Catcher:'
Marcus Jensen, Reno
'First base:'
Desi Wilson, Chico
'Second base:'
Adam Mandel, San Diego
'Third base:'
Henry Calderon, Yuma
'Shortstop:'
Bret LeVier, Fullerton
'Utility:'
Craig Kuzmic, Chico
'Outfielders:'
Seth Pietsch, San Diego;
Jason Van Meetren, Chico;
Jeff LaRue, Long Beach;
Scott Goodman, San Diego
'Designated hitter:'
Peanut Williams, Fullerton
'Starting Pitchers:'
Chris Jakubaskaus, Fullerton;
Andre Simpson, Long Beach;
Ben Thurmond, Reno;
Phil Springman, Chico;
Brian Kroll, Chico;
Nate Sevier, Reno
'Relief Pitchers:'
Josh Rummonds, San Diego;
Scott Schneider, Reno;
E.J. Shanks, San Diego;
Mike Peck, Long Beach;
Wes Faust, Fullerton
'Gold Glove Winners:'
[4]
'Pitcher:'
James Johnson, Reno
'Catcher:'
Marcus Jensen, Reno
'First base:'
Desi Wilson, Chico
'Second base:'
Rob Gandolfo, Chico
'Third base:'
Henry Calderon, Yuma
'Shortstop:'
Hector Tena, Yuma
'Outfielders'
Chris Klemm, Long Beach;
Lino Garcia, Chico;
Ryan Webb, Long Beach
2007 Season
:'Standings:'
x-1st half champion, z-2nd half champion and best overall record
:'Championship'(best of 5 game series)':'
| Game 1 | CHICO 10 Long Beach 4 |
| Game 2 | CHICO 12 Long Beach 8 |
| Game 3 | LONG BEACH 7 Chico 5 |
| Game 4 | CHICO 6 Long Beach 1 (Chico wins championship) |
| MVP | Scott Dragicevich, Chico |
Arizona Winter League
Main articles: Arizona Winter League
On
November 15,
2006, the Golden Baseball League announced the
Arizona Winter League, which would be an instructional league for its summer league. The league began play on January 19, 2007.
Possible Expansion
★
Medford, Oregon
★
Grand Junction, Colorado
★
Apple Valley, California
External links
★
Golden Baseball League
★
independent-baseball.com
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