The Long Beach Armada were an independent professional baseball team based in Long Beach, California, in the United States. The Armada was a member of the North Division of the now-defunct Golden Baseball League (GBL), which was not affiliated with either Major League Baseball or Minor League Baseball. The Armada played its home games at Blair Field. The Armada fielded a team for the Arizona Summer League in 2010 months after suspending GBL operations, and then a team in the Arizona Winter League in 2011. The franchise has been owned by Diamond Sports & Entertainment, primary investors in the current North American League (NAL), since 2005. The team had 13 different players during its first five seasons that played at the major league level. In addition, 21 Long Beach Armada players have had their contracts purchased by major league organizations. Team history The team was one of the original eight GBL charter teams that began play in 2005. They began play in May 2005, three years after their predecessors, the Long Beach Breakers, folded along with the Western Baseball League. Former Armada manager Steve Yeager managed the Breakers to the WBL Championship in 2001, that team's inaugural season, beating the Chico Heat 3 games to 2. Legal issues with the city On December 18, 2009, the Long Beach Armada, to protect its ability to play at Blair Field, engaged lawyers to take action against the City of Long Beach and Long Beach State University alleging that the two public entities conspired to prematurely end the Armada's permit to play at Blair Field that still had three years left. The City of Long Beach made an arrangement to either sell or provide a long-term lease to Long Beach State University for the college to take over the maintenance and cost of running Blair Field, but first had to revoke the Armada's permit, which was standing in the way of completing a deal and had usage and concessions rights. As a result, the Armada suspended operations following the 2009 season. Arizona Summer League (2010) The Armada fielded a team in the Arizona Summer League in June 2010. They played alongside the Bisbee Miners and San Diego Surf Dawgs. They replaced the El Centro Imperials. Arizona Winter League (2011) On January 5, 2011, the Arizona Winter League released their schedule and it was announced the Armada would be joining the league along with