So what does a MLB team and Red Deer Minor Baseball have in common other than the game?
Numbers. Specifically, a rise in numbers.
The Toronto Blue Jays of course gathered a tsunami of support across the country with their riveting playoff run from late July and into October. Fans couldn’t get on that bandwagon fast enough.
For the local minor baseball outfit there was a rise in the number of kids playing the game with just over 550 players registered last year, all the way from seven year olds to late teens. This was pre-Blue Jay hysteria but that might change those numbers.
“It was an exciting year for us in that we went from eight teams to ten competitive teams last year,” said RDMB president Dwayne Lalor. “And with the success of the Blue Jays, if it’s anything like the early 90’s we’re going to get another jump this year and this one will be exponentially bigger. We’ve been growing at about a 10 to 15 per cent rate for the last five years.”
Lalor figures if this year’s registration numbers do jump in a similar way more than 200 youngsters will hit the ball diamonds around the city.
“That would be absolutely incredible but we’re already in a diamond crunch and so space would become an issue but it’s one of those things where it’s better to have too many bodies than not enough.”
More than 100 players of all ages have been shaking off the winter rust at the Collicutt Centre on a regular basis during the weekends and work on the building blocks of the game.
“It’s definitely a different atmosphere working on a nice carpeted floor and no wind or sun or anything. It is an opportunity for players to work on their arm action and build arm strength so when we go outside we can try to cut back on some of the potential early season injuries and soreness.”
The players can work on just about anything indoors with the exception of fly balls due to the low roof but they can still tackle footwork. The winter workouts are a trend around the province as teams are looking to get their players in game shape as early as possible to have a bit of an edge.
“Some of the organizations we compete with are basically 12 month organizations now,” said Lalor. “Okotoks has a tremendous fieldhouse and baseball facility there that is unmatched maybe in North America in terms of the overall setup at the amateur level. It’s definitely the best one in Canada that I have seen.”
Teams with the opportunity to work out together over winter are just that much more prepared when they get outside in the spring, he said.
“Teams that don’t have the indoor (facility) can get caught up. It’s a little tough early in the year if you’re in your second or third week of playing and the guy pitching has been throwing bull pens for three months.”
A similar facility for this area is just a pipe dream right now but Lalor says if someone wins on the Lotto Max and wishes to donate a facility then they would be on board with that.
“For now we’ will make do with what we have,” he said.
He says the game of baseball is doing very well in Central Alberta with strong programs in Lacombe, Sylvan Lake, Rocky Mountain House and Innisfail.He sees no reason for this trend to break.
“As you build everyone just keeps it going. It takes a dedicated group of volunteers/board members to organize and your coaching staffs and available players to keep it going.”
And apparently having a MLB team in Canada doing well doesn’t hurt either. No go check those lottery numbers just in case.
