AKASHI, Hyogo Pref. (Kyodo) Concerns over the fate of the four-team Kansai Independent League have finally been put to rest, at least for now, as the league came up with bailout plans on Saturday.
The low-budget baseball league has decided to set up a stock company to take charge of its own operations while promising players, including teenage female knuckleballer Eri Yoshida, that each of them will receive a monthly salary of ¥200,000 initially planned.
The move came after cash-strapped management firm Stella Inc. said earlier this week it cannot pay ¥30 million to each club — money clubs were counting on for their survival.
"There were concerns that players would have to take a salary cut, or in the worst-case scenario, they won't be able to play baseball. We are so relieved," said Kobe 9 Cruise manager Yoshihiro Nakata.
The league has been suspended since Thursday amid the spread of the new H1N1 flu in Kansai and will resume next Thursday.