Utica — Three-and-a-half years ago, United Shore Professional Baseball League founder Andy Applebee was convinced that expansion of his independent outfit was imminent.
But in 2019, the league walked away from an out-of-state opportunity over a variety of issues. Then came the pandemic, which limited the independent league to 100 fans a night in 2020, and 1,000 to start the 2021 season, before the restrictions finally were lifted last summer.
When the USPBL kicks off its seventh season Friday night, things will be entirely back to normal, said Dana Schmitt, the league’s president. And, yes, back to normal means a continued quest for expansion.
“We’re working on it; we’re always working on it,” Schmitt said earlier this week, sitting behind the commissioner’s box as players took batting practice.
“It only took 13 years to build this. It’s not easy to get it done. All the pieces have to fall into place.”
There are myriad complications with every site visit — chief among them, local politics. One leader might be interested, then that leader might not be re-elected, and the process starts all over. It also has to make sense from the USPBL side of things, namely the community demographics. Macomb County, in the shadows of Comerica Park, is a baseball-mad area, and the USPBL would need that for any new locale.
But one thing that’s not as complicated as it was back in the early 2000s, when Appleby had the notion to build his own independent baseball league in Utica, is selling the business model.
The model, initially scoffed at by outsiders, has proven successful — even surviving a pandemic.
Last summer, the USPBL welcomed its one-millionth fan through the turnstiles at Jimmy John’s Field, where four teams play — the Birmingham-Bloomfield Beavers, Eastside Diamond Hoppers, Utica Unicorns and Westside Woolly Mammoths — in front of fans who pay as little as $6 a game to see some pro baseball.
The baseball is pretty good, too, especially on the pitching side of things. Forty-five players have been signed by major-league organizations out of the USPBL, with two making it to the major leagues — right-hander Randy Dobnak in 2019 (leading to a five-year, $9.25-million contract) and right-hander Logan Gillaspie, who made his major-league debut Tuesday with two scoreless innings for the Baltimore Orioles.
“We’ve had some great baseball,” said Schmitt, noting that the league has developed such credibility in the baseball world that in 2020, when the affiliated minor-league baseball season was canceled, multiple major-league organizations sent prospects to Utica to continue playing. “I’m excited to see the new players. It’s always exciting when you start the season to see who’s going to rise to the top from that group.”
Paul Noce, who has been manager of the Diamond Hoppers since the league launched, is transitioning to the league’s field coordinator. It’s one of several staff shuffles, including Shane McCatty moving to director of baseball operations. Justin Orenduff, previous director of baseball ops, is stepping back into an advisory role to focus on his revolutionary Delivery Value System that has helped keep USPBL pitchers healthy, thriving and moving to major-league organizations. USPBL has a stake in DVS, which Orenduff has pitched to multiple major-league organizations, including the Tigers.
Noce, this week, broke the news about Gillaspie to the newest crop of USPBL players.
“That’s what it’s all about,” Noce told the players, some of whom are new and some of whom return to the league — which also is developing a reputation for its devotion to analytics, and this year, the league will host more than a dozen interns for its analytics department. “That’s why we are here.”
The question now is, where else will the USPBL be?
Pitching expansion
Schmitt was pretty matter-of-fact this week when asked what she thought of Appleby’s initial idea to build his own independent league. Many thought the idea was silly and was…
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