The Freedom Pro Baseball League has had some serious challenges this season, the latest of which includes the announcement that the league will cancel its post-season playoff/championship format and the loss of most of its front office staff members. A writer for Examiner.com has covered most of the happenings for the FPBL this season, so many of the archived articles related to the league can be found on this link and the referenced other Examiner.com pages:
At the time of the article’s publishing it looks like the Prospectors team is the one most likely slated to be awarded the championship due to the playoff cancellation announcement. If that is the case, it will be posted on this site when announced.
Many baseball media and other independent league personnel did not give much attention or lend credibility to the league due to its last-minute formation. There are no set standards for what a league needs to be deemed “professional”, but there are a few generally-accepted actions which need to be in place for the league to be included in the conversation:
- Obviously, it must pay its players some form of salary which is a contractually agreed-upon amount
- Register as a for-profit entity, with only rare exceptions
- Become a member of its community via intensive chamber of commerce or other civic involvement
- Focus on selling tickets + providing local entertainment to its fans via a planned marketing strategy
- Register its stats with where the other independent professional leagues post theirs. In previous seasons it was Howe Sports Data and now is with Pointstreak
- Have enough on-field talent to warrant attention from scouts and/or soon after the season launches prove that it can move its talent to other independent leagues and/or affiliated baseball
- Have consistent, punctual stats, scores and other media relations with its local media outlets as well as national & regional baseball media outlets
- Typically, an independent league will have some form of previous AAA or MLB talent on its field (usually as a manager) as well as someone with previous pro experience in the front office
- Credibility in paying its bills on time
- Not doing anything to “ruin the integrity of the game”
This is not a knock against the Freedom league. It is just a statement which begins to describe what other independent leagues would need to see before even considering any new league as one of its peers.
Speculation exists as to whether the Freedom league will be back next season. If it does then the announcement will be posted on this site.
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