The Columbus All-Americans were one of 12 original men’s softball franchises in the American Professional Slo-Pitch League during the summer of 1977. Overshadowed by the return of Triple-A minor league baseball to Columbus that summer, the All-Americans struggled to a 16-40 last place finish and quietly evaporated following the 1977 season.
The Long Beach Barracuda were one of eight founding members of the independent Western Baseball League during the summer of 1995. The Barracuda, who played at Blair Field, were Long Beach’s first professional team since the Beachcombers of 1913. The club was strong on the field under the direction of former American League Most Valuable Player and a circus behind the scenes. By the end of the summer, the Barracuda had declared bankruptcy, fought off a takeover bid from actress Heather Locklear, changed their name and won the league championship.
The Rochester Athletics were a Minnesota-based minor league baseball team that played part of one season in the Class B Three-I League during the summer of 1958. The A’s served as a farm team for Major League Baseball’s Kansas City Athletics. Several Rochester A’s players eventually advanced to the Major Leagues. The best was 22-year old shortstop Dick Howser. With attendance lagging around 500 souls per game at midseason, the club moved 44 miles east to Winona and finished out the season as the Winona A’s.
The Stockton Mariners were a One-Year Wonder that played in Minor League Baseball’s Class A California League during the summer of 1978. During a postseason franchise and affiliation shuffle, the Stockton club changed hands and went back to the city’s traditional “Stockton Ports” identity prior to the 1979 California League season.
The Tigers were Tacoma, Washington’s Pacific Coast League entry for fifteen summers between 1980 and 1994. Contrary to what a modern day reader might deduce from the name, the Tacoma Tigers never served as a farm team of Major League Baseball’s Detroit Tigers. Rather, after cycling through four different identity changes during the 1970’s the team’s local owners decided in 1980 to turn back the clock and honor the Tacoma minor league clubs that traditionally played under the Tigers name in various leagues between 1901 and 1951.
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