Cocoa Expo, the former spring home of the Houston Astros.

Another league is in our midst. The Florida Winter Baseball League will launch in October with four teams: the Miami team will play at University Park at FIU, the Lake County team will play at Leesburg's Pat Thomas Stadium, the Cocoa team will play at the Cocoa Expo Center, and Seminole County team will play at Historic Sanford Memorial Stadium.

We're not sure if this is a pay-to-play league like the GBL's Arizona Fall League; the league's website doesn't address this issue.

Leesburg's Pat Thomas Stadium.

But it does sound like the venture is more akin to an independent league than a development venture; the league is hiring at least two front-office workers per team and holding job fairs this month for various ballpark workers on concession stands, ticket sales, etc.

We've never been to University Park at FIU, so we can't comment on that facility, but we've been to the other three, and they all pose various challenges. Pat Thomas Stadium is a gem of a WPA-era facility that once hosted spring-training and minor-league baseball; it's now home to high-school ball and the Leesburg Lightning (summer collegiate; Florida Collegiate Summer League). It's ready to go now. The demographics of Leesburg and the Villages, particularly in winter, may prove to be lucrative if the marketing is done right.

Historic Sanford Memorial Stadium.

Historic Sanford Memorial Stadium also successfully hosts summer-collegiate ball and is ready for immediate occupancy.

Cocoa Expo Center will be a challenge. Many will remember it as the former spring home of the Houston Astros, and while the bones of a successful operation are there, some major upgrades will be needed -- like chairs (the bars to denote the box seats are still there, but the actual seats are gone) and concessions.

Still, we're hoping the league succeeds, if only to give us access to independent baseball in winter months in great, historic venues.

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