While Mets fans in New Jersey are still recovering from the shock over the Mets demise on the final day of the season, the Garden State did have something to celebrate.

Over the past 14 years, eight minor league baseball teams have cropped up in New Jersey. Three of those eight teams won championships this year. Two nights ago, the Somerset Patriots won the Atlantic League championship for the fourth time in their eleven year history at Commerce Bank Park in Bridgewater, NJ. Their opponent was another New Jersey team, the Camden Riversharks.  Former Yankee pitcher Sparky Lyle is the manager of the four time champion Patriots. Also, Mets pitcher Brandon Knight who won his first major league game this season, pitched for the Patrioits earlier this summer.

The Atlantic League is the highest level independent league in the country. The league features very good players that were not drafted by a major league team or who elected not to sign. College players and released players from the affiliated minor leagues also help make up the rosters of the Atlantic League. The league also includes some former Major League players attempting to make a comeback or who just still want to play. Edgardo Alfonso, Richard Hildago, and Carl Everett played for the Long Island Ducks this season, another team in the Atlantic League. The Newark Bears are the third New Jersey team in the Atlantic League. There are eight teams total in the league.

Another independent league that has three teams in New Jersey is the Cam-Am League (formerly the Northeast League). Earlier this month the Sussex Skyhawks of Sussex, New Jersey won the Can-Am League Championship. The Skyhawks are a fairly new team. They replaced the New Jersey Cardinals of the New York Penn League a couple of years ago at Skylands Park in Sussex. The first two years of the Skyhawks existence was pretty horrendous. But this year the Skyhawks won the second half getting into the playoffs then winning it all in the championship round against Quebec.

Hal Lanier, the former player, coach, and manager in the Major Leagues managed the Skyhawks to their first championship. Lanier managed the Astros in 1986 when the Mets won the NLCS against them in six games.

The other two Can-Am teams in New Jersey are the New Jersey Jackals who play at Yogi Berra Stadium at Montclair State University and the Atlantic City Surf, formerly of the Atlantic League.

The Trenton Thunder is the New York Yankees double A affiliate in the Eastern League. The Thunder won their second consecutive league Championship in mid September. The Trenton club has been in New Jersey since 1994 when they were originally affiliated with the Detroit Tigers. The Boston Red Sox took over control of the Thunder in their second season but they have been a Yankees farm team since 1996. The Thunder recently extended their agreement with the Yanks for another six years.

The eighth and final minor league team in Jersey is the Lakeland Blue Claws, a Philadelphia Phillies single A team from the South Atlantic League. Ironically the Blue Claws did not win a championship but did have the best overall record in their division. The Sally league plays a split season but Lakewood won neither half. However, their overall 80-60 record was best in the Northern Division.