The Japan Islanders are an independent professional baseball team based in

Lyon Mountain, New York Lyon Mountain is a hamlet and census-designated place located in the town of Dannemora in Clinton County, New York, United States. The population was 423 at the 2010 census. The northern slopes of Lyon Mountain are in the southern part of the co ...

. They play in the

Empire Professional Baseball League The Empire Professional Baseball League (EPBL) is an independent baseball league that began play in 2016. The Empire League plays a 40-game regular season followed by a five-game post season. The four-team league consists of four teams from Upst ...

(EPBL), which is not affiliated with

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

History

The Puerto Rico Islanders joined the

for the 2017 season. They played their first season as a

traveling team Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical locations. Travel can be done by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without luggage, and can be one way or round trip. Travel can ...

until the league finalized a ballpark and opposing team travel arrangements. In their debut the Islanders fell short of reaching the playoffs by one game. Tony Rodríguez was hired to manage the Islanders for the 2018 season. The team finished the regular season in second-place with a 27–18 record. On August 12, 2018, the Islanders won the Zakari Cup (EPBL) championship by besting the

New York Bucks The New York Bucks are an independent American professional baseball team based in Canton, New York. They are a member of the Empire Professional Baseball League. Beginning in the 2018 season, the Bucks will play their home games at the Roos Hou ...

in the final series. This was the team's first title in two seasons of existence.

Renaming

After the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

cancelled the league's 2020 season, the Puerto Rico Islanders were renamed the Japan Islanders and made into a team with a roster of Japanese players. The team mostly serves as a

playing against the other EPBL teams in New York State, occasionally playing as the home team in Lyon Mountain.

References

{{reflist 2016 establishments in Puerto Rico Baseball teams established in 2016 Professional baseball teams in New York (state) Clinton County, New York