Beginning in the 2018 season of Major League Baseball, nobody's favourite commissioner Rob Manfred installed "pace of play" rules into the game. Simple tweaks designed to reduce stall tactics and thereby shorten the overall length of the game. Some of these rules are coming to Alberta in 2025 via the Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL).
"The 12 clubs in the WCBL are now limited to six mound visits per game over the course of nine innings, with an additional visit provided to each team for every extra inning played. An active pitcher meeting with a manager, coach or a player who vacates his position on the field counts as a mound visit. If a manager or coach crosses the foul line on their way to the mound after the team has used up its mound visits, that team must make a pitching change.
The league has also adopted a three-batter minimum rule. A pitcher must face at least three batters or end a half-inning before the team can make another pitching change. If the half-inning ends and the pitcher returns, he must fulfill the three-batter requirement when he takes the mound the following inning."
One cannot romanticize mound visits and pitching changes therefore one absolutely applauds these rule changes by the league.
Great and Quirky Ballparks in Alberta in WCBL
The league is dominated by the Okotoks Dawgs. That is not a knock on the league, it is a tip of the cap to an organization that is fantastically operated. Visiting Seaman Stadium stills sits on the bucket list of things to do as the stories are that there is no better atmosphere in the league than in this cozy confines in Okotoks.
The Sylvan Lake Gulls play in dream of a field. Gulls Field at Pogadl Park with its rounded walkway up to the gates, classic feel to its second level of seats and commitment to always seeing through their gameday promos to the umpteenth degree makes a park a must visit. Plan your day in Sylvan Lake around a couple hours on the beach, a visit (or two) to Moos for some ice cream then out to the ballgame to get their amazing ice cream sundae in a mini ball cap that has too many ingredients to list.
The Brooks Bombers have the quirkiest ball park in the league and it has become something to love. The smallest park in the league on a windy night leads to games like the box score listed below:
Myshak Metro Ballpark, home of the ?
The answer is the Edmonton Prospects but by the time the June 7th inaugural game in the Spruce Grove park is played the team will have a new name and a new look. The Club ran an on-line name the team contest so you if you happen to see "Spruce Grove Battery" on a final list, give it some love.
Take me out to the ballgame, but thank you MLB and WCBL for trying to make sure we all get home in a timely manner.