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39-675: The Armada fielded a team for the Arizona Summer League in 2010 months after suspending GBL operations, and then a team in the Arizona Winter League in 2011. The franchise has been owned by Diamond Sports & Entertainment, primary investors in the current North American League (NAL), since 2005. The team had 13 different players during its first five seasons that played at the major league level. In addition, 21 Long Beach Armada players have had their contracts purchased by major league organizations. The team

78-516: A charter member of the league, only to learn that the government of the Mexican state of Baja California would not permit this. Three of the GBL's teams, Long Beach, Chico and Yuma, operated in cities that once hosted Western Baseball League teams. The WBL operated from 1995 to 2002. On May 9, 2005, Major League Baseball 's all-time stolen base leader, Rickey Henderson , signed a contract to play

117-588: A major league uniform – Dane De La Rosa , Adam Pettyjohn , Scott Richmond , Chris Jakubauskas , Sergio Romo , Bobby Cramer , and Daniel Nava . The Golden Baseball League combined with United League Baseball and the Northern League into a new North American League for the 2011 season to form the first nationwide independent professional baseball league. However, the North American League folded after two seasons. The league

156-719: A professional short-season instructional baseball league affiliated with the independent North American League (NAL). The league was announced on April 3, 2009, and founded in Yuma, Arizona by the now-defunct Golden Baseball League (now a part of the NAL). Now headquartered in San Ramon, California , it is an independent baseball league that includes of four teams based out of different cities. All games are played at Desert Sun Stadium in Yuma, Arizona . The 2011 season ran from July 13 to August 8. Since its inception, some players from

195-604: A single-entity model whereby the league owned all the clubs (except Tijuana and Japan which were partnerships). Since then, several of the clubs have been sold to private groups. In its inaugural season, the league was composed of eight teams: the Chico Outlaws , Fullerton Flyers , Long Beach Armada and San Diego Surf Dawgs in California; Mesa Miners , Surprise Fightin' Falcons and Yuma Scorpions in Arizona and

234-713: A web sensation in June 2009 with the video of his "spinning bat trick"; and former Dodger José Lima , who was on the roster at the time of his death in May 2010. In February 2008, The Armada signed Tony Torcato , who has since been traded to the Chico Outlaws. One month later, in March 2008, the Long Beach Armada signed former Major League Baseball pitcher Jerome Williams . Other ex-major leaguers who have played for

273-685: Is an instructional summer league that includes a number of ex-major league stars as managers and instructors such as Mike Marshall , Rusty Meacham , Nick Belmonte , Warren Cromartie , Benny Castillo , Alex Arias and Shannon Hunt . The ASL will also help players who were injured during the season to rehab and work on returning to their GBL team. Final Standings * Awarded championship Final Standings * Awarded championship Final Standings * Awarded championship after single elimination playoff The Palm Springs Chill based in Palm Springs, California were interested to join

312-716: The Calgary Vipers and Edmonton Cracker-Cats , joined the GBL, becoming the loop's first two Canadian teams. The league expanded to nine teams in 2009 with the addition of the Victoria Seals , while the Reno Silver Sox moved to Tucson to become the Toros . The Cracker-Cats were sold to Edmonton Oilers owner Daryl Katz and renamed the Edmonton Capitals for the 2009 season. On December 15, 2008,

351-830: The El Centro Imperials . On January 5, 2011, the Arizona Winter League released their schedule and it was announced the Armada would be joining the league along with the returning Sonora Pilots and two new teams, the Arizona RoadRunners and Team Mexico and would become the second team (behind the Surf Dawgs) to have played in all three leagues within the GBL/NABL system. Notable former Armada players include former MLB star José Canseco ; ex-Yankee Hideki Irabu ; outfielder Josh Womack , who became

390-736: The Japan Samurai Bears . All teams played their home games in city- and university-owned stadiums, with the exception of the Samurai Bears, a traveling team of Japanese players that played all of its games on the road. The Japanese team was a late entry as the Tijuana Toros, who led all of minor league baseball in attendance at over 13,000 fans a game, had jumped from the Mexican League to the GBL in December to be

429-719: The San Francisco Giants . These leagues folded with the NAL in 2013. On November 15, 2006, the Golden Baseball League announced the Arizona Winter League , which would be a short-season instructional league for its summer league. The league began play on January 19, 2007. The Arizona Winter League has just completed its third season. In the first three years, over 130 Arizona Winter League players have been signed to professional contracts. Two of those players, Scott Richmond and Sergio Romo, are now pitching in

