Golden Baseball League
The
Golden Baseball League, based in
Pleasanton, California, is a professional,
independent baseball league which operates in the
Western United States. With the exeption of the
San Diego Surf Dawgs, the GBL operates in cities not served by
Major or
Minor League Baseball teams. The GBL is not affiliated with either
Major or
Minor League Baseball. It formed in
2004 and began play on
May 26,
2005.
The GBL 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 GBL play can be categorized as between AA and AAA, players in independent baseball are usually not scouted heavily by Major League teams. Many Major League alumni have called GBL teams home in an effort get back to the Majors. The league also caters to players who are not quite talented enough to play at a higher level.
The GBL's presenting partner is
Safeway Inc. Other investors in the GBL include
Wheel of Fortune host
Pat Sajak, former
NFL players Mike Sherrard and
Christian Okoye, and executives from
Cisco Systems,
Taleo, and
Draper Fisher Jurvetson, among others.
The league is comprised of six teams that play their home games in city- and university-owned stadiums Three of the GBL's teams, the
Chico Outlaws,
Long Beach Armada, and
Yuma Scorpions, operate in former
Western Baseball League cities.
In the 2005 season, the
Japan Samurai Bears, a traveling team of Japanese players played as a road team. With the addition of the
Reno Silver Sox, and the dropping of the Mesa and Surprise franchises, a traveling team was not required for the 2006 season, thus the Samurai Bears did not return.
The GBL is planning to add additional teams in California and Arizona, plus teams in
Oregon and northern
Mexico, within five to seven years.
Salaries for GBL players range from $750 to $3,000 per month. Each team's entire payroll is less than a third of what the major league minimum is for one player ($316,000).
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, who would become the first GBL Champions. Another retired star
Jose Canseco signed with the
Surf Dawgs in 2006 as part of his attempt to return to baseball and promote his book
Juiced and its upcoming movie adaptation. However,
Canseco was quickly traded to the
Long Beach Armada after only one game. He said that the move was to be closer to his daughter, although some have speculated that it was to be closer to Hollywood.
2006 Golden Baseball League Teams
*
St. George, Utah (2007)
*
Japan Samurai Bears, a traveling team made up of 24 Japanese players.
*
Mesa Miners from
Mesa, Arizona*
Surprise Fightin' Falcons from
Surprise, Arizona*
Tijuana Toros from
Tijuana, Mexico.
*
Golden Baseball League*[https://www.sedonamg.com/goldenbaseball/Store Golden Baseball League shop]
