For baseball fans on Long Island who are not interested in sitting in NYC traffic to get to a Major League game, there may be some good news on the horizon. According to Dan Malley, vice president of the Independent Professional Baseball League (IBL), the non-affiliated league is looking to add a team in Garden City.
“Market research over the past year has led us to the Garden City/Central Nassau County area,” said Malley. “The Atlantic League also liked the area and at one point wanted to put a team here in one of the Coliseum projects back in about 2010”, he added.
The IBL was founded in 2012, and the Midwestern Division will begin play this summer. The other teams are located in Cleveland, Bowling Green, Galion, Muncie and Tiffin. They have gained credibility by adding three-time MLB All Star Bill Madlock as the manager of the Tiffin Saints. Madlock finished in the top 20 of MVP voting on six occasions during his 15-year career.
Recent college graduates and former professional players are the “most realistic” option in terms of the caliber of players the league will feature, according to Malley. As the league progresses, the quality of talent will certainly increase.
The league is currently looking for ownership of the franchise. Until that occurs, the details remain scarce, such as a facility. Possibilities would include local universities in Nassau County. The league projects to begin in the summer of 2015, which gives time for the situation to develop. Malley expects there to be between four and six teams in the division, with one team being located on the eastern end of Long Island as well.
The goal of the league is to become Nassau County’s version of the Long Island Ducks, an independent league team that Malley called “hands down the best independent baseball franchise ever”. The Ducks are part of the Atlantic League, which is non-affiliated with Major League Baseball, but have been able to add former MLB superstars to their roster over the years, which have enabled them to draw sellout crowds on a regular basis. Despite the lofty goal of modeling the franchise after the Ducks, Malley acknowledges that they are a “local league” and that makes it a challenge.
As far as the issue of local franchises taking exception to the IBL’s expansion to Nassau County, Malley doesn’t see that becoming a problem. “We are about 50 miles away from Central Islip, so we are not really affecting the fan base of the Ducks,” he said. It is not likely that the semi-pro league would affect the business of either of the Major League franchises.
The league will announce the dates of the open tryouts in the future on their website investinibl.com.
