The United Baseball League, also known simply as the United League (UL), was a planned third major league that was formed in 1994, but folded in 1996 without playing a game.

Formation

First announced on November 1, 1994, the UL founders were Bob Mrazek, a former five-term Congressman from

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18th ...

; John Bryant, a Congressman from

Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County wi ...

; Richard Moss, a player agent, and Andrew Zimbalist, an economist at

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...

. The UL originally planned to have ten teams, eight in the U.S. and one each in Canada and Mexico. By August 1995, the league introduced former Texas Rangers president Mike Stone as its

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

, and former star

Curt Flood Curtis Charles Flood (January 18, 1938 – January 20, 1997) was an American professional baseball player and activist. He was a center fielder who played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball for the Cincinnati Redlegs, St. Louis Cardinals, a ...

as its commissioner. "We need an alternative league," Flood said. "America deserves an alternative league. I wish there was one when I played. Baseball's owners have shut me out for 25 years." Eight franchises were announced, seven in the U.S. and one in Canada.

Announced franchises

Further developments

The league also announced a twenty-year TV contract with Liberty Sports and a 154-game schedule to begin March 28, 1996. Co-founder Richard Moss said the plan was for the UL to expand to 16 teams, including Japan and Korea, within three years. Mike Casey, identified as the owner of the New Orleans franchise, announced former big-leaguer Paul Blair would be the club's assistant general manager. Casey's son-in-law, former

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's ei ...

pitching prospect Ed Riley, became the first signing for the proposed club; later, reports indicated the team had offered the disgraced

Pete Rose Peter Edward Rose Sr. (born April 14, 1941), also known by his nickname "Charlie Hustle", is an American former professional baseball player and Manager (baseball), manager. Rose played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1963 to 1986, most pr ...

$500,000 a year to serve as its manager. By December 1995, Dick Moss announced that the league had been put off until 1997. (By January 1996, Casey's franchise was apparently located not in New Orleans but in Worcester, Massachusetts; Riley turned up in the "transactions" column of sports pages nationwide as being acquired by the

Albany-Colonie Diamond Dogs The Albany-Colonie Diamond Dogs were an independent baseball league team based in Albany, New York from 1995 to 2002. The team played at Heritage Park in Colonie. The Diamond Dogs competed in the Northeast League from 1995–98 and then in the ...

of the

Northeast League The Northeast League was a professional independent baseball league that operated in the Northeastern United States from 1995 until 1998 and from 2003 until 2004. Between 1999 and 2002, the league was part of the Northern League after the two le ...

"from Worcester of the United Baseball League".) Finally, on April 12, 1996, the league ceased operations, citing stadium problems. Also, Liberty Sports had merged with the

Fox Television Network The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations and ...

, who promptly announced a deal 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), ...

starting in 1997.United League Strikes Out

The Gainesville Sun ''The Gainesville Sun'' () is a newspaper published daily in Gainesville, Florida, United States, covering the North-Central portion of the state. The paper is published by Lynni Henderson, the paper's Executive Editor is Douglas Ray and the edi ...

April 12, 1996.

References

{{reflist Defunct major baseball leagues in the United States