Canadian-American Association of Professional Baseball

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Canadian-American Association of Professional Baseball
Sport	Baseball
Founded	2004
No. of teams	8
Country(ies)	United States  Canada
Most recent champion(s)	Nashua Pride
Official website	www.canamleague.com

The Canadian-American Association of Professional Baseball or Can-Am League, based in Durham, North Carolina, is a professional, independent baseball league located in the Northeastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario. It operates in cities not served by Major or Minor League Baseball teams and is not affiliated with either.

Although the level of Can-Am League play can be categorized at the Class A level, players in independent baseball are usually not scouted heavily by Major League teams. A few Major League alumni have called Can-Am League teams home in an effort to get back to the Majors. The league also caters to players who are not quite talented enough to play at a higher level.

Despite its nickname, the Association, founded in 2004, is not to be confused with the Canadian-American League, a 20th-century predecessor which was also known as the Can-Am League

[edit] Canadian-American Association of Professional Baseball

{| class="wikitable"

|- |}

[edit] Current Standings

[edit] 2007 Full season standings

as of September 6, 2007[1]

* Clinched 1st Half Title
+ Clinched 2nd Half Title
@ Clinched 1st and 2nd Half Title
^ Clinched Playoff Spot

[edit] League history

The Canadian-American Association is an independent league with ties to two different independent leagues, the Northeast League (formed in 1995), and the Northern League. The two leagues merged in 1998, but after the 2002 season, the Northeast League was reestablished as a separate league.

For the 2005 season, the Northeast League reconstituted as the Canadian-American Association and acquired a new team in Worcester, Massachusetts, to replace the Allentown Ambassadors, who folded days before the 2004 season began and forced the league to field a traveling team called the Aces. The Bangor Lumberjacks, native to Bangor, Maine, folded only three weeks before the start of the 2005 season, forcing the team to create the traveling team The Grays.

For 2006, the Can-Am League added two teams. The Elmira Pioneers announced they were folding operations in the offseason between 2005 and 2006, with the Sussex Skyhawks replacing them. The Nashua Pride also moved from the Atlantic League to the Can-Am League prior to the 2006 season.

The League also announced that they were changing their playoff format for the 2006 campaign. Prior to that, the league was divided into two divisions (North and South), with the division winners in each half-season qualifying for the playoffs, with wild-card teams (based on record) added if necessary to equal four. Under the new format, the divisions have been scrapped. All eight teams will compete for 4 playoff spots. The first two will be for the first and second half division winners. The second two spots will be given to the teams with the best winning percentage after that. If necessary, 3 teams can qualify based on win percentage (but only if the first half winner also wins the second half).

In October 2006, the League announced that the Atlantic City Surf would be switching from the Atlantic League to the Can-Am League beginning in the 2007 season. In November of 2006, the league announced that it would revive the Grays franchise as a traveling team as the 10th team. The Grays were also a traveling team in 2005, but were not a member of the Can-Am League in 2006.

In November 2007, both the New Haven County Cutters and the North Shore Spirit suspended operations, leaving the league's team total at eight. Many of the New Haven player contracts were sold to Nashua, while many of the former Spirit players were placed on waivers.

In December 2007, it was announced that Ottawa — abandoned by the International League at the end of the 2007 season — would be joining the Can-Am League as its eighth franchise, displacing the Grays. The Ottawa Rapids will play at Lynx Stadium.

[edit] League champions

• 1995 Adirondack Lumberjacks
• 1996 Albany-Colonie Diamond Dogs
• 1997 Elmira Pioneers
• 1998 New Jersey Jackals
• 1999 Albany-Colonie Diamond Dogs (Northern League)
• 2000 Adirondack Lumberjacks (Northern League)
• 2001 New Jersey Jackals (Northern League)
• 2002 New Jersey Jackals (Northern League)
• 2003 Brockton Rox
• 2004 New Jersey Jackals
• 2005 Worcester Tornadoes
• 2006 Les Capitales de Québec
• 2007 Nashua Pride

[edit] Commonwealth Cup

The Commonwealth Cup is a season long competition between the three Massachusetts teams in the Can-Am League; North Shore Spirit, Brockton Rox and Worcester Tornadoes.

The North Shore Spirit are the 2-time (2006, 2007) defending Commonwealth Cup champions.

# - Eliminated from Commonwealth Cup championship contention

[edit] External links

• Canadian-American Association of Professional Baseball