NL Central Hires Mike Stone As Commissioner
April 16, 2002 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Portland Forest Dragons News Release
DURHAM, N.C. - Former Texas Rangers president Mike Stone has been named commissioner of the independent Northern League Central Division.
Stone most recently worked as executive director for USA Boxing, the National Governing Body of amateur boxing. He was president and chief operating officer of the Rangers from 1983 to 1990. His return to baseball was unanimously endorsed by the Northern League Central's 10 owners.
"I'm honored to be a part of the Northern League," Stone said. "I have admired independent baseball for some time and certainly the Northern League is the premier league of its kind. I look forward to helping develop the league's future."
Stone received a degree in biology from Albion College in Michigan. He earned a master's and PhD in psychology from the University of Michigan and was a captain in the United States Air Force from 1973-77. Stone served as assistant to the president of an oil company, the Western Company of North America, from 1980 to 1983.
Stone takes over for league founder and former commissioner Miles Wolff, who announced his resignation Thursday from the Central Division. Wolff remains commissioner of the East Division.
The Central Division has 10 teams for 2002 in Gary, Ind., Joliet and Schaumburg, Ill., Fargo, N.D., Sioux Falls, S.D., Lincoln, Neb., Duluth and St. Paul, Minn., Sioux City, Iowa, and Winnipeg, Manitoba. The league started with six franchises in the Upper Midwest and Canada in 1993.
The 90-game Northern League schedule begins May 23.
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