How old are these guys?
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The rule is players without minor league experience must be at least 18 years old and no player can be 27 years old prior to Jan. 1, 2015, with the exception of one player who will be designated as a "Veteran" player and cannot be more than 29 years old on the above date, provided he has been listed on a FL active roster for a total of 100 regular-season games during the previous two seasons.
The 27-year-old age limit is what has given the Frontier League the reputation of being a "younger league" and the No. 4 league on the independent ladder. But is the average Frontier League team significantly younger than an American Association team or a Can-Am League team?
Here are the average ages of each team's active roster entering tonight's play, which is opening night for 10 of the Frontier League teams:
Age - Team
25.12 - Joliet
25.04 - Greys
25.01 - Traverse City
24.95 - Southern Illinois
24.77 - Normal
24.66 - Florence
24.56 - Schaumburg
24.52 - Washington
24.29 - Lake Erie
24.25 - Windy City
24.22 - River City
24.16 - Evansville
24.16 - Rockford
23.83 - Gateway
Just for comparison, I checked the roster of two American Association teams, Laredo (because the Wild Things traded Kevin Brandt to the Lemurs this week) and former Washington manager John Massarelli's Kansas City team. I also checked the roster of the Can-Am's Rockland and New Jersey teams because Rockland is managed by former Chillicothe manager Jamie Keefe and former Wild Things pitcher Shawn Sanford is with New Jersey. Laredo's roster checked in with an average age of 26.14 while Kansas City's roster averages 26.41. Rockland averages 25.85 and New Jersey is a very Frontier League-like 25.11.
Both the American Association and Can-Am League do not begin their seasons until next week, so their teams have not made final cuts. That means some of the younger players will be released and the average player age will increase slightly.
What all of this tells us is the average American Association and Can-Am League team has a roster that is only 1-2 years older than that of a Frontier League team. I expected the difference to be signifcantly greater, given all I've heard and read about the Frontier being a much "younger" league.
posted by Chris Dugan at
10:09 AM
14 Comments:
The attendence listed in the box score tonight was 2414. I attended the game and I would say the stadium was about half full which would make around 1600 present.
Chris, how does this compare with home openers of prior seasons?
I believe I'am Afraid attended tonight.
Mostly a boring game.
Parking still $5.
It was third-smallest opening night crowd. Smallest was 2,038 in 2012. Largest was 3,547 in 2006. It also was the earliest (May 15) opener in Wild Things history. They had never played a home opener earlier than May 20 until this year. The record 2006 home opener was played on May 27.
The best day to play a home opener and draw a big crowd is the Friday before Memorial Day. Traverse City usually opens at home on this day but the other 12 teams alternate between opening on the first Friday of the season and the following Tuesday.
After reading the Frontier League’s new rules for playing extra inning games, nobody should any longer have any doubts about the
amateur nature of this League. If people are in such a hurry to have a game over with then they are not baseball fans and should not
try to ruin it for those that are. Perhaps the Frontier League should change their name to the Disney League and have as their
new logo a Mickey Mouse face. It would certainly more accurately reflect the true character of this League. Kudos to Bob Buzzuto for
voicing his opposition to this bazaar rule. Independent leagues are the outcasts of baseball and silly things as this rule are the reason
affiliated baseball wants nothing to do with them. I’d say MLB is 100% correct in their assessment.
What are the new extra inning rules?
I never heard about them.
Here you go:
http://www.observer-reporter.com/article/20150516/SPORTS03/150519538
When are people going to finally going to admit that this league is nothing more than a farce? Does it take a brick wall to fall on you to wake you up to all the non sense that continues year after year? We are so happy that we downgraded our ticket package this year. Don't think we could stomach a full season of this. Why do you even go to a baseball game if you are in such a hurry to see it end? Just asking.
If you're so happy that you downgraded your ticket package this year ... why do you even go to the games?
Just asking.
Just to mingle with our friends since you seem to have a need to know. Minding your own business might be a good activity for you to try. Stay on topic for once.
I'm sure I could find less expensive ways to mingle with friends. And the comment was on topic. You brought the subject up and I commented on it. Sounds like you need some sensitivity training.
Wow! not even 800 people showed up to watch. Can a franchise move be happening in the not too distant future?
I wonder how the Pirates minor league team in Morgantown will affect the Wild Things attendence when they start playing in June?
Parkerburg Wild Things? Has a nice ring to it.
The attendance, for official reasons, may have been 800 but there were only about 350-400 actually in the park. Most had left by the 4th inning. The Wild Things couldn't draw flies on a hot day. Even when people do show up they play so poorly that the crown just drifts out of the ballpark at a rate equal to about 15-20% of the remaining crowd per inning. I don't know what the answer is to getting folks to the park and keeping them there but, somebody at the WT better figure it out real quick. It seems that there are more employees than fans at CEP the last couple of seasons and that trend continues. The magic is gone - it's just not fun to go there any longer.
Team is dead and so is baseball in Washington. Parkersburg here they come.
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