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468-594: The Scorpions ) and utilizing the Ray Kroc Complex which used to house the San Diego Padres and Yakult Swallows spring training operations. The league is for players out of college or university who were overlooked by professional teams and other players who were released by pro teams and are looking for professional contracts either from the Golden Baseball League or Major League Baseball . It

507-515: The 2005 season with the Surf Dawgs. The 2005 season ended with a four-team championship tournament on Labor Day Weekend. The tournament ended with San Diego winning two games on the final day, knocking off Mesa in the second game to win the title. José Canseco , another retired star, signed with the Surf Dawgs in 2006 as part of his attempt to return to baseball and promote his book, Juiced , along with its upcoming movie adaptation. Canseco

546-600: The 2009 All-Star Game against the United League, the GBL held its own All-Star Game. The game was between the two divisions, taking place in St. George, Utah - home of the RoadRunners, on Tuesday, July 14. During the game, pitchers Donnie Brandt and Isaac Hess were purchased by major league organizations during the game by Milwaukee and Boston respectively. Fehlandt Lentini won the home run derby . On December 9, 2009

585-494: The 2009 season. The Bisbee Miners , Long Beach Armada and San Diego Surf Dawgs joined the ASL for the 2010 season. The Yuma Scorpions became the first franchise in the league to broadcast select games on Adelphia Cable , which were produced by Arizona Western College Television Services. The Edmonton Capitals televised selected games by reaching an agreement with Shaw TV . The Golden Baseball League announced they had reached

624-414: The ASL have signed contracts with affiliated professional teams. In 2009, 18 ASL players were plucked out of the league by independent and foreign pro leagues. In 2010 57 ASL players (over 90%) were signed to pro contracts by independent and foreign pro leagues. The league, along with the companion Arizona Winter League , ceased operations for good in 2013. Patterned after the Arizona Winter League ,

663-549: The ASL. Another Arizona-based team is the Tucson Toros whom postponed their inaugural season in 2010. During the 2011 Summer season: 10 Players signed Professional contracts, Shortstop Kirby Young who played in 14 Games Hit. 400 and signed with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim becoming the first player to sign with a major league team in 2011. Golden Baseball League The Golden Baseball League

702-844: The Boston Red Sox. On September 30, 2009, the GBL announced that the Hawaiian sports and entertainment company XnE Inc. had purchased the territory rights to place teams in Hawaii and that their inaugural team would play at the War Memorial Complex in Maui in 2010. The team announced their name as Na Koa Ikaika Maui , which means the Strong Warriors of Maui. The Long Beach Armada announced that they were suspending operations due to an ongoing stadium lease dispute with

741-542: The CPBL will handle all on-field personnel and player issues while the team will retain control of promotions, concessions, and other front-office business. The Scorpions will act as a showcase team for players from all four CPBL teams. Yuma Scorpion Reynaldo Rodriguez, of Cartagena, Colombia, was named GBL 2009 Rookie of the Year, the top prospect in all the independent leagues by Baseball America, and had his contract purchased by

780-812: The GBL and the Northern League announced a two-year agreement that would pit the all-stars of the two leagues against each other in the mid-summer classic. The 2010 game wAS in Tucson on July 14 while the leagues will face off in Zion, Illinois at the newest ballpark (currently under construction) in the Northern League. The GBL, then later the North American League , featured two small instructional leagues that helped produce future independent, minor league and even Major League Baseball standouts, including two-time World Series Champion Sergio Romo of

819-623: The GBL-owned Arizona Summer League debuted with three charter teams: the Canada Miners , San Diego Surf Dawgs , and El Centro Imperials , under GBL team management. The Yuma Scorpions , who play in both the GBL and AWL, and San Luis Atleticos of the AWL were originally named as a charter team in the ASL, but were replaced at the last minute by the Surf Dawgs as the inaugural season began on July 2, 2009. In 2010,

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858-400: The Long Beach Armada include Bud Smith , Nick Bierbrodt , Adam Pettyjohn (the only Armada to have made it back to the big leagues from the club), Mark Quinn , Alan Newman , Chris Wakeland , Cleatus Davidson , Steve Smyth , and Seth Etherton . Golden Baseball League (2005–2009): Arizona Summer League (2010): Arizona Summer League The Arizona Summer League (ASL) was

897-484: The Long Beach Armada, to protect its ability to play at Blair Field , engaged lawyers to take action against the City of Long Beach and Long Beach State University alleging that the two public entities conspired to prematurely end the Armada's permit to play at Blair Field that still had three years left. The City of Long Beach made an arrangement to either sell or provide a long-term lease to Long Beach State University for

