NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, CFL stats



American Association

In Case You Missed It:Weekly Baseball and Basketball Report

by Dan Krieger
August 18, 2016 - American Association (AA)


BASEBALL

American Association: The independent American Association has three potential expansion markets on the horizon - Cleburne (TX) in the southeast portion of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, Franklin (WI) in the Milwaukee area and Rosemont (IL) in suburban Chicago. Construction is moving forward on a new ballpark for a team called the Cleburne Railroaders and team owners recently met with league officials about entering the league for the 2017 season. An official application still needs to be filed prior to a league meeting in October when a decision will be made on membership. Officials in Franklin need to approve financing for a mixed-use development that will include a minor league baseball stadium for a proposed American Association team. The goal is to have construction start in early 2017 with a stadium ready for the 2018 season. A group from Rosemont recently met with league officials to outline plans for a 6,300-seat stadium for a proposed American Association team. The village of Rosemont and team investors still need to work out the details on stadium, but they hope to start construction in 60 days.

Carolina League: The city of Fayetteville (NC) has set a cap on the cost of a proposed a new downtown ballpark for a possible team in the high Class-A Carolina League. A memorandum of understanding with Major League Baseball's Houston Astros still needs to be signed that will allow them to operate an affiliated team at the new ballpark. During a recent public hearing, there were mixed reactions from residents about the new ballpark.

Florida State League: The Daytona Tortugas of the high Class-A FSL announced the team will be renamed the Islanders for a game later this month as a tribute to the city's previous minor league baseball teams called the Daytona Beach Islanders.

Texas League: The San Antonio Missions of the Double-A Texas League are reported to be considering Lubbock (TX) as a possible relocation site, if the team is displaced by a Triple-A Pacific Coast League (PCL) team in San Antonio. The Missions had been considering Amarillo as a possible destination, but ownership recently declined to sign a letter of intent to relocate at this time. The move of the Missions is contingent on San Antonio building a new downtown stadium for a relocated PCL team that is expected to be the Colorado Springs Sky Sox. A study has been completed, but not yet released, on a proposed new Triple-A stadium in downtown San Antonio. One city official wants the city to consider building a Major League style stadium instead of a Triple-A stadium.

South Florida Winter League: The SWFL has partnered with Japan's independent baseball league called the Shikoku Island League to make the SWFL the official tryout and showcase facility for players interested in the Japanese league. Tryouts will be held in November at the league's Dodgertown facility in Vero Beach (FL). A Shikoku Island team has played a partial schedule of games against teams in the independent Can-Am League for the past two seasons.

Empire Pro League: The four-team independent EPL survived its first season and plans to add two or four more teams for a 2017 season.

BASKETBALL

American Basketball Association: The ABA announced the team called the Western New York Thundersnow, or WNY Thundersnow, will be part of its 2016-17 season. The Thundersnow is based in Niagara Falls (NY) and was part of the 2016 Premier Basketball League. The team will be added to the ABA's Northeast Division.

Midwest Professional Basketball Association: The MPBA announced an expansion team called the Eureka Blaze in the Peoria (IL) area will be part of the 2017 season. The league recently announced another 2017 expansion team called the Jacksonville (IL) Generals.

FOOTBALL

Champions Indoor Football: The new CIF team called the Centex Fightin' Cavalry, which will be based out of the Bell County Expo Center in Belton (TX), was officially announced this week and the team will start play in the 2017 season. The team name has been shortened to the Centex Cavalry.

Elite Indoor Football: The proposed new professional EIF, which plans to start play in March 2017 with teams on the southern east coast of the United States, now lists four member teams - the Palm Beach Phantoms, Florida Generals (Kissimmee), South Florida Barracudas and Savannah Steam, which was a member of the now-defunct American Indoor Football in 2016.

Arena Developmental League: The ownership of a new indoor football team called the Dayton Wolfpack has signed a letter of intent to join the new ADL for the league's inaugural 2017 season.

Check out the American Association Statistics

• Discuss this story on the American Association message board...

American Association Stories from August 18, 2016


The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central