There was a book published in 1995 entitled "Wild And Outside" by Stefan Fatsis ...Subtitled "how a renegade Minor League Revived the Spirit of Baseball in America's Heartland". The book delves into this subject of how the independent Northern league battled MLB. Anyone who is passionate about the hometown minors will find this an interesting read IMHO.
We lost our Minor League team in Wausau Wisconsin who played at historical and beautiful Athletic Park which is located i/2 block from Cub great Johnny Schmitz's life time home. but the city fathers were smart enough to fill the void with the Wausau Woodchucks a college summer league team. But a long history of A ball was cast into the dust bin. So many towns in Wisconsin lost in this struggle. Below is a link to the front of Athletic Park.
https://www.google.com/maps/uv?pb=!1...9gLRX9WR&hl=en