Major League Baseball on TBS while longtime play-by-play announcers Skip Caray and Pete Van Wieren had their participation on the broadcasts reduced. This was done in an attempt to combat criticism of Caray's on-air "home team" bias and to market its baseball coverage to fans of MLB teams other than the Braves. Meanwhile, the brand Braves Baseball on TBS was replaced by Major League Baseball on TBS. The move was strongly criticized by Braves fans, Atlanta area media outlets and Braves manager Bobby Cox. Over 90% of Braves fans who voted in an online poll conducted by the "Atlanta Journal-Constitution" preferred Caray and Van Wieren
Empire Professional Baseball League Empire Professional Baseball League The Empire Professional Baseball League is an independent baseball league that began play in 2016. The Empire League plays a 70-game regular season followed by a five-game post season. The six-team league consists of two teams from Upstate New York, two from Puerto Rico, one from Maine, and one from New Hampshire. League offices are in Tampa, Florida. The Empire League is a replacement of the North Country Baseball League, which folded after one season (and was itself a last-minute replacement for the East Coast Baseball League, which disbanded before the start of the 2015 season).