All-star baseball returns to the Prince George Senior Baseball League this season, but this time around, instead of a chilly fall event, it has all the makings of a hot summer classic.
The showcase event, which features the league's top players engaged in a game and home-run derby, has been moved from its usual September slot to late June, when Prince George weather is a little more
conducive to long balls clearing the Citizen Field fence.
Dubbed the Statler Versus Waldorf series, for three years the best-of-three event was held in fall, with the teams picked by PGSBL superfans, Miles Webster and Jerry Kral. Webster and Kral will again draft the teams, this time based on the first-half season statistics, for a nine-inning all-star game and home run derby, Friday, June 21.
"We've been doing it after the season ends, but it's always so cold and guys don't want to play, so we'll do it as an all-star game this year and really ramp it up and have some fun with that," said PGSBL president Jay Cook.
Heading into the new season, which starts on Tuesday, May 21, the league is a five-team loop which includes the playoff-champion Shooters Pub Gladiators, Inland Control & Services Tigers, (who won the 2012 regular season title), Queensway Auto World Red Sox and Dawn Till Dusk Contractors Titans.
The IDL Projects midget Knights are also back for league play, which they will use as preparation for the provincial playoffs in August. Each team will play an 18-game schedule, which finishes in early August, reduced from 24 games last year.
"We had problems getting all the games in with wet weather and field and guys don't want to play three times a week, so we pared it down a bit," said Cook.
The PGSBL has about 100 players, down from its heyday in the early 2000s when there were seven men's teams, as well as the Knights. Quesnel is no longer involved, having folded its Jacks team two seasons ago.
"It looks like things are turning around, we had six Knights who have graduated and moved into the men's league this year, the most we've had in about four years," said Cook. "It's nice to see the younger guys come in because we have a few older guys ready to retire so they can play slo-pitch or go golfing."
The league has revamped its playoff schedule. Semifinals will remain best-of-five series but two games have been added to the championship round,which is now a best-of-seven.
The league will shut down Aug. 13-23 while the 2013 World Baseball Challenge is played at Citizen Field.
"The tournament is awesome for our city and for our league, and we're happy to see it back," said Cook. "It's not optimal, but we're going to play the first round of playoffs and then break for the WBC and have the second half after the WBC."
The senior league will welcome back several returning college players, including pitcher Curtis Sawchuk (Missouri Baptist University), catcher/infielder Jeremy Kral (UBC), outfielder Garrett Belanger (Douglas College), infielder/pitcher Brandon
Graham (Okanagan Community College) and infielder/pitcher Jody Hannon
(Okanagan Community College). Hannon was drafted by the Tigers, while Graham became property of the Gladiators via the draft. Both are Knights graduates.
The Prince George BID Group Grays, the PGSBL's travelling rep team, will enter the provincial men's championship tournament in Victoria, Aug. 3-5. Last year's team finished fifth out of eight teams at the provincials, played at Citizen Field.
The Grays have three weekend road trip series lined up - June 15-16 against the three-time national champion Burnaby Bulldogs, July 6-7 against a Kamloops team stocked with Thompson Rivers University recruits, and July 13-14 against the Coquitlam Angels. Cook said the Grays are trying to get an all-star team from the Wheatbelt Baseball League in northeastern B.C. to travel to Prince George for a July series.
The Grays will be sharing their skills in a free camp for bantam and midget players in the Prince George Youth Baseball Association, June 8-9.
Canada, the United States, Cuba, Japan, Taiwan and the Bahamas are entered in the WBC, the third time Prince George will have hosted the international event.
WBC passes are now available at Ticketmaster outlets. Prices range from $199 for designated seating in the main grandstand to $150 for rush seating. Single-game tickets and family passes will be available closer to the tournament dates.
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