The History Of the Minors

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The first minor league team was organized way back in 1882 and they were called the Northwestern League. Independent clubs worked hard to cooperated and protect themselves from having their best players nabbed by the National League.
In 1883 the American Association. the Northwestern League,http://www.best-hat.com/2011_05/9-di...d-6-years.html, and the National League signed agreements to honor contracts with their players. They also agreed to honor the suspensions and expulsions and to form an arbitration group that would settle any disputes that arose. In this agreement salaries were also agreed to and it also assigned either major or minor status to the teams.
By 1885 a new national agreement has been adopted which among other things removed the protection of the reverse clause to the minor league teams. A couple of years later this clause was reinstated but by then the lines in the sand had been drawn and there was a distinct line between the major and the minor leagues.
In the early stages baseball was confined to the northeast corner of the country. By 1885 it began to move south,Cheap NFL Jerseys,http://elgg.nim80.com/pg/blog/ldladf...r-in-your-mind, and by 1887 it had reached California. In 1888 Texas saw its first baseball teams and in 1890 the Pacific Northwest was introduced to baseball.
Over the next several decades minor league baseball managed to hang on. With all the pitting of majors against minors it truly is remarkable that they were able to hang on.
By 1963 most of the minor league clubs had been swallowed up by the major leagues and were no major league affiliates. But by the 1980s this had once again changed as minor league baseball exploded with over 20 million attending games in 1987. The cause of this explosion still remains unexplained today. By the 1990s minor league teams that could have been bought for pennies in the 1970s were being sold for millions of dollars.
The Professional Baseball Agreement came up for renewal in 1990. Under the original agreement the majors provided considerable financial support to the minors. But when it came time to renew this agreement the majors wanted to pull some of that financial support away because they felt the minors could fend for themselves.
Although there was much debating and bantering over this proposed agreement in the end the minor leagues agree to it for fear of being wiped out by the majors.
Minor league was worried that this new agreement would reduce the value of the franchises. But their worries were for nothing as in 1992 as small unsuccessful franchises were still being sold for over a $1 million dollars.
Despite successes of minor league teams such as the Buffalo,http://www.broomhop.com/index.php?do...ta-fashion-in/,Dc Shoes Hats, Louisville, or Durham clubs,Basketball Jerseys,around 30% of the teams still draw less than 1500 people to a game. Only time will tell if the minor leagues will be able to hold on.
Part of the problem with minor leagues is that major leagues still control them. The major league chooses all the players that will be on each of the minor leagues each season. The major league also assigns the manager,http://splendid01.wordpress.com/2011...-hitting-aids/,Christian Louboutin Mary Janes, the coaches,cheap converse shoes,http://www.guide-you.org/forum/index...sg2958#msg2958, and the trainers for the little league teams. So although they are an independent organization there is very little opportunity for them to actually act independently.
For minor baseball to continue they are going to need to continue to attract fans and thus increase revenues. If minor league slumps back into a loosing proposition the major league will quickly loose interest and pull any remaining funding.
It would also be nice to see minor league had a little bit more say over their teams and coaches. Only time will tell if they can hold on.
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