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40-596: The league traces its roots to the Kansai Farm League, a formerly independent baseball league outside the realm of the NPB. It formerly included 7 teams, which quickly transformed into 6 due to the disbandment of once famous ballclub Sanyo Crowns. The first farm teams or second armies joined the league for the 1955 season. A league champion is determined at the end of each season. The Hanshin Tigers have won 18 Western League titles,

80-545: A partnership with the USL organization which began formal affiliation between some USL teams and MLS teams. The partnership continued to deepen through the 2010s; by the end of that decade, most MLS teams fielded their reserve teams in the USLC, while a few had their reserve sides in USL1 instead of the USLC. For several years, MLS nominally required all of its teams to either field a reserve team in

120-631: Is a North American indoor soccer league that serves as the developmental league of the Major Arena Soccer League . Minor league baseball is almost as old as the professional game itself, and at first consisted of attempts to play baseball in smaller cities and towns independent of the National League , the first true major league. Soon, scouts for the National League were traveling to watch minor league teams play and attempting to sign

160-548: Is held at a neutral site (the 29th tournament in 1986 through the 40th tournament in 1997 were added to the official round-robin tournament). Also, a few pro-am exchange tournaments are held during the season between teams that are not scheduled to play and teams from the Japan Baseball Federation. Eastern League (Japanese baseball) The Eastern League ( イースタン・リーグ ) is one of the two minor leagues ("ni-gun") of Japanese professional baseball . The league

200-535: Is not used, although teams have been informally "promoted" from lower leagues up to Major League Soccer. The United Soccer League operates the USL League Two (formerly the Premier Development League, or PDL), a semi-professional league that has some age restrictions. The National Premier Soccer League operates at approximately the same level as USL League Two. In 2013 Major League Soccer announced

240-562: Is owned and managed by the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). Teams in the Eastern League generally play an 80-game schedule every year. The league currently contains the minor league affiliates of seven Japanese professional teams. With a few exceptions, Eastern League teams currently carry the same name, and use the same uniforms, as their parent team. Current teams, their main home stadiums and locations: In 1954

280-544: Is the most prominent of the minor hockey leagues in North America. Minor League Cricket (MiLC) is a developmental league of Major League Cricket that began play in 2021. Other sports organizations considered to be minor leagues are golf's Korn Ferry Tour and Epson Tour , respectively affiliated with the PGA Tour and LPGA ; NASCAR 's Xfinity Series , Camping World Truck Series and Whelen All-American Series (and to

320-757: Is thus decided on winning percentage. Interleague play exists. Interleague play is played in May during the Miyazaki Sunshine Series (宮崎サンシャインシリーズ). Plus, the WL champion meets the Eastern league's champion in the Farm Japan Championship Game, a single game to determine an overall champion of farm baseball, which has been held annually since 1987. The league was created in 1952 as the Kansai Farm League , and

360-584: Is used in North America with regard to several organizations competing in various sports. They generally have lesser fan bases, much smaller revenues and salaries, and are used to develop players for bigger leagues. The minor league concept is a manifestation of the franchise system used in North American sports , whereby the group of major league teams in each sport is fixed for long periods between expansions or other adjustments, which only take place with

400-595: The Atlantic Coast Football League , and most recently, the league owned-and-operated NFL Europe . In modern times, the NFL has developed players not ready for the active roster through each team's practice squad . Several NFL owners had purchased teams in the Arena Football League in the mid-2000s, prior to its bankruptcy and restructuring. Arena football is played under very different conditions, and

440-541: The ECHL . On "the farm", the NHL team will develop young players, occasionally rehabilitate older players who are injured or whose quality of play has slumped. These teams, in turn, have lower-level minor leagues to draw players from and pass players down to. Minor professional ice hockey leagues should not be confused with Junior (amateur players) or Senior (semi-professional to amateur) ice hockey leagues. The American Hockey League

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480-642: The Orix BlueWave and Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes merged to become the Orix Buffaloes , leaving five teams in the Western League. Until 2002, teams played each other 18 times per year (9 home and 9 away) giving a 90-game season. In 2003 and 2004, the season was divided into two stages, with teams playing each other nine times in each stage. The two stage winners would then meet in a play-off game in October with

520-637: The Taiyo Whales in 1953, but the Kintetsu Pearls ' farm team joined the league that year, keeping the number of teams at six. In 1954 the six teams of Nippon Professional Baseball 's Central League decided to form their own minor league, called the New Japan League . With the Chunichi Dragons and Hanshin Tigers affiliates dropping out to join the new minor league, only four teams remained in

