[Litty]

Minors

2053 marked the introduction of a minor league system. The players’ association had complained that the long-standing reserve roster rules allowed for teams to just stash players away under minimal contracts. Therefore, the league made changes and introduced two minor league teams for each WBLA team.
The WBLA Premier Minor League and WBLA Entry Minor League operated as equivalents to the MLB’s Triple A and Class A respectively. The Divisions of the league were named after WBLA legends. There was a minimum salary and benefits for the players in both leagues to safeguard against players being unable to afford to pursue their dream.

The WBLA Premier Minor League

The WBLAPML (or “the Prem”) saw the following teams formed to create the league

The Eischens Division (named for Billie Eischens):
Augusta Colts (Augusta, Georgia- affiliate of Roanoke)
Brampton Flight (Brampton, Ontario- affiliate of Winnipeg)
Buffalo Anchors (Buffalo, New York- affiliate of Wichita)
Greensboro Monsters (Greensboro, North Carolina- affiliate of Daytona Beach)
Lexington Hot Rods (Lexington, Kentucky- affiliate of Pomona)
Longueuil Bonnies (Longueuil, Quebec- affiliate of Saskatoon)
Louisville Golden Eagles (Louisville, Kentucky- affiliate of Bakersfield)
Lynwood-Pricedale Steelheads (Lynwood-Pricedale, Pennsylvania- affiliate of Bristol)
Northwest Harbor Raging Bulls (Northwest Harbor, New York- affiliate of Asheville)
Yonkers Prospects (Yonkers, New York- affiliate of Hamilton)

The Leachy Division (named for Belle Leachy):
Birmingham Pumas (Birmingham, Alabama- affiliate of Richmond)
Fordyce Assassins (Fordyce, Arkansas- affiliate of Provo)
Ft. Wayne War Eagles (Ft. Wayne, Texas- affiliate of New York)
Galveston Bass (Galveston, Texas- affiliate of Odessa)
Garland Steelhawks (Garland, Texas- affiliate of Beaver)
Lake of the Woods Generals (Lake of the Woods, Illinois- affiliate of Bar Harbor)
Lincoln Silver Wolves (Lincoln, Nebraska- affiliate of Charlotte)
New Orleans Eagles (New Orleans, Louisiana- affiliate of Vancouver)
Oakport Gray Sox (Oakport, Minnesota- affiliate of Hastings)
Shenandoah Alleycats (Shenandoah, Texas- affiliate of Salisbury)

The Baqri Division (named for Madeeha Baqri):
Aurora Admirals (Aurora, Colorado- affiliate of Lakewood)
Helena Aces (Helena, Montana- affiliate of Seattle)
Hermosillo Blue Falcons (Hermosillo, Sonora- affiliate of Tijuana)
Irving Explorers (Irving, California- affiliate of Portland)
Medford Thunder (Medford, Oregon- affiliate of Jasper)
Nampa Marauders (Nampa, Idaho- affiliate of Cape Cod)
Oakland Swarm (Oakland, California- affiliate of Huntington)
Riverside Foxes (Riverside, California- affiliate of Twin Falls)
San Jose Blue Wahoos (San Jose, California- affiliate of Rapid City)
Whitehorse Stallions (Whitehorse, Yukon- affiliate of Anchorage)

The WBLA Entry Minor League

Better known as ‘rookieball’, the WBLAEML contains another thirty teams in three divisions named after Hall of Famers Taylor DeVos, AJ Timan and Alex Quirk. While I won’t list all thirty teams here (unless people really want them), it should be noted that Puerto Rico was awarded its first team as San Juan became the host of Daytona Beach’s EML team.