PBL Officials Meet for Annual Fall Meeting

On Thursday September 30^th, team representatives along with league officials met to discuss the 2010 season along with the upcoming 2011 season. Rebels General Manager Corey Epp, and Manager Kevin Reinholt attended the meeting on behalf of the team.

 

Highlights from Meeting:

 

1 – The biggest news to come out of the meeting was that the Tofield Lakers franchise is packing their bags and heading south to become the umpteenth reincarnation of the Camrose Roadrunner franchise. Laker representative Josh Banack blamed the Town of Tofield for the move saying “I spent too much time, more time than I ever want to spend on that field. We’ll pay the $50 or whatever in Camrose each night to have the diamond taken care of and it’s done.” The PBL website is reporting that former Roadrunner General Manager and PBL President Larry Lewsaw will be joining the team in an advisory/front office role. Rumors are already swirling as to who will be on the team, will it be a straight Lakers to Camrose switch, or will some former Roadrunners join the Lakers to make the team more competitive?

 

2 – Teams have decided to find out the cost of being affiliated with Baseball Alberta for 2011 before making a commitment to signing on once again. While the affiliation helps the Armena Royals with umpires, most teams saw very little or no return on the additional $83 per year. But it is nice to go to Armena and not have to have an umpire call the game from behind the pitcher’s mound (Rebels at Royals on June 4^th 2009), so teams might want to chip in.

 

3 – The league representatives also talked about wanting to run the annual BRL vs. PBL All-Star game on a Friday night or weekend to better help promote the game and have players want to show up. The league agreed to allow each team to send two representatives, which the teams will vote on themselves, while each team is to also send the names of two pitchers who are able to attend the All-Star game, so that the league can vote on those pitchers. The top three vote getters will get the mound for the PBL All-Stars in the game. The league is struggling to find the right formula for the All-Star team selection, especially after the 2010 All-Star team was announced, and as fans are looking for a better showing by the PBL, even more so that the BRL has come to win every year. Controversy quickly arisen when the pitching rotation was announced;

Kyle Muzechka – 9 pts (Unable to play in 2010 All-Star Game)
Jon Anstey – 8 pts (Unable to pitch in 2010 All-Star Game)
Marcel Lesoway – 4 pts (Ace of the 3-12 Tofield Lakers)
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Steve Pahl – 3 pts (Manager of the PBL All-Stars)
Mark Walker – 3 pts (0-5 with a 6.67 ERA along with 15 strikeouts and 27 walks in 2010)
Donny Oslund – 3 pts
Dylan Solberg – 2 pts (Pitched 2.00 innings during the 2010 regular season)
Scott Peterson – 2 pts (Became an emergency pitcher in All Star Game, pitching 4 strong innings)
Ron Oslund – 1 pt
Chris Mittlestadt – 1 pt

Bold indicates 2010 PBL All-Star Pitchers

4 – It was decided that the 2011 PBL Season would begin on Tuesday May 10^th, eight days sooner than the 2010 PBL Season. The league also agreed to have a one week rainout buffer after the regular season and before the playoffs begin. No other schedule decisions were made as the league would like to sit back and wait to hear from any other teams interested in joining the league. Schedule will be discussed further in the 2011 Spring Meeting which is tentatively scheduled for March 18^th.

5 – The league executive (President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer) will be voted on at the 2011 Spring Meeting. Current Secretary Ray Lehman (Bardo Athletics) and current treasurer Mike Leclair (Bardo Athletics) have both said they intend to step down for the 2011 season.

 

2010 PBL Executive

President – Steven Pahl (Leduc Milleteers); Vice President – Josh Banack (Tofield Lakers); Secretary – Ray Lehman (Bardo Athletics) and Tresurer – Mike Leclair (Bardo Athletics)

 

 

 

Although the substitution rule and 18 man roster rule were on the draft of the agenda, no headway was made on the issues, or at least none worth reporting.