The Constellation Energy League was an

independent baseball league An independent baseball league is a professional baseball league in the United States or Canada that is not overseen by Major League Baseball or its affiliated Minor League Baseball system (historically referred to as organized baseball). Inde ...

that operated in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

during 2020 because of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

restrictions limiting travel, and as a way to create opportunities for

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

players.

History

The league consisted of four teams, each managed by a former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) player: The teams were made up of former MLB players as well as other minor league and independent professional players. Each team was scheduled to play 28 games, including seven-inning doubleheaders every weekend. The league's season was planned to begin on July 3, but was pushed back to July 10 due to a spike in COVID-19 cases. Even with the delay, the league began play two weeks before the start of the

2020 MLB season The 2020 Major League Baseball season began on July 23 and ended on September 27 with only 60 games amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The full 162-game regular season was planned to begin on March 26, but the pandemic caused Major League Baseball (M ...

. All games were played at

Constellation Field Constellation Field is a baseball park located in Sugar Land, Texas. It is the home of the Sugar Land Space Cowboys of the Pacific Coast League, who began play in 2012 as the Sugar Land Skeeters. The park also has the ability to host rugby unio ...

Sugar Land, Texas Sugar Land (sometimes incorrectly spelled as Sugarland) is the largest city in Fort Bend County, Texas, United States, located in the southwestern part of the metropolitan area. Located about southwest of downtown Houston, Sugar Land is a po ...

. Parking was included with ticket prices to limit staff and fan interactions and up to 1800 ticket-holders were seated in a

socially distanced In public health, social distancing, also called physical distancing, (NB. Regula Venske is president of the PEN Centre Germany.) is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures intended to prevent the spread of a contagious disea ...

fashion within the 7500-seat stadium. No games were canceled due to COVID-19 cases, and the league operated for five weeks without any positive COVID-19 test results. Players received $1600 per month, with exposure to MLB teams being the main reason for playing; at least five players in the league were subsequently added to MLB rosters.

Results and honors

The Sugar Land Skeeters finished with the best record in the four-team league. A most-valuable player (MVP) was named for each team. An all-star team was also named:

Notes

References

{{Reflist, 30em Defunct independent baseball leagues in the United States Baseball leagues in Texas Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on baseball Sugar Land, Texas 2020 establishments in Texas 2020 disestablishments in Texas