Winter league baseball is baseball contested in

sports league A sports league is a group of sports teams or individual athletes that compete against each other and gain points in a specific sport. At its simplest, it may be a local group of amateur sports, amateur athletes who form teams among themselves and ...

s during what is generally considered the baseball off-season.

Background

Annually, the highest level of

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

competition,

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), ...

(MLB), begins with

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

and runs through completion of the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

in the fall. Winter league baseball takes place in the months between the completion of the World Series and the start of the next season's spring training. As this spans winter in the

Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the Equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined as being in the same celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the solar system as Earth's Nort ...

, winter baseball leagues are located in warm-weather areas such as

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and the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

, or, less commonly, in the Southern Hemisphere such as in Australia. In Australia,

Baseball Victoria Baseball Victoria is the governing body of baseball within Victoria. Baseball Victoria is governed by the Australian Baseball Federation. The body has teams competing in four divisions. Early history The Victorian Baseball League (VBL) was ...

holds its own winter league between April and September. Winter baseball provides an opportunity for prospects to build their skills or demonstrate their capabilities, or for established players to refine their skills or stay in shape. Many notable major-league players have played winter league baseball—during the 1954–55 winter season, the outfield of the Santurce Crabbers in Puerto Rico featured both

Willie Mays Willie Howard Mays Jr. (born May 6, 1931), nicknamed "the Say Hey Kid" and "Buck", is a former center fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). Regarded as one of the greatest players ever, Mays ranks second behind only Babe Ruth on most all-tim ...

and

Roberto Clemente Roberto Enrique Clemente Walker (; August 18, 1934 – December 31, 1972) was a Puerto Rican professional baseball right fielder who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates. After his early death, he was pos ...

Leagues

Notable professional baseball leagues operating as winter leagues include:

Active

Asia Winter Baseball League The Asia Winter Baseball League is a professional baseball league hosted in Taiwan with 2012 as its inaugural season. Making use of the warm and dry winter climate in West Taiwan, the short term league aims to offer young baseball players addition ...

, located in Taiwan *

Australian Baseball League The Australian Baseball League (ABL) is a professional baseball league in Australia. The league is governed by the Australian Baseball Federation (ABF). It uses the same name as a now-defunct competition held during the 1990s, and though it sh ...

(ABL) *

California Winter League California Winter League is a former baseball winter league. It was the first integrated league in the 20th century as players from Major League Baseball and Negro league baseball played each other in training games. The league was in existence f ...

, formed in 2010, not to be confused with a defunct league of the same name *

Colombian Professional Baseball League The Colombian Professional Baseball League ( es, Liga Profesional de Béisbol Colombiano, links=no or LPB), is a professional baseball league based in Colombia. It is a five-team winter league that plays during the Major League Baseball offseason ...

(''Liga Profesional de Béisbol Colombiano '', LPB) *

Cuban National Series The Cuban National Series (, SNB) is the primary domestic professional baseball competition in Cuba. Formed after the dissolution of the Cuban League in the wake of the Cuban Revolution, the Series is a part of the Cuban baseball league system. ...

(''Serie Nacional de Béisbol'', SNB), restricted to players who reside in Cuba *

Dominican Professional Baseball League Dominican may refer to: * Someone or something from or related to the Dominican Republic ( , stress on the "mi"), on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles, in the Caribbean ** People of the Dominican Republic ** Demographics of the Dom ...

(''Liga de Béisbol Profesional de la República Dominicana'', LIDOM) *

Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente (LBPRC) is the main professional baseball sports league, league in Puerto Rico; it is colloquially referred to as the Puerto Rican Winter league baseball, Winter League. Consisting of seven teams as ...

(LBPRC), formerly the Puerto Rico Baseball League (PRBL) *

Mexican Pacific League The Mexican Pacific League (), known as Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacífico for sponsorship reasons or simply LMP for its acronym in Spanish, is a professional baseball winter league based in Northern Mexico. The ten-team regular season schedule run ...

(''Liga Mexicana del Pacífico'', LMP) *

Panamanian Professional Baseball League The Panamanian Professional Baseball League ( es, Béisbol Profesional de Panamá, links=no), currently known as Probeis, is a professional baseball winter league consisting of three teams based in Panama. Since 2019, the league's winner takes p ...

(''Béisbol Profesional de Panamá''), commonly known as Probeis *

Venezuelan Professional Baseball League The Venezuelan Professional Baseball League or Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional (LVBP) is the professional baseball league in Venezuela. The league's champion takes part in the Caribbean Series each year. History Early years Baseball exp ...

(''Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional '', LVPB) Champions of leagues based in and around the Caribbean meet annually in the

Caribbean Series The Caribbean Series (''Spanish'': ''Serie del Caribe''), also called Caribbean World Series, is the highest tournament for professional baseball teams in Latin America. The tournament location is rotated annually among the countries and is norma ...

, normally contested in February.

Defunct

Arizona Winter League The Arizona Winter League was an independent instructional winter baseball league. Arizona Winter League games were all played at Desert Sun Stadium in Yuma, Arizona. The league was founded in 2007. It disbanded in 2013 due to parent league, th ...

, operated 2007–2012 and 2016–2018 *

, operated circa 1900 to 1947 *

Cuban League The Cuban League was one of the earliest and longest lasting professional baseball leagues outside the United States, operating in Cuba from 1878 to 1961. The schedule usually operated during the winter months, so the league was sometimes known a ...

, operated 1878 to 1961 *

Hawaii Winter Baseball Hawaii Winter Baseball (HWB), based in Honolulu, Hawaii, was a professional baseball league in the Hawaiian islands. It was loosely affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB). History The HWB league first began play in 1993. Funded by Major Lea ...

, operated 1993–1997, 2006–2008 * Maryland Fall Baseball, operated 1998 * California Fall League, operated 1999 *

Texas Winter League The Texas Winter League was an annual instructional showcase baseball league held in San Antonio, Texas. Participants include players coming back from injury, players who were released at the end of the season, or players looking to sign their f ...

, operated circa 2012–2013

References

Furter reading

* * {{cite book , title=Puerto Rico's Winter League: A History of Major League Baseball's Launching Pad , first=Thomas E. , last=Van Hyning , date=2004 , publisher=McFarland & Company , isbn=978-0786419708 , url=https://www.amazon.com/Puerto-Ricos-Winter-League-Baseballs/dp/0786419709/

External links

Offseason Leagues
at

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