The Golden Baseball League (GBL) 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 (MLB) 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, and Mark Prior). It 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,Pat Sajak's GBL page at PatSajak.com 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 an MLB 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.
History The league 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.Questions and Answers , GBL website
The beginning
The league began with 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 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 were 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 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, which operated from 1995 to 2002.
On May 9, 2005, MLB's all-time stolen base leader, Rickey Henderson, signed a contract to play 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 was traded to the Armada after only one game. He said that the move was to be closer to his daughter.
Season 2: League Contracts 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.
League expands to Utah and Canada Prior to the 2007 season, 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, 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.
Tijuana joins league in 2009 and will play in 2010 On December 15, 2008, 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.Tijuana on Hold for '09, GBL website, May 8, 2009 This made all their scheduled games days off for the other nine teams and left their GBL future in serious doubt.
As planned, 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.
Yuma becomes a Colombian affiliation in 2009 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, the CPBL was to handle all on-field personnel and player issues while the team would retain control of promotions, concessions, and other front-office business. The Scorpions would 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 the Boston Red Sox.
Maui announced for 2010, Long Beach suspended 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 the city of Long Beach.
Kaval leaves GBL for MLS, league to expand east Dave Kaval, co-founder and CEO 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.San Jose Earthquakes president named, Eli Segall, Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal, October 4, 2010Chico Outlaws' chief executive takes another job , Travis Souders, Chico Enterprise-Record, October 5, 2010Chico Outlaws Future In Question , Bryan Callahan, KHSL-TV website, October 5, 2010VIDEO: Chico Outlaws Future , KHSL-TV website, October 5, 2010Kaval's resignation leaves questions for Outlaws, GBL , Travis Souders, Chico Enterprise-Record, October 6, 2010
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 (NAL). The Rockford RiverHawks, Schaumburg Flyers, Joliet Jackhammers, and Lake County Fielders planned on leaving the Northern League to join the GBL for 2011 with the new format.Riverhakws join Golden League , WREX.com, November 12, 2010 United League teams joining the NAL include the Edinburg Roadrunners, Harlingen Whitewings and San Angelo Colts.
Drug testing
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 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."
Franchises that played Golden Baseball League Team Founded City Stadium Capacity NotesCalgary Vipers2005Calgary, AlbertaFoothills Stadium6,000Joined league from the Northern League in 2008, folded in 2011Chico Outlaws2005Chico, CaliforniaNettleton Stadium4,200Charter team, only team to win two GBL titles, joined the NAL in 2010, folded in 2012Edmonton Capitals2005Edmonton, AlbertaTelus Field10,000Joined league from the Northern League in 2005, folded in 2011Fullerton Flyers/Orange County Flyers2005Fullerton, CaliforniaGoodwin Field12,623Charter team, joined the NAL in 2010, joined the American West Baseball League in 2013, then left that leagueJapan Samurai Bears2005JapanTraveling TeamN/ACharter team, played only season in 2005 before foldingLong Beach Armada2005Long Beach, CaliforniaBlair Field3,283Charter team, folded in 2010 after stadium issuesGolden Baseball League adds Maui, Tijuana teams for '10; drops Long Beach, Ballpark Digest, January 15, 2010Mesa Miners2005Mesa, ArizonaHoHoKam Park12,623Charter team, folded after only one seasonNa Koa Ikaika Maui2009Wailuku, HawaiiMaehara StadiumGolden Baseball League Expands to Hawaii, GBL website, September 30, 20094,100The team moved to the Pacific Association of Professional Baseball Clubs in 2012 and folded one year later in 2013.Reno Silver Sox2006Reno, NevadaWilliam Peccole Park3,000Relocated to Tucson, Arizona and became the Tucson Toros in 2009St. George RoadRunners2007St. George, UtahBruce Hurst Field2,500Team relocated to Henderson, Nevada and were to be a charter team for the NAL, but never played again, folded in 2012San Diego Surf Dawgs2005San Diego, CaliforniaTony Gwynn Stadium3,000Charter team, first-ever GBL champions, folded in 2007Surprise Fightin' Falcons2005Surprise, ArizonaSurprise Recreation CampusUnknownCharter team, folded after only one seasonTijuana Cimarrones2005Tijuana, Baja CaliforniaEstadio Nacional de Tijuana18,500Formerly of Liga Mexicana de Béisbol, originally known as the Tijuana Potros, folded after only one seasonTucson Toros1969Tucson, ArizonaHi Corbett Field9,500Formerly a member of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League, relocated from Reno, Nevada, returned to play in 2009, but folded in 2011Victoria Seals2008Victoria, British ColumbiaRoyal Athletic Park3,800Folded in 2010Yuma Scorpions2005Yuma, ArizonaDesert Sun Stadium10,500Charter team, folded after the 2012 season after two attempts to restart in different leagues
Teams that never played
Tijuana Toros from Tijuana, Mexico – Stadium was seized by Mexican military forces in January 2005 and awarded to former politicians who had struck a deal to bring a team back to the Mexican Summer League. The GBL quickly responded by forming the Japan Samurai Bears to fill the Tijuana spot on the schedule. There was also the Tijuana Embajadores from Tijuana, Baja California. Santa Clarita, California – Awarded franchise in 2006, but ownership was unable to find or build a ballpark.Expansion Team Dreams of Field, Los Angeles Times, March 28, 2006SUPPORT SANTA CLARITA , GBL website, April 4, 2006