With the pandemic wiping out the seasons of most professional baseball leagues, some teams have found a way to keep fans entertained. That is what the Sugar Land Skeeters are doing as they open their four-team league tonight when Eastern takes on the Skeeters.

The league will be known as the Constellation Energy League and each team is expected to play a 28-game schedule with there being double-headers every weekend.

The four teams will not only feature some recognizable players, but also some well-known names will be managing the teams. American Association fans will recognize the man leading the Sugar Land Skeeters, as former Laredo Lemurs skipper Pete Incaviglia will be at the helm. Former Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens and his son Koby will manage Team Texas and former big league left-hander Greg Swindell is the manager of the Sugar Land Lightning Sloths. Former Major Leaguer Dave Eiland leads the Eastern Reyes del Tigre club.

A player pool draft was provided on June 30 where 19 former Major League players were named. There were 13 former first-round picks and 56 players were selected who played at the AAA level or above.

For American Association fans, there were some recognizable names included in the player pool. That included 2018 Pitcher of the Year Tommy Collier and RHP T.J. House. IF Ramsey
Romano and OF Breland Almadova also will be participating.

Skeeters owner Kevin Zlotnik sees this as a great opportunity to give players a chance to play where they would have normally been sitting at home. “We’ve always prided ourselves on being an organization that gives players another chance. Given the unfortunate releases of hundreds of minor league players over the last few weeks, we realized there was a major need for a league like this. Already, we’ve received commitments from guys with great resumes, former Major Leaguers, former first-rounders and high-caliber prospects. I know people are going to be really impressed with the quality of play.”

The league was scheduled to being on July 3 but moved the date back a week. Despite this, they look ready to begin tonight. “We’ve received all the approvals to open this weekend and remain confident in our safety protocols, but saw no downside in delaying one week,” Zlotnik explained. “We look forward to seeing everyone on July 10th and in the meantime encourage our friends and fans to follow the safety guidelines set forth by our local officials.”

The Minor League Sports Report will provide coverage of the league during the season.

By Robert Pannier