Steal My Sunshine

Those dark clouds hovering over the baseball world don’t seem to be going anywhere. What started as a bleak-looking rain delay graduated to postponed games, and we are now in a phase where many cancelled contests won’t ever be played.

What’s lost may never be found.

One of the latest casualties of the COVID-19 pandemic is the Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL), a summer collegiate circuit previously known as the Western Major Baseball League with historical roots dating back to the 1930s.

Season in the Balance

There have been a lot of questions surrounding the upcoming summer baseball season in Alberta, across this country and around the world. Will it happen? Can we have a shortened campaign? How willing are players and fans to take part?

Those questions and more have been hanging over the head of Kevin Kvame. Over the last few weeks, the Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL) president has been trying to stay on top of all of the COVID-19 developments.

We spoke with Kvame about the current status of the WCBL.

The Final Out

There are final outs and then there are final outs.

The final out of a game. The final out of a series. The final out of a season. The final out of your final season.

Then there’s the last out that precedes a rain delay. Is it really the final out? Will this game start up again? Will we play the rest of this another day?

Such are the questions that come with rain delays.

Welcome to the season of coronavirus. It’s a season of uncertainty and one of far more questions than answers.

2020 Vision

Despite a summer that pretty much didn’t happen weather-wise, the Western Canadian Baseball League is touting it as a success.

Now all eyes are on the future, starting with a 2020 season that will feature two fewer teams.

As league president Kevin Kvame told us, 2021 will also be a season of change with expansion coming to Alberta.

7th Inning Stretch: Tanner Hess

It’s been a steady summer season of baseball for middle infielder Tanner Hess of the Fort McMurray Giants.

The 23-year-old from Victoria, British Columbia was a last-minute addition to the Fort McMurray roster and he ended up turning the opportunity into an All-Star calibre campaign.

Hess is the focus of this 7th Inning Stretch feature.