Wikipedia - Arizona Fall League

The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season sports league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during the autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are filled by many of the top prospects in Minor League Baseball (MiLB) who are assigned by their parent clubs.

History

The league's inaugural season was 1992, during which each team played a 54-game schedule that ended in early December. The divisions and teams that season were:

  • Northern division: Grand Canyon Rafters, Scottsdale Scorpions, Sun Cities Solar Sox
  • Southern division: Chandler Diamondbacks, Phoenix Saguaros, Tucson Javelinas

The league's first game was played on October 6, 1992, with the Grand Canyon Rafters defeating the Scottsdale Scorpions, 6–4.

Before the 1994 season, the Javelinas relocated from Tucson to Peoria, to limit travel distances to the Phoenix metropolitan area. All teams have been located in greater Phoenix since then.

Since 1995, when the Diamondbacks became the Desert Dogs, no team has changed its nickname. However, each team has changed its location at least once during its history. The most recent change was by the Desert Dogs, who moved from Phoenix to Glendale in 2013.

Michael Jordan during his time with the Scottsdale Scorpions

For the 1998 season, organizers rostered players onto each Arizona Fall League team from a single division in MLB:

In 2007, the United States national baseball team and China national baseball team played several games against AFL teams; both teams were later competitors in baseball at the 2008 Summer Olympics. In 2019, the Mesa Solar Sox participated in the Vamos a Tucson Mexican Baseball Fiesta in early October, facing teams of the Mexican Pacific League.

In 2019, the league adopted a new logo. In 2020, the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A number of future MLB All-Stars have had stints in the Arizona Fall League; over 300, per the league's website. These include David Wright (2003), Dustin Pedroia (2004), Andre Ethier (2005), Bryce Harper (2010–2011), Nolan Arenado (2011), Mike Trout (2011), Mookie Betts (2013), Aaron Judge (2014), Gleyber Torres (2016), and Ronald Acuña Jr. (2017). In 1994, Michael Jordan played for Scottsdale during his time away from the NBA. Similarly, former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow played for Scottsdale in 2016 during his foray into professional baseball.

Arizona Fall League je profesionálna bejzbalová liga v USA, ktorá pozostáva z šiestich tímov. Bola založená v roku 1992 a koná sa každý rok od polovice septembra do polovice novembra v metropolitnej oblasti Phoenixu v Arizone. Liga slúži ako tréningové ihrisko pre najlepších bejzbalových hráčov na svete, ktorí sa snažia zlepšiť svoje zručnosti a pripraviť sa na nasledujúcu sezónu Major League Baseball (MLB).

AFL je rozdelená do dvoch divízií, Východu a Západu, pričom v každej divízii sú tri tímy. Tímy hrajú v priebehu 50-zápasovej sezóny, po ktorej nasleduje play-off. Víťaz play-off AFL sa korunovaný za šampióna AFL.

AFL je považovaná za jednu z najkvalitnejších bejzbalových líg na svete a mnohí hráči, ktorí ňou prešli, pokračovali v úspešnej kariére v MLB. Niektorí z najznámejších hráčov, ktorí hrajú v AFL, zahŕňajú Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, Cody Bellinger a Gerrit Cole.

AFL je skvelý spôsob, ako sledovať niektoré z najlepších bejzbalových hráčov na svete v akcii a získať prehľad o budúcich hviezdach MLB.