The Hyannis Mets of the Cape Cod Baseball League are not changing their name.

"Erroneous Internet reports have claimed that the Hyannis Mets have changed their name. While a wide range of possibilities have been explored regarding the trademark discussions between the Cape Cod Baseball League and Major League Baseball, any reports of an imminent name change are incorrect. In fact, the team's nickname and colors are reviewed by the Hyannis Athletic Associate on an annual basis, and 2008 is no different. The Hyannis Mets remain the Hyannis Mets, and look forward to the 2008 CCBL season as the Hyannis Mets."

Glad to see they are standing up to Major League Baseball on this.

A trio of retired African American players decided to try to bring baseball back to urban areas:

Count Dennis ''Oil Can'' Boyd, Marquis Grissom, and Delino DeShields among those taking a proactive approach to reviving baseball in the inner cities. They're doing this not only through their barnstorming tour -- ''Oil Can Boyd's Traveling All-Stars'' -- which starts May 16 vs. the Brockton Rox and continues through the US and Canada, but through their newly formed Urban Baseball League, which will start in 2008.

Independent pro baseball will be marketed in predominantly African-American cities (the hope is prominent African-Americans will purchase franchises), and inner-city kids will be taught the game Boyd, Grissom, and DeShields so love.

''I'm sick of the rhetoric,'' DeShields said from Charlotte, N.C., where his 14-year-old son was playing in a baseball tournament. ''If we want more black kids playing baseball, if we want more black people in the stands, if we want more black people running baseball teams and in positions of power, then we have to go after it ourselves. We have to do something about it, and not just talk about it. Oil Can, Marquis, and I are going after it. We're trying to change things as businessmen and as baseball players.''

It's one of those ideas that stop and make you think. In a way, it seems to be going back to the days of the Negro Leagues and segregation (although the article makes it clear Boyd's barnstorming team is diverse). But if you want to bring the game to black fans, what better way than putting a team in the middle of the community? I wish them lots of luck and hope Springfield, MA gets a franchise.

Bob Bavasi writes:

I stop by your site from time to time to, well, muse.

So, here's one for you: How about a team that looks like a minor league team yet doesn't pay its players because it is forbidden to do say, plays all its games at home, and does so on the best drawing days of the week, Thursday through Sunday?

We've worked on doing this for four season, and it works.

Go ahead, muse on this:

www.ATeamOfYourOwn.com

They're looking for someone to take over their successful short season college team. Sounds like an interesting investment if you've ever wanted to own a ball club. Bob is also interested in your thoughts on this model.

My old home town team, the Bridgeport Bluefish, purged their front office:

Popular general manager Charlie Dowd was fired by the Bridgeport Bluefish according to the Westport Minuteman.

But, it all goes back to the owners -- Jack McGregor and Mary Jane Foster - and according to the editorial by Minuteman's Rob Sullivan, Dowd is only the latest in what appears to have been the entire organization being fired.

Dowd built the team from the very beginning. I've met him a couple of times and he always struck me as very professional and very fan oriented. I'm sure he'll find another job soon.

A Boston business man is trying to bring professional baseball to Israel:

Baseball's quest to globalize has helped the sport make inroads in several new frontiers. When Jim Lefebvre is preaching the gospel in China, Lee Smith is teaching curveball grips to young pitchers in South Africa and Stubby Clapp and the Canadians are beating the tar out of the United States in the World Baseball Classic, the baseball landscape clearly is changing.

So why not Israel, a nation with a fondness for pizza, bowling, malls, reality TV, McDonald's, Home Depot and Blockbuster Video? Statistics show that Israel has the highest percentage of home computers per capita in the world, the highest ratio of university degrees and the second highest per capita output of new books each year. Shouldn't a society this enlightened embrace the most cerebral sport of all?

That sentiment mirrors Larry Baras' thinking when he hatched the idea last year of bringing pro ball to the Land of Milk and Honey. Baras, 54, owns SJR Food Inc., a Boston-based specialty baking company. While various newspaper profiles have referred to him as a "Boston millionaire" or "Boston baker," those descriptions make Baras wince.

Jim Storer is the only fan baking in the sun at the New Haven Cutter's game today.

I just received a press release from Golden League Baseball, an Independent League in California.

The Golden Baseball League announced today that former American League Rookie of the Year, MVP, and Home Run Champion Jose Canseco has agreed to contract terms with the league. He will join the San Diego Surf Dawgs beginning Monday, July 3rd and will play in the game that night at 7:05 PM versus the Chico Outlaws in Chico, CA.

A press conference is scheduled for Monday, July 3rd at 2:00 PM at Nettleton Stadium, located on the Chico State Campus in Chico, California.

Canseco will have a dual role with the Surf Dawgs as he will become an every day Designated Hitter for the team, and will showcase his knuckleball as member of the team's pitching staff.

