The Japan Islanders are an independent professional baseball team based in

Lyon Mountain, New York Lyon Mountain is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place located in the town of Dannemora (town), New York, Dannemora in Clinton County, New York, Clinton County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 423 a ...

, United States. They play in the

Empire Professional Baseball League The Empire Professional Baseball League (EPBL) is an independent baseball league that began play in 2016. The Empire League plays a 40-game regular season followed by a five-game post season. The four-team league consists exclusively of teams fr ...

(EPBL), which is not affiliated with

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 ...

History

The Puerto Rico Islanders joined the

for the 2017 season. They played their first season as a

traveling team In professional team sports, a traveling team (also called a road team) is a member of a professional league that never competes in a home arena or stadium. This differs from a barnstorming team as a barnstorming team competes in exhibition games ...

until the league finalized a ballpark and opposing team travel arrangements. In their debut the Islanders fell short of reaching the playoffs by one game. Tony Rodríguez was hired to manage the Islanders for the 2018 season. The team finished the regular season in second-place with a 27–18 record. On August 12, 2018, the Islanders won the Zakari Cup (EPBL) championship by besting the New York Bucks in the final series. This was the team's first title in two seasons of existence.

Renaming

After the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

cancelled the league's 2020 season, the Puerto Rico Islanders were renamed the Japan Islanders and made into a team with a roster of Japanese players. The team mostly serves as a

playing against the other EPBL teams in New York State, occasionally playing as the home team in Lyon Mountain.

References

{{reflist 2016 establishments in Puerto Rico Baseball teams established in 2016 Professional baseball teams in New York (state) Clinton County, New York