936-727: The North All-Stars against the South All-Stars. The GBL reached a two-year agreement with the United League to face off in two All-Star Games. The 2008 game was hosted by the ULB's San Angelo Colts , while the 2009 game was to be hosted by the Orange County Flyers . However, the United League went bankrupt in the off-season after 2008, causing the 2009 All-Star Game to be cancelled. In replacement of

975-485: The Northern League and join the GBL for 2011 with the new format. United League teams joining the NAL include the Edinburg Roadrunners , Harlingen Whitewings and San Angelo Colts . The league was the only independent baseball association to have drug testing . The league CEO Dave Kaval explained: "I feel that there is no place for illegal drugs in our business. We run a family-friendly operation off

1014-545: The San Diego Surf Dawgs operation was discontinued as San Diego State breached the lease agreement with the league and subsequently paid a settlement. The GBL remained at six teams by adding the St. George RoadRunners . The Utah city also hosted a Western League club from 1999 to 2001, the Zion Pioneerzz , becoming the fifth former WBL city to join the league. In 2008, two former Northern League clubs,

1053-618: The Surf Dawgs were joined by the Bisbee Miners and Long Beach Armada . In 2011, the teams were joined by Team Canada while Bisbee was reidentified as former GBL franchise the Mesa Miners . The inaugural season consists of a 20-game regular season, with the first and second place teams facing off in a one-game playoff for the championship. All teams are based in the Yuma, Arizona, area playing all games at Desert Sun Stadium (home of

1092-610: The Tijuana team did return for the 2010 season but came back with a new name and additional owners. The Tijuana Cimarrones were announced as a member of the GBL when the schedule was released on January 15, 2010. On May 20, 2009, the Yuma Sun reported that the team had signed an affiliation agreement with the Colombian Professional Baseball League (CPBL). Under the terms of the affiliation,

1131-534: The city of Long Beach. Dave Kaval , co-founder and C.E.O. of the GBL since its inception in 2005, resigned to take the job as team president of the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer . The United League and the Northern League agreed to join the GBL for the 2011 season in the formation of the new North American League . The Rockford RiverHawks , Schaumburg Flyers , Joliet Jackhammers , and Lake County Fielders planned on leaving

1170-436: The college to take over the maintenance and cost of running Blair Field, but first had to revoke the Armada's permit, which was standing in the way of completing a deal and had usage and concessions rights. As a result, the Armada suspended operations following the 2009 season. The Armada fielded a team in the Arizona Summer League in June 2010. They played alongside the Bisbee Miners and San Diego Surf Dawgs . They replaced

1209-981: The field, and illegal drug usage by our players would undermine the trust we have established with our fans. That is exactly what has happened at the MLB level. As a steward of the great game of baseball, I am proud to say that we have the most stringent drug policy in all of professional baseball." x-Division Champion y-Wild Card (Division champions and top two wild card teams go to Championship.) Gold Glove winners: Pitcher: Adam Pettyjohn , Long Beach Catcher: Cody Clark , San Diego First base: Yuji Nerei , Samurai Bears Second base: Kenichi Miura , Samurai Bears Third base: Sean Walsh , Fullerton Shortstop: Jeremy Hernandez , Long Beach Outfielders Marcus Knight , Mesa; Billy Brown, Surprise; Travis McAndrews , Long Beach z-First-half champion and best overall record, x-second-half champion (Champions of each half face in 5-game series for championship. If one team wins both halves,

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1248-600: The league signed a letter of intent to place another expansion franchise in Tijuana , Mexico . After the addition of the expansion Tijuana Potros on January 13, the Armada were moved to the North Division. The Potros themselves would postpone the season due to the swine flu outbreak in Mexico. This made all their scheduled games days off for the other nine teams and left their GBL future in serious doubt. As planned,

1287-487: The major leagues. The 2009 Arizona Winter League began play on January 31, 2009 and has expanded to 8 teams and almost 200 players. On April 3, 2009, the Golden Baseball League announced its second instructional league known as the Arizona Summer League , which is patterned after the AWL. This league consists of three teams, the Canada Miners , El Centro Imperials and San Luis Atleticos and began play in late June 2009. The ASL had 12 players signed to pro contracts during

