Frontier League

The Frontier League is a professional baseball league in North America with 15 teams in the United States and 3 in Canada. It is the oldest active independent professional baseball league in North America and is an official MLB Partner League. The league is headquartered in Sauget, Illinois.

The Frontier League was organized during the winter of 1992–1993 by a group seeking to bring professional baseball to communities in West Virginia, eastern Kentucky and southeast Ohio that were unlikely to receive affiliated professional baseball teams. The league started with eight teams in the United States and later expanded to include teams in Canada.

In April 2026, the league announced plans to rebrand as the National Association of Professional Baseball beginning with the 2027 season. The league’s history, statistics, and records will continue under the new identity. The regular season typically runs from May to September, with each team playing 96 games. The top eight teams then compete in the playoffs to determine the league champion. The reigning champions are the Québec Capitales, who won their fourth consecutive title in 2025.

History

The Frontier League was started in 1993. At first, it had a hard time keeping teams, with four of the eight original teams stopping after just three seasons. But it grew steadily and reached twelve teams within ten years. The first champions were the Zanesville Greys. Many teams have won more than one championship, including the Schaumburg Boomers and the Québec Capitales, who each have four titles.

In 2000, Brian Tollberg became the first player from the league to join the major leagues with the San Diego Padres. A week later, Morgan Burkhart joined the Boston Red Sox.

In 2019, the Frontier League joined with the Can-Am League, adding five teams and becoming the largest independent league. In 2020, it became an official partner of Major League Baseball, working together to grow the sport.

The league added new teams over the years, including the Ottawa Titans in 2021 and the New England Knockouts in 2023, later renamed the Brockton Rox. In 2024, teams like the Mississippi Mud Monsters and the Down East Bird Dawgs joined, bringing the total to eighteen teams.

In 2026, the league announced it would change its name to the National Association of Professional Baseball starting in 2027, to show its growth beyond its original area. The Frontier League name will stay until the end of the 2026 season.

Season structure

The Frontier League baseball season has three parts: a preseason in late April and early May, a regular season from early May to early September, and a postseason that ends in late September.

During the preseason, teams hold spring showcases and tournaments for new players, and training camps start with a few exhibition games. In the regular season, each team plays 96 games—48 at home and 48 away—mostly against teams in their own area, with a few games against other conference teams. The team with the best record in each division wins the division title. The playoffs include four teams from each conference, with the top two teams from each division and the next two best teams. These teams compete in a series of elimination games to decide the league champion. Teams build their own rosters, often using college players who haven’t been picked in big league drafts. The league has rules to help younger players, like limiting the number of experienced players on each team.

Teams

The Frontier League is a baseball league with teams in the United States and Canada. In 2021, it had 14 teams split into two groups. Over the years, the league grew and changed its team setup. By 2025, it had 18 teams, including new ones like the Down East Bird Dawgs from North Carolina. Some teams left the league or stopped playing, such as the Canton Coyotes and the Southern Illinois Miners.

Champions

Here are the teams that won the Frontier League each year:

• 1993 Zanesville Greys
• 1994 Erie Sailors
• 1995 Johnstown Steal
• 1996 Springfield Capitals
• 1997 Canton Crocodiles
• 1998 Springfield Capitals
• 1999 London Werewolves
• 2000 Johnstown Johnnies
• 2001 Richmond Roosters
• 2002 Richmond Roosters
• 2003 Gateway Grizzlies
• 2004 Rockford RiverHawks
• 2005 Kalamazoo Kings
• 2006 Evansville Otters
• 2007 Windy City ThunderBolts
• 2008 Windy City ThunderBolts
• 2009 Lake Erie Crushers
• 2010 River City Rascals
• 2011 Joliet Slammers
• 2012 Southern Illinois Miners
• 2013 Schaumburg Boomers
• 2014 Schaumburg Boomers
• 2015 Traverse City Beach Bums
• 2016 Evansville Otters
• 2017 Schaumburg Boomers
• 2018 Joliet Slammers
• 2019 River City Rascals
• 2020 Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
• 2021 Schaumburg Boomers
• 2022 Québec Capitales
• 2023 Québec Capitales
• 2024 Québec Capitales
• 2025 Québec Capitales

Records

Individual career records

Batting

Pitching

Broadcasting

On February 24, 2022, the Frontier League announced that all games for the 2022 season could be watched on the streaming platform FloSports. In 2025, the league changed its streaming to the Frontier League Network, which is powered by HomeTeam Network, as part of a multi-year agreement.