Does the PBL Need Saving?

 

The lay out of the Powerline Baseball League is starting to come together as the February 28^th deadline for new and returning teams to declare their intentions, gets closer and closer.

 

News broke on the PBL website (www.powerlinebaseball.com) on February 10^th, 2010, that the Sherwood Park delegation decided to enter the North Central Alberta Baseball League (NCABL) as opposed to the PBL. The move, combined with the tantalizing headline (“Axemen players influence decision for ShPk to enter NCABL?”) had PBL purists looking for blood. In their cross-hairs were the Camrose Axemen and any player associated with the team, specifically Rebels OF Kris Kushnerick, C Bryan Toles, and newly acquired P Joel Graumann. All three have been playing for both the Axemen and the Rebels and will continue to do so in 2010.

 

With word that Sherwood Park would not be entering the PBL for the 2010 campaign, more bad news was reported two days later (February 12^th, 2010) that the Camrose Cougars may not enter the PBL either and that a decision has not been reached on whether the AA Midget Cougars would enter the PBL or just stick to there regular midget schedule.

 

With a “best case scenario” of 7 teams in the PBL, one would have to wonder if the “best case scenario” is the realistic scenario based on the doom and gloom on the PBL website.

 

Rumors are swirling through the tabloids about the possibility of the Camrose Roadrunners struggling to find enough players for 2010, although league President Larry Lewsaw will attempt to field a team for 2010.

 

One would also expect the rumors to start appearing with regards to the Armena Royals, now that it has been reported that another (Clark Banack being the other) veteran player (Adam Johnson) will not be returning to the Royals lineup in 2010 due to other commitments.

 

The addition of the Holden Blue Jays into the PBL has been forgotten in the midst of the exodus of teams away from or out of the PBL for 2010 but is it really as bad as the media portrays it to be?

 

In spring of 2008, when the Camrose Axemen got voted into the NCABL, many PBL insiders were ready to push the Doomsday Clock to midnight on the league. There was talk of the league folding as the Axemen were sure to grab Roadrunners and longtime Armena Royal/Axemen Clark Banack was unsure about fielding a team in Armena. The league was looking to kick off the 2008 season with only the Tofield Lakers, Bardo Athletics and Ryley Brewers committed to compete. What the league seemingly needed was a miracle. Cue the Leduc Milleteers?

 

There was a ray of light coming from the west as the Leduc Milleteers showed interest in entering the PBL and the rest seemed to just, fall into place. The reported Camrose members who “committed” or showed interest in committing to the Axemen (Steve and Paul Ofrim, Mike Viske, Scott Svenbjornson, Renne Brisson, Jeff Kasa, Kjell Wickstrom, John Andreassen, and Hans Haugen) never did. Clark Banack was able to find enough enthusiastic young players from the Hay Lakes, Armena, and Camrose area to fill out a roster, and the Leduc Milleteers put together enough guys and were voted into the PBL.

 

What surely was going to be a three team league magically turned back into the six team league that wasn’t seen since the 2005 season, and it all appeared to be sparked by the Leduc Milleteers and their interest in entering the PBL.  

 

In 2009 the Ryley Rebels re-entered the PBL after a seven year hiatus only for the league to see the long time Ryley Brewers make an exit due to low commitment from roster. Again the PBL hovered at the 6 team mark which was the fourth year since 1999 that saw the league sport 6 teams (2002, 2005, and 2008 being the other years).

 

Rolling into the off-season and specifically the Fall Meeting, shouts and cheers of joy could be heard across the PBL as interest sparked from 3 new (kind of) teams. The Holden Blue Jays (since have confirmed), a Sherwood Park AAA team, and the Camrose Cougars AA Midget team all expressed interest in entering the PBL for the 2010 campaign.

 

The possibility of having 9 teams did pose a few interesting questions for the PBL brain trust; Would the teams and players be okay with extending the schedule and would they be okay with the additional driving mileage and time required to play those games? Two key areas that were and still are hotly contested by some in the league and ironically it was these two questions brought up when people vented towards the Camrose Axemen’s decision to leave the PBL for the NCABL. “Why would they want to drive several hours a week to play baseball?” commented one current PBL player. Would the PBL be willing to expand the schedule to accommodate 2 more teams and possibly 2-4 more games?

 

Heated debates raged after the 2009 season wrapped up with many feeling baseball should not roll into late July or August due to family commitments and was echoed by a recent comment to the tune of “if you want more go play in another league” (February 5^th 2010).

 

With the more realistic possibility of 6-7 teams participating in the 2010 season, should PBL insiders be surprised and would they really have wanted it any other way? After all, change is a tough pill for some to swallow.