As a boy I remember Montreal and of course the Montreal Expos, I even saw them play at Jarry Park, it was a night game. Eventually the team found a new home at Olympic Stadium now known as Stade Olympique. In 2004 the team left and became the Washington Nationals. That left one team Toronto, but that is about to change with the creation of a new league known as the Federal Baseball League.
Jamie Siragusa is the commissioner of the league and I am very pleased to be able to have him join me in a Candid Conversation about the league. Which by the way is expected to launch in 2023. Mr. Commissioner welcome thanks for taking time out to speak to me and my audience here on Candid Conversations.
Jamie S.: Thank you, Cliff, I appreciate the opportunity to discuss our new league with your audience.
Cliff T.: Mention the word baseball in the professional sense and automatically one thins of the MLB format with it's American and National leagues. How close to the level of skill will the Federal Baseball League be to the MLB?
Jamie S.: Quite candidly, although we intend to make this league compete at the highest level possible, there is no way that we can claim that we would expect to be on par with Major League Baseball. What we our striving to achieve, however, is to create a level of baseball that is somewhere in between Triple-A and the big leagues.
Cliff T.: One of the interesting things that caught my eye, besides the Montreal angle was that you intended to be different from the MLB, how do you intend to do that?
Jamie
S.:
We are going to differentiate ourselves from Major League Baseball in
a variety of ways, but, the most important way will be in how we
treat the fans. Right now, MLB takes its fans for granted, mostly
because they have no direct competition. That, of course, will change
when Federal League Baseball begins play.
Another important difference is that Federal League will treat its players are partners. The relationship between the players and management will be cooperative rather than belligerent.
Cliff T.: From what I read you find that the game has a slow pace, can you explain what you mean by that and how the FBL will differ?
Jamie S.: MLB games take far too long and there are too many periods of inaction. We believe that, despite their assertions to the contrary, MLB wants it to be this way. Somehow, their research tells them that it is more profitable to do things that way.
Federal League’s brand of baseball will have games that average two hours and 30 minutes, or less, by design. We will have shorter in between inning breaks. We will keep the batters in the box in between pitches, and, we will instruct our umpires to keep the game moving, just like MLB used to do, a long, long time ago.
Cliff T.: Will the rules of the game be similar to that of the MLB and would that also include a different size of the playing field?
Jamie S.: Federal League Baseball will utilize traditional baseball rules. By that, I mean that we will not employ any of the newer gimmicks introduced in professional baseball recently. We will not have “automatic” runners in extra innings. We will not schedule seven inning doubleheaders. We will not mandate that pitchers have to face any more than one batter, or anything similar to that. Essentially, if you took a Major League rule book from, oh, let’s say, 1971, that would be the style of baseball we will be playing.
We will use the tradition size baseball diamond. There is no need to tamper with perfection.
Cliff T.: Your looking at 18 cities for teams that will number 12 players, besides Montreal what cities are you hoping to put teams into?
Jamie S.: To clarify, the league is designed to have 12 teams (teams will have 25 players on their rosters), with six in each of two divisions. We have at least 18 cities in major markets under consideration. From that list, we will pick the final 12 teams.
New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles are, of course the biggest TV markets and we fully expect to pursue those cities. We also have our eye on cities like Vancouver and New Orleans that are underserved by professional baseball.
Cliff T.: Another interesting thing caught my eye Jamie. Your release indicates that you are going to look at getting players from foreign leagues and even former MLB players, that is interesting, any thoughts on whom you might like to have sign to a team?
Jamie S.: With our first pitch still almost two years away, it would be difficult to forecast who we might be able to sign, but, by way of example, look at someone like Felix Hernandez, the former Mariners’ pitcher. He was offered a minor league contract by the Baltimore Orioles this spring and then he opted out of that contract and he is currently a free agent. Someone like that, a former big leaguer looking to resurrect their career, that kind of player would definitely draw our interest.
Cliff
T.: Jamie what prompted you and the
other founders of the Federal Baseball League to create the league
and how long has this process been in the works?
Jamie
S.: Quite honestly, the current path
of Major League Baseball, its poor and unimaginative leadership, its
callous disregard for its fans and its own traditions, its overt
politicism, has been the biggest impetus for us. We want baseball to
be how it used to be, and we realized that it was never going to
happen unless we did it ourselves.
Cliff T.: I have to ask, have you played and when did you and the other founders decide to bring the idea of a new league into the sportsphere?
Jamie S.: All of the founders have playing backgrounds of varying levels.
The idea has been rolling around in my head since the Major League strike in 1994, but, recently, I had noticed that there were a lot of baseball fans, hardcore, lifelong, baseball fans that felt similar to how I feel-that Major League Baseball, while it has the best talent in the world, is poorly run, poorly played, and poorly presented.
Cliff T.: From what I see there already is a Federal Baseball League in Florida, so are you basically expanding this league in hopes of competing with the MLB or offering an alternative to the MLB?
Jamie S.: The league we currently operate in Florida is something that I developed in 1993 for former college and pro players to continue playing the game. Back then, there were few alternatives, other than softball or golf, for accomplished players that loved the game. I started the Florida league to have a place for those players, as well as myself, to keep playing baseball.
However, that league really has nothing to do with our professional league that we are currently organizing. Maybe someday we will use it as a developmental league, but, right now, they are connected in name, and spirit, only.
Cliff T.: As I mentioned earlier I am from Montreal and this release really grabbed my attention. Many in the city and outside of Montreal would love to see baseball come back to the city. What kind of reaction are you getting from the cities you have suggested putting teams into and have other cities reached out with an interest in being part of the league?
Jamie S.: We are just beginning to get a positive reaction from the civic leaders and business communities in our target cities. Naturally, we are initially met with some skepticism, people find it hard to accept that anyone can successfully challenge Major League Baseball for its audience, but when those people hear the details of our plan, they start to see the possibilities.
Cliff T.: Jamie I bet you are working night and day to get ready for 2023, for you what has been like to see this idea through to where you are now and what are you hoping the league will accomplish post launch?
Jamie S.: Like anything else worth doing, it has been a grind. Mostly, right now, the challenge is getting the word out and getting people to believe. Once we are able to complete a broadcast deal for the league, things will begin to happen rapidly.
We have a timeline for getting things accomplished that lead to a season opening in April 2023 and, so far, we are on target.
Cliff T.: Awesome I really do appreciate your taking time out to talk about this league and I wish you tons of success.
Jamie S.: Thank you, Cliff. I am delighted to have the opportunity to discuss Federal League Baseball with you. Let’s make it a point to meet at the new Montreal team’s home opener in 2023.
Jamie Siragusa is the CEO and Commissioner of the Federal Baseball League. They are planning to launch a new more innovative approach to baseball in 2023 with a game that is faster and more fan friendly. You can follow the progress at https://www.federalleague.com/quadA.htm
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Jamie wrote to us from Fort Lauderdale FL.
