Talk:Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball

Commonwealth Cup

I've reorganized the History section and added text to a section "Policies and Practices" that now includes the league's current and former teams. (I have added a few teams from the era before the league was renamed the Can-Am League, but others remain to be added.)

Am now going to delete the information on the Commonwealth Cup. This section was obviously last edited (by a loving fan of the victorious but defunct North Shore Spirit) at the end of the 2007 season. I don't know whether the remaining two Massachusetts franchises played for a Commonwealth Cup in 2008. If so, it is worth a mention, even though it is essentially not information on the League but on a side bet. --Spike-from-NH (talk) 12:52, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

History

I added a bit more to the Former teams and updated other info about teams that moved (i.e. New Haven's past incarnations). As far as the history there should be a LOT more in there about the league existing as the Northeast League than just a paragraph or two, perhaps it's own subsection complete with the logo that was removed above n whatnot. I would do it right now but time constraints restrict me. (also i'm that "loving fan" of the Spirit in case you were curious)

Okay, User:Pharos04. On combining the table entries for Spirit and Mad Dogs, I had them separate to avoid repeating the data on Fraser Field. I accept your change separating them because it makes each easier to find in alphabetical order. As for more history about the Northeast League era, I'd welcome you to do so when you find the time. Realize that the passing of years makes such history less relevant; I've been in a debate elsewhere, with users toying with folding the article on the defunct Nashua Pride into the new article on the American Defenders, about how much Pride history will be lost.

Ultimately, it falls back on Wikipedia policies, on which I am no expert. Surely one of those many things that "Wikipedia is not" is a repository for all the information you would like on your favorite team. And the deletion of the NL logo was solely on the basis of whether Wikipedia was safe in displaying a copy of someone else's trademark (although now defunct). Someone could have made an effort to rebut the claim that it could not be used. (I am the fan with the Bucket O'Noise with cowbells and slide whistle at Pride and Spirit games. And I am able to get in touch with the mascot of the same name.) --Spike-from-NH (talk) 17:37, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

Rapids/Rapidz

An anonymous user has noted in the article that the Ottawa franchise is back and the spelling is changed to the "original" spelling, "Rapids." I'm all for this, but how can you call it original when it was called "Rapidz" in its only season so far, the 2008 season? Moreover, as the article stands now, the team is referred to as "Rapids" even for 2008, then "Rapidz" just once without explanation. --Spike-from-NH (talk) 23:46, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

PS--I retract the above question after reading the article on the team, but am still going to revert some of the edits to refer to the 2008 incarnation as the "Rapidz." --Spike-from-NH (talk) 23:52, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

January 2009 edits to summary

I am reverting edits by User:Michaelcarraher, which moved to the summary a description of the level of play in the league. Am not opposed to the summary stating that the Can-Am is a single-A equivalent, though I think too much detail was moved to the summary. However:

• The implication, in the wording at the start of the third paragraph, that the League exists to serve players' needs, was remarkable; surely some owners mostly want to make money (or just to be an owner)
• The information on player motivation is best left together as a separate section. The edit left only one paragraph--separated by excessive spacing from the rest of the "Scheduling" section--that mostly repeated text moved to the summary.
• The change deleted information on the traffic between the Can-Am and Atlantic Leagues
• It reintroduces stilted language like "can be categorized at" and "have called...teams home," which I had simplified last November.

If you would discuss what you wished to achieve, I will help you do it in a more targeted way. --Spike-from-NH (talk) 14:54, 27 January 2009 (UTC)

Reply from User:Michaelcarraher to Spike-from-NH. Edits followed the form/template used in articles on other independent baseball leagues. I agree, they can be improved. However, the Can-Am league, like other unaffiliated leagues, does meet the needs not signed to minor league contracts (regardless of the team owners' motivations). Specifically, I question two specific statements made: (1) some scouts believe the short playing season of the Can-Am League does not adequately test a player's durability for an entire Major-League season. Do you have sources for this statement? The Can-Am season is longer than the season for affiliated short-season and rookie leagues. If the Can-Am league does not test players, than neither do the MiLB short-season and rookie leagues. (2) The Atlantic League is another independent league in the same geographic area and has a longer season; some Can-Am players go there after the Can-Am season finishes. Again, do you have sources and/or specific examples? What you say does not seem likely. The Atlantic League (according to the Wikipedia article) play at between the AA and AAA level and according to Atlantic League team press releases posted on their websites, players picked up by MLB teams are generally sent to AA or AAA farm teams. You state the Can-Am league is only Class A level (probably low-A). And the Atlantic League only plays for about two weeks after the end of the Can-Am season. The second sentence of the statement Some Major League alumni have gone to the Can-Am League in an effort to return to the Majors. This succeeds occasionally, but is a less direct route than signing with an affiliated team, which a player would do if scouts and coaches shared the player's optimism. seems unnecessary, overly obvious and somewhat condescending. (talk) Michaelcarraher (talk) 18:57, 28 January 2009 (UTC)

I don't disagree that the Can-Am meets the needs of certain players; only that the wording as you left it made it seem as though that were its reason for being. Thanks for the specific complaints: (1) It is clear that the Can-Am is scouted less than the Atlantic League. As well as talking with scouts, I read an interview with a team manager in Le Journal de Quebec that cited the length of the year as the reason; this interview is surely not still archived. (2) Yes, the Can-Am season is no shorter than that in single-A, but MLB has made a commitment to players in single-A, seeing potential for rapid development; Can-Am players are on the outside trying to get in. Although Can-Am teams are generally at the single-A level, players have varied skill levels as they have varied LS rank; several Nashua Pride players have jumped to Bridgeport and elsewhere in the Atlantic League to finish the year.

The sentence you cite at the end of your message is too cutesy, though not untrue; I'll tighten it up. If you will point me to a couple other Wikipedia articles, I'll work on harmonizing the organization of this article with them. --Spike-from-NH (talk) 21:06, 28 January 2009 (UTC)

Connection to MLB

I know this league has no direct connection to Major League Baseball, but what happens to star players? Are they signed or drafted by MLB franchises? 12.239.145.114 (talk) 02:02, 2 June 2012 (UTC)

Folded into another league?

I cannot find verification that this happened so until info is posted, I have put 2 "citation needed"s up.Stereorock (talk) 15:07, 5 February 2014 (UTC)

The Can-Am League is back in 2018 and expect to play in 2019. Six teams plus the Salina Stockade (baseball) in Kansas to make it 7. Next year, 3 other indy baseball leagues will play odd-number league team schedules: the American Association (2010s), Atlantic League and Southwest League (expected to be 6 teams, but only 5 - includes a team in Woodward, Oklahoma yet to be named, they were former member of the Pecos League). 12.218.47.123 (talk) 03:32, 17 September 2018 (UTC)

This was a four-and-a-half year old comment. It was referring to the point a few years back where the Can-Am League was down to four teams and it was preliminarily announced that they would merge with their sister league, the American Association, as an eastern division, but ultimately kept heir separate identity and instead used interleague games with the AA to keep going, until new teams (Sussex and Ottawa) joined the league bringing the Can-Am back up to six teams. It has nothing to do with the 2019 schedule. oknazevad (talk) 11:39, 17 September 2018 (UTC)