Fort Worth Cats Sold: Team Will Join the North American League

It’s been quite an interesting week for a long-time American Association team. 

The Fort Worth Cats, one of the founding members of the American Association, have been sold by Carl Bell to John Bryant and Byron Pierce, co-founders of United League Baseball. The Cats have been accepted by the North American League as a member of the South Division (United League Baseball merged with the Northern League and Golden Baseball League to form the NAL).

With this purchase comes Mike Stone, former president of the Texas Rangers, as the new chairman of the team. 

This is the fifth Indy team Bryant and Pierce have owned. By purchasing the Cats, they now have a franchise with over 125 years of experience and, on top of that, a loyal fan base. 

According to the Star-Telegram, the Cats have joined the NAL because of their failure to pay a $200,000 letter of credit owed to the American Association. 

Despite the financial troubles, Kevin Outcalt, CEO of the NAL is pretty excited with the new team—who wouldn’t be? The Cats arrival means there are five teams in Texas. The Fort Worth tradition only makes the league fan base even stronger. 

A press release on the NAL website quotes Outcalt as saying he's "thrilled."

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We are thrilled to have the Fort Worth Cats as a member of the 2012 North American League. It's a first class market and stadium with more than a century of baseball tradition. The new ownership group is very experienced and we look forward to the leadership of Mike Stone to revitalize the brand and the team.

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No formalized schedule has been posted to the Cats site, but you can check out the NAL for team and league updates.

Devon is a former professional baseball player with the River City Rascals and Gateway Grizzlies, and is now an independent scout. He is the founder of The GM’s Perspective.