They open on the road, close on the road and play all 126 games on the road because their new home stadium remains unfinished. Historians believe it is professional baseball's longest road trip - 126 games in 140 days. Hunger works, too. This is a last-gasp for kids who won't give up. The Atlantic League is one of six independent leagues encompassing 50 teams that survive outside the framework of the minor leagues.
Players go into it hoping to revive a career.
Seventy Atlantic players have signed during the three years of the league. Fifty were invited to minor-league spring training this season. And all the luggage you want to carry. Wayne Krenchicki did it all the three years he managed Lehigh Valley. Two seasons, the team played 30-40 home games at a makeshift park.