The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball is a professional, independent baseball organization located primarily in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, especially the greater metropolitan areas of the Northeast megalopolis. It operates in cities not served by Major or Minor League Baseball teams and is not affiliated with either. The Atlantic League requires cities to have the market for a 4,000 to 7,500-seat ballpark and for the facility to be maintained at or above AAA standards.[1] When Atlantic League professionals are signed by MLB clubs, they usually start in their Double-A or Triple-A affiliates.[2]
In 1998, the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball played its inaugural season, with teams in Somerset, Newark, and Atlantic City, New Jersey; Nashua, New Hampshire; Newburgh, New York; and Bridgeport, Connecticut. The creation of the league was the result of the New York Mets' objection to Frank Boulton's proposal to move the former Albany-Colonie Yankees because of its territorial rights to the region. Boulton, a Long Island native, decided to create a new league that would have a higher salary cap for its players and a longer season than most of the other independent baseball organizations. He modeled the Atlantic League after the older Pacific Coast League, with facilities that exceed AAA-level standards. Boulton also emphasized signing players of Major League Baseball experience for all Atlantic League teams, raising the level of play above other independent leagues.
In 2010, the league announced that it would be expanding to Sugar Land, Texas and adding its first franchise not located in an Atlantic coast state.[3] The Sugar Land Skeeters began play in 2012. In 2010, amid financial struggles, the Newark Bears moved from the Atlantic League to the Can-Am League, leaving the Bridgeport Bluefish and Somerset Patriots as the only teams remaining from the league's inaugural season.[4] In the summer of 2013, then-ALPB President Frank Boulton announced that he would be resigning so that he could devote more time to operating the Long Island Ducks. He was replaced by longtime high-ranking Major League Baseball executive Rick White.[5] In 2014, the league announced further expansion. The Virginia Beach Neptunes would begin play at Wheeler Field when construction on the ballpark is completed in 2016.[6] On July 8, 2015, the Atlantic League began using Rawlingsbaseballs with red and blue seams, virtually unused in the sport since the American League swapped the blue in their seams for red in 1934.[7]
On September 1, 2015, the Atlantic League announced conditional approval for an expansion team or a relocated team to play in New Britain, Connecticut for the 2016 season. Final approval is conditioned on successful lease negotiations.[8][9][10][11]
The Atlantic League is generally regarded as the most successful and highest level of baseball among independent leagues.[12][13] Many notable former and future Major League ballplayers including Roger Clemens, Rickey Henderson, Scott Kazmir, Dontrelle Willis, Juan González, John Rocker and José Canseco have played in the league and several have coached, including Gary Carter, Tommy John, Bud Harrelson and Sparky Lyle. The Atlantic League has consistently posted higher per game and per season attendance numbers than rival independent circuits including the American Association, Can-Am League, Frontier League and United League.[14][15][16][17] In 2015, the Atlantic League experienced a watershed moment for independent baseball when it signed a formal agreement with Major League Baseball which put into writing the rules which the ALPB would follow in selling its players' contracts to MLB clubs and their affiliates. This marked the first time that MLB, which has enjoyed a U.S. Supreme Court-granted antitrust exemption since 1922, had made any formal agreement with or acknowledgment of a independent baseball league.[18] The league also established a minor league partnership with the North Country Baseball League, allowing players from that league to be called up to Atlantic League rosters.[19]
^Bakan, Josh (July 25, 2015). Newts' three-week run in Newburgh lacked financing and foresight. Times Herald-Record. Retrieved August 2, 2015. “Baseball-wise, the league intends to develop players to hopefully make the Atlantic League, an independent organization.”
