The Heartland 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 from 1996 to 1998 in the

central United States The Central United States is sometimes conceived as between the Eastern United States, Eastern and Western United States, Western as part of a three-region model, roughly coincident with the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau's d ...

. The Heartland League was founded with teams in

Lafayette, Indiana Lafayette ( ) is a city in and is the county seat of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, located northwest of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of Lafayette ...

;

Anderson, Indiana Anderson is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Indiana, United States. The population was 54,788 at the 2020 census. It is named after Chief William Anderson. The city is the headquarters of the Church of God and its Anderson ...

;

Will County, Illinois Will County is a county in the northeastern part of the state of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 696,355, an increase of 2.8% from 677,560 in 2010, making it Illinois's fourth-most populous county. The county sea ...

; and

Dubois County, Indiana Dubois County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2020, the population was 43,637. The county seat is Jasper, Indiana, Jasper. Dubois County is now the sole county of the Jasper Jasper, Indiana microp ...

. Lafayette won the championship in 1996. In 1997, the Clarksville Coyotes, Tennessee Tomahawks, and

Columbia Mules The Columbia Mules were a Minor League Baseball team that played in the Class D Alabama–Tennessee League in 1921. They were located in Columbia, Tennessee, and were named in reference to Columbia being known as the "Mule Capital of the World" an ...

joined the league from the Big South League. The

Altoona Rail Kings Altoona Rail Kings were a former Independent baseball team, playing their home games at Veterans Memorial Field in Altoona, Pennsylvania averaging nearly 1,200 fans per game. They played two seasons, 1996 in the North Atlantic League, and 1997 ...

also joined the league from the

North Atlantic League The North Atlantic League was the name of two minor baseball leagues. The first was a Class D affiliated system that operated from 1946 until 1950, and the second was an independent minor league that played from 1995 until 1996. Three of that le ...

. The four teams from the previous year remained, giving the league eight teams. In 1997. the league drew over 210,000 fans, more than three times as many fans as in 1996. The league fielded six teams in 1998, but teams in

Huntington, West Virginia Huntington is a city in Cabell County, West Virginia, Cabell and Wayne County, West Virginia, Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The County seat, seat of Cabell County, the city is located at the confluence of the Ohio River, O ...

, and

Booneville, Mississippi Booneville is a city in the U.S. state of Mississippi and is the county seat of Prentiss County, Mississippi, Prentiss County. It is located in the hilly North Mississippi region, and ecologically is part of the Southeastern Plains region. The c ...

, suspended operations midway through the season and the league suspended operations after the Cook County Cheetahs jumped to the

Frontier League The Frontier League (FL; French: ''Ligue Frontière'', LF) is a professional baseball league in North America composed of 18 teams – 15 in the United States and 3 in Canada. The FL is one of the eight independent baseball leagues in North Ame ...

. The Mid-America League was based in

, and was an

independent baseball Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

league located entirely within

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

. The Mid-America League was the same league as the Heartland League with a different name and the same franchise.O'Neill, Paul. (May 19, 1996)

Worcester Telegram & Gazette The ''Telegram & Gazette'' (and ''Sunday Telegram'') is the only daily newspaper of Worcester, Massachusetts. The paper, headquartered at 100 Front Street and known locally as ''the Telegram'' or the ''T & G'', offers coverage of all of Worces ...

''D'Auteuil wants to exit swinging / makes his last stand in Indiana.'' Section: Sports; Page D5. The Mid-America League operated in only four cities that were not served by

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

Minor League Baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

MAL Teams

Notes

References

See also