Growing up, Andy Appleby wanted to join the Boston Red Sox; instead, he started a professional baseball league of his own.

The venture, United Shore Professional Baseball League, gave Appleby — a former Detroit Pistons executive — a chance to build a $15-million field of dreams in Utica with an investor group. And he was able to put his own twist on America’s pastime.

The new ballpark, Jimmy John’s Stadium, opens to the public on Memorial Day for its first game.

“There’s a whole lot to this thought process,” said Appleby, the league’s commissioner. “I could have just joined somebody else’s league, but the knowledge and experience we had suggested it would be much better to create our own.”

By starting a new league, Appleby said he has more control over the schedule and players — and he can even change the rules of the game if he wants.

But there also are risks: There’s no guarantee he’ll fill the suburban stadium, and independent leagues don’t always last.

3 teams, 1 stadium

So far, Appleby’s league has just three teams — the Utica Unicorns, the Eastside Diamond Hoppers, and the Birmingham Bloomfield Beavers. They are set to play each other in a 50-game season for a total of 75 league games in the highly-visible stadium just off M59.

In the league’s inaugural game at 2 p.m. Monday, it’s the Unicorns vs. the Beavers.

After that, the teams will start playing at 7:25 p.m. on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and 2 p.m. on Sundays. Friday night games include fireworks, so they start a little later, at 7:45 p.m., so the pyrotechnics are more visible.

The season is set to run through mid September.

But don’t worry, Appleby said, the schedule — and team rotations — is organized so it doesn’t look like the same teams are playing each other over and over. Each team has five different uniforms of various colors.

Appleby added that a lot of what fans expect at minor league games has as much to do with the ambiance and fun off the field — as it does on the diamond.

The sound system and scoreboard, he promises, are state-of-the-art — the “biggest and baddest” in the minor leagues. There are suites behind home plate. There also are patio suites, outside picnic areas and a VIP club. There’s no charge for parking.

Each team, as you might expect, has its own mascot — and merchandise.

On some game days, a skydiver will swoop down to deliver the game ball, and on others, a specially trained dog fetches bats.

“Keep in mind, in minor league baseball it’s a little bit more about the extravaganza every night than the wins and losses,” Appleby said. “It’s about kids having fun — and it’s excellent baseball, too.”

The experience

His new league, Appleby said, is the culmination of a nearly decade-long effort to bring more baseball to metro Detroit.

As the president and CEO of General Sports and Entertainment based in Rochester, Appleby has experience running professional sports teams.

He is a former senior vice president of the Pistons and Palace Sports and Entertainment. He owned a stake in the Ft. Wayne Wizards, a minor league baseball team in Indiana, and he owned a piece of a British professional soccer club, the Derby County FC.

Appleby plans to expand his new league gradually.

In the next two years, he hopes to add teams in at least one other city, potentially on the west side of Michigan; and within in seven years, he would like to grow the league to 20 teams, two teams each in 10 cities throughout the Midwest.

“Every league has some growing pains to start with,” he said.

Still, Appleby said even if his independent league never gets any bigger, he has built a stadium — a sports entertainment destination — that includes features that he wished other stadiums had, and that gives corporate executives and suburban families looking for a night out a place to go.

He has already sold suites tickets, sponsorships and naming rights to the stadium and the league.

In addition, Appleby said, the league is giving young ballplayers a chance to get paid — $600 to $1,000 per month — to pursue their dream of professional athletics, and perhaps, one day, to even be signed to a major league team.

“I’m putting $1 million behind our baseball operations just to produce our first major leaguer,” Appleby said, touting the league’s efforts to field fresh talent. “The day somebody takes an at-bat who played in our league or throws a pitch, that will give me that 100% validation.”

Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com.

If you go

Where: Jimmy John’s Field, 7171 Auburn Road, Utica

Capacity: 4,500, including 2,000 box seats 

Teams: Utica Unicorns, Eastside Diamond Hoppers, Birmingham Bloomfield Beavers

Team mascots: Lancelot, Ribbi and Buzz

Game times: Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 7:25 p.m.; Fridays at 7:45 p.m.; and Sundays at 2 p.m.

Number of games: 75

Stadium features: Indoor suites, outdoors, picnic areas; bathroom attendants 

Website: https://uspbl.com