The Surburban League is the white-flight descendent of the old Urban League, a minor league which flourished in Midwestern inner cities in the golden age of minor-league baseball, the late 40s and early 50s. As the Civil Rights era came and went, baseball became incidental in segregated cities like Milwaukee and Indianapolis. The Urban League's teams gradually crept away from their downtown locales and moved to sprawling suburbs like Buffalo Grove and West Des Moines. The league officially changed its name in 1983 when the Minneapolis Mercurials moved to Bloomington and were rechristened the Mallers before the Mall of America was a gleam in some developer's eye. With the latest U.S. Census figures showing steady suburban growth, a switch to the exurbs may not be far behind.
By any name, the Suburban League caters to the same sort of casual white baseball fans who flock to see the Kane County Cougars but leave before the 8th inning to get the kids to bed and couldn't tell you the Cougars' major-league affiliation if you waved a frothy cup of cinamon-topped cappuccino in front of their collective faces. Careless fans with disposable income, they are the folks for whom dizzy-bat contests and dancing along to the Macarena and "YMCA" were developed. They buy their beers and their pennants. That consumption keeps the league afloat for the benefit of the few deep fans who attend.
OLIVE | TAUPE |
Buffalo Grove Argyles | Bloomington Mallers |
Carmel Actuaries | Dearborn Preservationists |
Clayton Professionals | Sun Prairie Commuters |
West Des Moines Whites | Wauwatosa Brats |