560-546: The United Football League and both the 2001 and 2020 incarnations of the XFL, have sought to maintain independence and maintain a national profile while acknowledging the lack of funds (particularly from television, which is by far the NFL's largest revenue stream) that would be needed to compete for NFL-caliber talent. The UFL during its existence was recognized and accepted as the second tier of professional football behind

600-668: The United States Soccer Federation , but through the affiliated United States Adult Soccer Association . The USL organization has announced plans to create a full women's developmental pathway, establishing the semi-professional third-level USL W League (USLW; not to be confused with its former W-League) in 2022 and planning to launch the USL Super League (USLS) in 2023. The USL has applied for U.S. Soccer sanctioning of USLS; it has not yet announced its sanctioning plans for USLW. The Major Arena Soccer League 2 (M2)

640-667: The Western League to join the Eastern League. In 2005 the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles were formed to join NPB, and their farm team became part of the Eastern League as well. The independent Niigata Albirex Baseball Club was added to Eastern League for the 2024 season. Minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports . Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term

680-464: The "NBA D-League") and NBA Summer League . The now-defunct Continental Basketball Association (CBA) served some of the purposes of a minor league for the NBA for many years. However, there were no direct developmental agreements between CBA and NBA teams the way that there are between Major League Baseball and National Hockey League teams and their minor league affiliates. Pro Semi-Pro The sport with

720-649: The 14 farm teams of the Central League and Pacific League were split up to create the Eastern League and the Western League , each with seven teams. The Eastern League contained the minor league teams of the seven professional teams that had their homefields in the Eastern region of Japan (NPB parent team in parentheses): After one year of operation, the league dissolved in 1956 for financial reasons. The Eastern League restarted in 1961 with five teams: in

760-568: The AFL had its own minor league, af2 , until 2009. Several other independent indoor football leagues that play a similar game exist. Similarly, the Canadian Football League , though it has developed ties with the NFL in recent years and has moved away from competing with the NFL for talent, plays a visibly different game than the American game, and the two sports favor different types of skills;

800-558: The CFL arguably holds major league status in its home territory of Canada . Several minor or developmental leagues, independent of the NFL, have come and gone. Some, such as the Alliance of American Football and Fall Experimental Football League (along with the FXFL's successor, the still extant but non-paying The Spring League ), have explicit minor league and developmental aspirations. Others, such as

840-445: The DH system and Hiroshima followed suit in 2015. At present . In principle, games can only run to 10 innings. However, in the case of a preliminary game held at the same venue as an official game of the first team, or in the case of a regional game held at a different venue the next day, extra innings are not played after two and a half or three hours (depending on the venue) from the start of

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880-462: The Eastern League, played during the Miyazaki Sunshine Series in May - with winning percentage determining positions as teams play different numbers of games (cancelled games are not rescheduled). Prior to 2013 only games hosted by a team whose first team belongs to the Pacific League (Orix and SoftBank) included the designated hitter system (DH system). Since 2013 games hosted by Hanshin also used

920-491: The Kansai Farm League. Both minor league decided to join forces with NPB in 1955, and the 14 farm teams of the Central League and Pacific League were split up to create the Western League and Eastern League , each with seven teams. 1955 Western League lineup (minor league homefield shown in parentheses): The Lions moved their franchise to Saitama in 1979 to join the Eastern League , leaving six teams, and in 2005

960-516: The NFL, with several former NFL stars playing in the UFL near the ends of their careers. High-level Low-level High-level Mid-level Low-level Below Major League Soccer several lower-level leagues operate on both sides of the U.S.–Canada border as part of the American and Canadian soccer pyramids. As is standard for sports in both countries , the formal promotion and relegation system

1000-500: The Short-Season A level eliminated from the minor leagues, and all leagues above Rookie level in the affiliated system renamed. Also, four independent leagues were officially designated as "MLB Partner Leagues". In 2022, the leagues renamed in 2021 reverted to their traditional names. The National Basketball Association has affiliated minor leagues: the NBA G League (formerly called

1040-411: The USL or officially affiliate with a separately owned USL team, but this was never strictly enforced. No formal relationship existed between NASL and the other leagues; NASL's commissioner had said he believed it would "stay that way for some time". However, MLS clubs started withdrawing their reserve sides from the USL system in 2020 amid rumors that MLS would relaunch its former MLS Reserve League in

1080-458: The advent of television; minor league clubs only survived in many markets because their major league affiliations included financial support. The trend began to reverse in the 1990s, as new independent minor leagues began for the first time in decades and have become successful to varying levels. In 2021, a major reorganization of the minor leagues saw the number of affiliated teams (i.e., those with formal links to MLB teams) reduced from 160 to 120,

