The summer of 1928 seemed to be the low point of the decade with respect to the prominence of baseball within some areas of the urban heartland of southern and north-central Saskatchewan although this phenomenon didn't seem to exist to the same extent in the rural communities. Box scores were glaringly absent from the sports pages of the Moose Jaw Evening Times and, to a lesser extent, the Saskatoon Phoenix as intra-city baseball leagues of previous seasons had vanished in both of these centres although a resurrection would ultimately occur in 1929. Also gone in the south country were the semi-pro squads which had graced the dusty diamonds of the wheat province just one summer previous. Even the frequency of small-town tournament play and exhibition games with travelling teams appeared to have diminished and many of the exhibition games involving touring clubs found the barnstormers facing one another rather than playing against local opposition.
The elite baseball players in Moose Jaw did form a leagueless team and participated in a handful of these exhibition matches and tournaments but the number of games that they actually played in was but a fraction of that which they were normally accustomed to. In the Queen City, the four team Northside League did get off the ground and, after a first-half winner was declared, just fizzled to a quiet halt in late August without any second-half winner or any attempt at a playoff. The moguls in Saskatoon began the season with lofty expectations, forming a club of select players from the area and joining a three-team circuit known as the Independent Baseball League. With semi-pro overtones, the local players were supplemented with a few recruits from other parts of Canada and the United States. Facing adverse weather conditions amongst other things, the fan turnout for games, especially in Rosetown and Biggar, was disappointing and the last known game played under the league banner appears to have been on July 14. A week later, the prestigious Saskatoon exhibition tournament took place and nothing was ever mentioned in the local print media again with respect to the defunct Independent League.
While Saskatchewan senior level baseball had its struggles in 1928, the same did not hold true for southern Alberta where baseball seemed to be thriving. The Saskatoon Phoenix reported that the Claresholm club, with Dodger Lewis on its roster, had a monthly payroll of $1,500, a huge sum in that era.
No evidence was found in any of the leading newspapers that any attempt had been made to stage the usual provincial senior amateur playoffs in Saskatchewan.