Sports in Phoenix mirroring the major league teams which play in the Cactus League. The only two Cactus League teams which do not have a rookie league team playing in Phoenix are the Kansas City Royals and the Colorado Rockies. The Arizona Fall League is an off-season league run by Major League Baseball, and consists of six teams made up of some of the most talented minor league players in baseball. Unlike baseball's minor leagues, like AAA teams, the teams are not affiliated with a single major-league team. Each of the six teams is affiliated with five major league teams, all of which
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.