1120-603: The coming years; these rumors were proved correct by the 2022 establishment of MLS Next Pro . MLS Next (stylized in all caps) is a system of youth soccer leagues that are managed, organized and controlled by Major League Soccer . It was introduced by the league in 2020. Semi-professional and amateur leagues sanctioned by the United States Adult Soccer Association are USL League Two , National Premier Soccer League , NISA Nation and United Premier Soccer League . The system, introduced in mid-2020,

1160-416: The consent of the major league owners. In Europe , and many other parts of the world, association football (soccer), basketball, american football, baseball, handball, hockey, etc. leagues have many divisions below the top-flight level as part of the football pyramid . In other parts of the world there is usually either a system of annual promotion and relegation , meaning that clubs have no fixed status in

1200-400: The game. Even if the score is tied in the final inning or the home team wins the game after the top of the 9th inning, the bottom of the 9th will still be played. Even if time expires before the fifth inning is completed, the game shall always be played until the fifth inning. In addition, a tournament has been held in May every year since 1961, in which all teams participate and the tournament

1240-547: The hierarchy, or there is only one professional league per country in each sport, rendering the major/minor distinction irrelevant. While there are various semi-professional football leagues, none have any affiliation with the National Football League (NFL). The NFL and its teams have had working relationships with several independent leagues in the past, including the Association of Professional Football Leagues ,

Western League (Japanese baseball) - Misplaced Pages Continue

1280-919: The interim the Daiei Stars and the Takahashi Unions (formerly the Tombo Unions ) had merged into the Daiei Unions , who in turn merged with the Mainichi Orions to ultimately form the Daimai Orions (now known as the Chiba Lotte Marines ). From that point until the year 2000, all Japanese minor league teams used the same name as their NPB parent club. In 1979, the Nishitetsu Lions moved their franchise to Saitama, with their minor league team leaving

1320-488: The large number of American-based teams is that minor league franchises will frequently move from city to city, and even between leagues. In contrast, Canadian cities more commonly host major junior teams, which develop teenage prospects prior to their move to the professional leagues. All National Hockey League teams have a farm team in the American Hockey League and often have a secondary affiliated team in

1360-475: The more talented ones away. Soon Major League Baseball began formal developmental agreements with some minor league teams, while others remained independent . Since it was first developed in the 1920s by St. Louis Cardinals executive Branch Rickey , the formal developmental affiliations have come to dominate minor league baseball, and the majority of minor leagues are part of the affiliated system. A general decline in minor league attendance occurred following

1400-583: The most in the league's history, followed by the Chunichi Dragons (16) and the SoftBank hawks (12). The league is currently based on a round robin system with at most 33 games against each other team in the league, which allows second teams to play a maximum of 132 games per year, including interleague games with the Eastern League . The number of scheduled games will vary from team to team, and games that are cancelled will not be replaced. The league championship

1440-552: The next most extensive system of minor league teams other than baseball is ice hockey . In North America, between 1988 and 2005, 233 minor league ice hockey teams played in a total of 160 cities in 13 minor professional leagues. The vast majority of these teams played in the United States, with only 21 of these teams based in Canadian cities. 123 of these minor professional teams played in the southern United States. One reason given for

1480-630: The six teams of NPB's Central League agreed to form their own minor league — the Shin Nippon League (or "New Japan League") — as a complement to the already extant Kansai Farm League , which had begun play in 1952. The minor league affiliates of the Chunichi Dragons and Hanshin Tigers moved over from the Kansai Farm League. The initial roster of Shin Nippon League teams (NPB parent team in parentheses): Both minor leagues decided to join forces with Nippon Professional Baseball in 1955, and

1520-486: The winners of the first stage hosting the game. In 2005, the split-season system was abolished and teams played each other 22 times each (11 home, 11 away) giving an 88-game season. From 2011 to 2014, the number of games played has increased to 104 games (26 vs each opponent). From 2015, the number of games increased to a maximum of 132 per team with teams meeting up to 33 times per season. League rankings include all games played - including interleague games against teams in

1560-531: Was active for the first time during the 2020–21 season. It is a successor to the U.S. Soccer Development Academy . The system covers the under-13, under-14, under-15, under-16, under-17 and under-19 age groups. The developmental pathway for players outside the collegiate system has so far been mostly an ad hoc affair, with semi-professional and amateur leagues including the former USL W-League . The current United Women's Soccer , UWS League 2 and Women's Premier Soccer League not being sanctioned directly through

1600-475: Was initially completely separate from the workings of the Nippon Professional Baseball. It featured the minor league teams of the six professional teams that had their homefields in the western region of Japan, as well one independent team not affiliated with an NPB franchise. The initial complement of teams: The Sanyo Crowns were dissolved after the 1952 season. The Shochiku Robins merged with

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