Seems the Kansai Independent League is looking to become an NPO in order to help cut costs and keep the league going.  Earlier today, reps from the four team met for a meeting and officially decided to begin preparations for the change.  The league is hoping to have everything ready in time for the 2011 season.  As a step towards that goal, league operations will be transferred over to an NPO operated by Kishu rep Takeshi Kimura for the start of the second half of the current season.

The individual clubs of the league will continue to operate as usual (that is, as incorporated public companies).

It seems all the Independent Leagues are feeling some heat with the news that 8 players on the Osaka Gold Villicanes placed bets on NPB games.

Osaka competed in the Kansai Independent League (KIL) last year and the KIL is concerned that the news could have a negative impact on the already low attendance figures.

"This is awful because it damages our name.  And we're already having financial problems, this could lead to even fewer fans supporting us," Said league rep Atsumi Torii (鳥居厚生).  "I think we'll [ultimately] be ok, but something [bad] could come out of the this."

Each of the teams in the KIL will likely conduct internal investigations of their own to see if there are any problems.

The Island League also isn't sitting idly by.  They are planning on holding an emergency meeting on the 26th to discuss whether or not to keep Inter-league games between the IL and the Japan Future Baseball League (JFBL) on their schedule.

Said Island League CEO Makoto Kagiyama, "The fact that they were betting on the NPB, the very league we're all chasing, upsets me greatly."

The Girls Pro Baseball League (GPBL) is also thinking about launching an internal investigation to make sure everything is ok with their league.

And of course, there is the JFBL itself.  With 8 of Osaka's 20 players no longer with the team, they will need to figure out how to get by on just 12 players (at least until they are able to find replacements).  And while the JFBL went on record during a press conference on Friday stating that Mie Three Arrow players were found to be clean after an internal investigation, that may not be enough to keep fans from leaving.

The future of the JFBL could be in serious jeopardy.

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See also:

JFBL: eight Osaka players caught gambling

The Kansai Independent League (KIL) has drawn fewer fans (about 150 per game !!) and has had a difficult time securing sponsors this year.

On Thursday, Kobe, Akashi, and Kishu decided to cut players salaries by 100% (not including performance bonuses), beginning this month.

Earlier today (6/20), representatives for the three got together and decided that despite the financial problems, the league would continue.

And since Thursday's decision to cut salaries by 100%, a number of players have decided to jump ship -- at least one player from Kobe and four players from Kishu are no longer playing in the KIL due to "personal reason."

Note: according to a report filed by Yomiuri Online, player salaries were already cut from 200,000 yen a month down to 80,000 yen plus bonuses for the current season.

The Kansai Independent League season started on Sunday with the Korea Haechi taking on the Kobe 9 Cruise.

The Korea Haechi ended up losing to the Kobe 9 Cruise, 13-11.

The Korea Haechi (Kansai Independent League) held a press conference on Friday in Osaka to introduce their team and their players to the media.  Manager Chul-Woo Park spoke at the press conference and told reporters that they joined the league in order to win and that the team will do it's best regardless of the opponent.

For more information about the team, check out the official Korea Haechi website.  On a side note, the site doesn't seem to like Firefox very much.

The Kansai Independent League held a press conference on Wednesday to announce that the first half of the season will begin on the 28th with 4 teams playing 36 games a piece with the final game on 6/27.

The League also announced that the official "nickname" for the league will be KANDOK, as in KANsai DOKuritsu.

The Korea Turtle Ships announced a name change during a Kansai Independent League meeting on Thursday.  Instead of being called the Korea Turtle Ships, the team will now be called the Korea Haechi.

The Haechi is currently the symbol of Seoul, Korea and is a creature that usually "appears in myths as a guardian against fire and disasters."

Also discussed during the meeting:

Games will begin in April 2010.

The league is looking into the possibility of all four teams playing 6 games over a span of 3 days in Korea.

There's also apparently a club in the States that's interested in the league.  The article doesn't really go into too much detail but does mention that the league is currently considering the option of having the US club participate in a Cup style, short series tournament.

The Kishu Rangers and the Korea Turtle Ships of the Kansai Independent League held tryouts at Wakayama Kimiidera Baseball Stadium on Saturday.

45 players between 18 and 45 showed up for the tryouts.  Of the 45, 2 were Koreans living in Japan; 19 were pitchers and 26 were position players.

The first round took place between 2pm and 4pm and consisted of 50m dashes, throwing, pitching, batting, and fielding tests.  The second round took place between 4pm and 6pm and consister of situational BP, pitching, and fielding.

7 pitchers and 6 position players made it to the second round.  Final results of the tryout will be announced on the 10th.

There was also a 3,000yen tryout fee.

The Kishu Rangers announced on Friday that Takeshi Kimura will be taking over as their new manager next year.  Kimura is also the Rangers' club rep.  His registered name will be Takeshi Ishii.

The Akashi Red Soldiers announced that Koichi Kitagawa will stay on as manager for another season.

The Red Soldiers 2009 record:

First Half

14-20-2 (4th place)

Second Half

18-16-2 (2nd place)

Overall

32-36-4 (3rd place)