1326-2320: The team with next best overall record receives championship bid.) All-League Team: Catcher: Marcus Jensen , Reno First base: Desi Wilson , Chico Second base: Adam Mandel , San Diego Third base: Henry Calderon , Yuma Shortstop: Bret LeVier , Fullerton Utility: Craig Kuzmic , Chico Outfielders: Seth Pietsch , San Diego; Jason Van Meetren , Chico; Jeff LaRue , Long Beach; Scott Goodman , San Diego Designated hitter: Peanut Williams , Fullerton Starting Pitchers: Chris Jakubauskas , Fullerton; Andre Simpson , Long Beach; Ben Thurmond , Reno; Phil Springman , Chico; Brian Kroll , Chico; Nate Sevier , Reno Relief Pitchers: Josh Rummonds , San Diego; Scott Schneider , Reno; E.J. Shanks , San Diego; Mike Peck , Long Beach; Wes Faust , Fullerton Gold Glove Winners: Pitcher: James Johnson, Reno Catcher: Marcus Jensen , Reno First base: Desi Wilson , Chico Second base: Rob Gandolfo , Chico Third base: Henry Calderon , Yuma Shortstop: Hector Tena , Yuma Outfielders Chris Klemm , Long Beach; Lino Garcia , Chico; Ryan Webb , Long Beach x-1st half champion, z-2nd half champion and best overall record All-League Team: Catcher: Buddy Morales , Orange County First base: Jaime Martinez , Long Beach Second base: David Bacani , Orange County Third base: Henry Calderon , Yuma Shortstop: Jesse Kovacs , Chico Utility: Ryan Stevenson , St. George Outfielders: Daniel Nava, Chico; Kane Simmons , Reno; Johnny Kaplan , Long Beach Yosvanny Almario , Yuma Designated hitter: Peanut Williams , Orange County Starting Pitchers: Ben Fox , Orange County; Derek Loop , Chico; Ryan Claypool , Long Beach; Roger Luque , Yuma; Dusty Bergman , Reno Relief Pitchers: Todd Gelatka , Chico; Dane De La Rosa , Long Beach; Anthony Pluta , St. George; Neil Hayes , Yuma x-1st half division champion, y-2nd half division champion All-League Team: Catcher: TBA First base: TBA Second base: TBA Third base: TBA Shortstop: TBA Utility: TBA Outfielders: TBA Designated hitter: TBA Starting Pitchers: TBA Relief Pitchers: TBA x-1st half division champion, y-2nd half division champion, z-wild card The GBL played their very first All-Star Game on July 18, 2006 at Chico's Nettleton Stadium pitting

1365-529: Was an independent baseball league based in San Ramon, California , with teams located in the Western United States , Western Canada and northwest Mexico . The GBL was not affiliated with Major League Baseball or the organized Minor League Baseball system, but has featured players with MLB experience ( Rickey Henderson , Jose Canseco , Alex Arias , Bud Smith , Desi Wilson , José Lima , Hideki Irabu , Junior Spivey , Mark Prior ). It

1404-447: Was formed in 2004 and began play on May 26, 2005. The GBL's presenting partner was Safeway Inc. Other investors in the GBL included Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak , former National Football League players Mike Sherrard and Christian Okoye , and executives from Cisco Systems , Taleo and Draper Fisher Jurvetson . Over 100 players were sold to MLB organizations after it began play, with seven players already making it to

1443-833: Was founded in 2004 by Stanford University graduates Dave Kaval and Amit Patel. Kaval was the president and chief executive officer (Patel departed after the 2008 season to run his family business conglomerate in Laurel, Mississippi). Brian MacInnes was the president, and Bill Weiss was the league's secretary and historian. Many former MLB coaches and players coached or managed in the GBL, including Kip Gross , Les Lancaster , Mike Marshall , Ozzie Virgil, Jr. , Darrell Evans , Garry Templeton , Cory Snyder , Jeffrey Leonard , Gary Carter , Mike Busch , Steve Yeager , Phil Nevin , Charlie Hough , Mark Parent , Tim Johnson , Terry Kennedy , Paul Abbott , Brett Boone , Alex Arias , Rusty Meacham , and Warren Cromartie . The league began with

1482-725: Was one of the original eight GBL charter teams that began play in 2005. They began play in May 2005, three years after their predecessors, the Long Beach Breakers , folded along with the Western Baseball League . Former Armada manager Steve Yeager managed the Breakers to the WBL Championship in 2001, that team's inaugural season, beating the Chico Heat 3 games to 2. On December 18, 2009,

1521-571: Was traded to the Armada after only one game. He said that the move was to be closer to his daughter. Before the 2006 season, Surprise was discontinued, while Mesa moved to Reno, another former Western League city, and became the Reno Silver Sox , the first GBL club in Nevada. The league moved to a six-team format and did not have the traveling Samurai Bears return. Prior to the 2007 season,

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