Golden State League Golden State League The Golden State League was an Independent Baseball league that operated in California from 1994 to 1996. The league had originally targeted eight teams and considered 10-12 potential sites, they were Chico; Fresno; Henderson, Nevada; Lodi; Long Beach; Merced; Oceanside; Oxnard; Palm Springs; Redding; Rohnert Park; Sacramento; San Luis Obispo; Santa Barbara; St. George, Utah; Yuba City; and Yuma, Arizona. However, it eventually started play with only four teams. These were the Imperial Valley Brahmas in Brawley, California and El Centro, California; the Antelope Valley Ravens in Lancaster, California and Palmdale, California; the Yuma Desert Dawgs moved
Baseball in Japan by their sponsoring companies and do not receive salaries as baseball players but as company employees. The best teams in these circuits are determined via the Intercity Baseball Tournament and the Industrial League National Tournament. The level of play in these leagues is very competitive; Industrial League players are often selected to represent Japan in international tournaments and Major League Baseball players such as Hideo Nomo (Shin-Nitetsu Sakai), Junichi Tazawa (Nippon Oil) and Kosuke Fukudome (Nihon Seimei), have been discovered by professional clubs while playing industrial baseball. Japan has won the World Baseball Classic twice since the tournament was created.