INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROSPECT LEAGUE
WHAT WE ARE. The Prospect League is a summer collegiate wood bat league. The purpose of the league is to: (a) Provide family friendly, affordable baseball entertainment in the communities where our teams are located; (b) Provide a summer baseball program for eligible college players to give them experience using a wood bat in a competitive atmosphere; (c) Provide a venue to allow MLB Scouts to watch collegiate prospects using wood bats against live pitching in competition.
PLAYING SCHEDULE. The 2010 Prospect League schedule is 56 games starting on June 3rd and ends with the League Championship game on August 11th.
TOURNAMENT. The playoff format for 2010 includes a Divisional Championship game between the first half division winner and the second half division winner in each Division, hosted by the team with the best record in the Division. In the event one team wins both halves the team with the next best record will meet them to determine the Division Champion. The season first half winner shall be team leading the Division at the end of games on July 4, 2010.
After the three Division Champions are determined, they will travel to Chillicothe, Ohio's V.A. Memorial Stadium for a one day, two game League Championship Tournament.
For players to participate in the tournament, the following eligibility rules will be followed: 1) Players and pitchers must have played in one of the team’s first 48 games, 2) Players and pitchers must be on the roster for the team’s final three regular season games.
PLAYER PROCUREMENT. The Prospect League has a program of information gathering and promotion to go along with the coach’s own contacts and word-of-mouth in order to attract the best possible professional prospects. We use promotion at the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) convention, promotion through this web site, and recommendations from college coaches. The final decision on players rest with the teams themselves, and should be based upon potential for advancement into professional baseball. Ideally, all players would be recommended by Major League Scouts., No more than four players from any single college team may play on the same Prospect League team. Players sign a "Letter of Commitment" to confirm their choice of summer leagues and that letter precludes them from playing in any other summer collegiate league.
HOUSING. Housing is generally provided through host families unless players are from the community in which their team is located.
PLAYING FIELD. A well maintained college field meets the standards for Prospect League play. Lights are required, as well as concessions, adequate public seating and facilities to bring a true "minor-league" experience to the players and the fans. The field must be available during the playing season to allow for scheduling. One of the mainstays of the Prospect League is the quality and class of the facilities that the games are played in.
TRAVEL. From an insurance standpoint, every effort must be made to secure team vans or charter buses for travel. Players traveling to and from games in their own cars is prohibited. The use of alcohol or drugs at any time during road trips is forbidden — even if the players are of legal drinking age. Team vehicles should "caravan" to games—stick together on the highway. All league players and officials are encouraged to wear seat belts while traveling for any league purpose.
UMPIRES. The Prospect League contracts with Assignors and Umpires for all league games. With few alterations, the Prospect League plays NCAA rules. The pay rate for Prospect League Umpires is competitive.
ROSTERS. The typical Prospect League roster is 22 to 26 players, including a minimum of 10 position players and seven to ten pitchers; rosters are limited to 26 players. No more than four players from any one Division I school (the school attended in the spring immediately preceding the Prospect League season) may play on the same Prospect League team. By NCAA regulation, no NCAA players may play on a team in the summer in which personnel from their school (baseball coaches or otherwise) are associated.
INSURANCE. The Prospect League carries secondary coverage accident and medical insurance on all personnel in the performance of their duties as Prospect League representatives. The player’s primary medical coverage comes from the family, and they must declare that coverage before becoming eligible to play in the Prospect League. The Prospect League does not pay deductibles from the player’s own policies.
COMMUNICATIONS. League meetings are scheduled three times per year. The League office maintains communications through regular news releases, a continuous flow of telephone conversations, conference calls, emails, letters and memos between the league office and league officials.
SUPPORT. Each club has a management structure to take care of the operational aspects of each member club. The leadership is normally a team General Manager with the assistance of team ownership. Staffing varies widely, depending on the size of the market and the scope of the operation. The field manager and coaching staffs are separate positions. The league requires that an official scorer/game reporter be available at all home games to keep score, call in the scores to the newspapers after the game and file a detailed statistics report for each game to the league office.
PUBLIC RELATIONS/INFORMATION. The Prospect League office maintains this web site on a daily basis to communicate game results, standings, statistics and other notes of interest for the benefit of the newspapers, fans and professional scouts that follow our players and teams. The League used Pointstreak.com as the official statistician for the Prospect League. Live game situational boards are available for all league games, as well as a wide array of statistics for the serious fan.
COMMUNITY. The Prospect League can help any college and its athletic department achieve community service goals. The Prospect League gives fans a team to watch and support during the summer months when there’s a gap between regular college sports seasons. The Prospect League brings trade to a community—families, friends, scouts come from all over to see their favorites. It also gives the college and community recognition outside the community in other cities and towns, plus the word-of-mouth recognition which comes from student-athletes returning to their own hometowns and campuses to talk of their experiences.
COLLEGE. The Prospect League brings college and community leaders together in a working relationship built around baseball. It brings people onto the college campuses to use college facilities during "non-peak" seasons. The Prospect League brings about a greater awareness of the college on other campuses. It can directly aid in recruitment of future students because siblings and friends of the players learn about the college and its community.
BASEBALL PEOPLE. The Prospect League is the highest level of amateur baseball played in the nation. It has been in business since 1963 and has provided professional baseball with more than 800 players—more than 175 of those reaching the majors. For this reason, plus the tradition and strength of the Prospect League, the league receives economic and personal support from the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball, baseball scouts, college baseball coaches and baseball fans. The Prospect League’s new commitment to growth and strength is based upon the interest and skills of college baseball coaches and administrators—people who know talent and know the business of putting a team on the field.
