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November 6, 2009

NORTHERN LEAGUE

FACTS & FIGURES

� 18th season as an Independent League, not connected with Major League Baseball.

� 100-game schedule in 2010, starting May 20 and ending on Labor Day (Sept. 6).

� 8-team league with no divisions and no half-season champs. Top four teams will qualify for playoffs.

� New teams this year are the Zion-based Lake County Fielders and the Rockford RiverHawks, the latter which jumped from the similar Frontier League to the Northern League to give the loop a manageable eight teams.

� North Dakota-based Fargo RedHawks won the 2009 championship. The other teams are in Joliet, Gary (Ind.), Kansas City, Winnipeg (Canada) and Schaumburg.

� League all-star game will be played on Wednesday, July 14, at a site TBA.

� Fielders will open with a four-game series in Winnipeg (Canada) on May 20-23, and will play 20 consecutive road games to start the season.

� The home opener will be on Friday, June 11, at 7 p.m. against the Gary RailCats.

� Fielders will play 14 straight home games on 14 consecutive days from July 26-Aug. 8. No rain is allowed in Lake County during those two weeks.

� Assuming the Fielders are in the playoff hunt, they play their last seven games at home, including the last four against the Rockford team which figures to be one of the loop's weaker clubs coming over from the Frontier League.