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.

Осенняя бейсбольная лига Аризоны (AFL) — это профессиональная бейсбольная лига, которая проходит в Скоттсдейле, Аризона с середины сентября по середину ноября. Лига была основана в 1992 году, чтобы дать игрокам низших лиг возможность продемонстрировать свои навыки перед скаутами Высшей лиги бейсбола (MLB). В AFL участвуют шесть команд, которые формируются из перспективных игроков MLB. Сезон AFL состоит из 60 игр, которые проходят по раунду Робина. Команда с лучшим результатом в конце регулярного сезона выходит в финал AFL, который проводится в формате плей-офф.

AFL предоставляет игрокам возможность продемонстрировать свои навыки перед скаутами MLB, что может привести к их вызову в высшую лигу. Кроме того, AFL является отличной возможностью для игроков отточить свои навыки и улучшить свою игру. Многие из лучших игроков MLB, включая Майка Траута, Криса Брайанта и Хавьера Баэза, прошли через AFL.

Осенняя бейсбольная лига Аризоны - это захватывающий и динамичный бейсбольный турнир, который дает игрокам возможность продемонстрировать свои навыки и улучшить свою игру. Турнир пользуется большой популярностью среди любителей бейсбола и скаутов MLB.