I suspect the fans will not treat Jose kindly. The press release does address cheating:

A longtime sports and pop culture icon, Canseco's notoriety raised to record heights in 2005 with the publication of his autobiographical best seller "Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big" that detailed steroid use in professional baseball. Now weighing a sleek 230 pounds, down almost 30 pounds from his playing days, he has agreed to be subjected to the GBL's tough drug testing policy that immediately expels any players found using steroids or illegal drugs.

Last season nine players, out of over 200 tested, were terminated from the league for illegal drug use. "Jose will be treated consistent with all of our players regarding drug testing," added Outcalt.

Of course, Jose would never use HGH, or anything else that's not detectable.

My nephew's high school bad played at the Bridgeport Bluefish game last night. That's him on the base drum.

Tommy Herr managed the visitors and Dave LaPoint managed the Bluefish.

My father came to the game to see his grandson perform, and by coincidence his younger brother brought his family. My dad is seated, and that's his brother Anthony standing next to him.

Update: Here are some video highlights including Jim Storer on Lastings Milledge.

My nephew Gregory played with the Trumbull High School Band at the Bridgeport Bluefish game tonight, so I took a trip down to the old home town to see the performance. The Bluefish won 11-4. Former major leaguers Donovan Osborne and Deivi Cruz played in the game for Bridgeport. I'll have pictures and video tomorrow.

On my way down, I heard on the radio that Clemens signed with the Astros. It seemed like a bad time to be away from the blog, but the story was not true.

Independent Thinking notices a Boston Globe editorial endorsing an independent league team for Boston.

It's a great idea. The team would provide inexpensive but professional sports entertainment. The could even schedule games when the Red Sox are not home so there's no direct competition.

Baseball Musings is conducting a pledge drive in March. Click here for details.

Extrawack describes a trip to see the Newark Bears. It seems the ballpark isn't in the best part of town, and the fans are staying away.

I've seen the Bears play in Bridgeport. Bridgeport replaced a bad neighborhood with a nice new ballpark, and set it up so you don't need to go through the dangerous areas to get there. Maybe the construction described in Newark is moving the area in that direction.

Independent Thinking notes that Worcester, MA will have an independent league team in 2005. My mother-in-law lives just outside the city, so we'll probably catch some games there this summer.

Martin Fackler of the Wall Street Journal has an interesting article on semi-pro Japanese ballplayers coming to the United States (link requires subscription). If you don't subscribe to WSJ.com, see if you can pick up a print copy, it's worth the read. It seems the economic downturn in Japan is causing business to close down their corporate league teams.

As Japan's big companies undergo drastic restructuring to weather the long economic slump, many of them are shutting down their cherished corporate baseball teams. Only about 80 corporate teams are left today, compared with 237 in the early 1990s. More than 100 former industrial-league players have reluctantly left for the U.S. in the past five years, according to Japanese and U.S. officials.

These players are a different breed from the big-name Japanese pros, who arrive in America with fat contracts and their own interpreters. Eleven Japanese played in the major leagues last season, part of a rush that began in the mid-1990s when pitching star Hideo Nomo joined the Los Angeles Dodgers. The former industrial leaguers are more like Japan's legions of salaried workers who are seeing the certainties of lifetime employment vanish and are thrust into a new, more competitive global stage.

"We see a lot more Japanese players coming over now, many in pretty dire straits," says Mike Marshall, director of operations for the Northern League, one of nine independent minor leagues in the U.S. and Canada.

In Japan, the demise of the industrial leagues is causing worry that Japan is losing an important means of nurturing young players for its professional baseball league. But for the U.S., it is a boon, especially for the farm clubs and independent-league teams below the majors. Eager to tap this new lode, Mr. Marshall in November held his first tryout in Japan's western city of Kobe, jointly with scouts from the Seattle Mariners and the Minnesota Twins. After watching more than 130 players, he chose six potential candidates.

In the showcase of good trades, Shannon Stewart and Roberto Alomar each made outs leading off the first, but Carl Everett delivered a two-out single to drive in the first run for the White Sox. Sox now have the bases loaded with 2 out in the first and lead 1-0.

Update: Jose Valentin bloops a single into center to drive in two more. 3-0 White Sox in the bottom of the first. Valentin now has 25 RBI, equalling his total from last year.

Update: Bases loaded again in the bottom of the first, #9 hitter Miguel Olivo doubles in two more to make it 5-0. He's 3 for 6 with the bases loaded this year, with nine RBI.

James Joyner passed this story on to me, about the Southeastern League, and how old pros are getting a second chance in these independent leagues. Im my part of the country, we have the Atlantic League that does the same thing. More importantly, these indies offer low priced baseball, but baseball that is devoted to winning championships rather than developing players. The Bridgeport team has developed a loyal following, while the New Haven AA team has seen attendenance steadily decline. I think the competitiveness of the indies makes a difference.