To paraphrase the title of the old movie, if this is Tuesday, it must be Burnaby.
The sa国际传媒 Premier Baseball League is making up for time lost during the pandemic with each team playing 24 games in 30 days in a whirlwind 2021 season.
When Victoria Mariners GM and head coach Mike Chewpoy told former team star and ex-major leaguer Michael Saunders about that, Saunders replied that鈥檚 an even greater game rate than that of the Single-A pro Atlanta Braves鈥� farm team, Augusta GreenJackets, that he manages.
But deprived of baseball for so long 鈥� the 2020 BCPBL season was cancelled 鈥� few are complaining.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a grind 鈥� ferry, bus, play, ferry, bus, play 鈥� but it鈥檚 fun,鈥� said Chewpoy.
鈥淭he players, and coaches, are loving being back at the parks and on the diamonds again.鈥� The BCPBL has an alumni list that includes current or former MLB players Saunders and Rich Harden from the Victoria Mariners, Nick Pivetta from the Victoria Eagles, who is currently 7-3 with the Boston Red Sox, James Paxton, Tyler O鈥橬eill, Ryan Dempster, Jeff Francis, Brett Lawrie, Adam Loewen, Justin Morneau and Hall of Famer Larry Walker.
The Next One appears to be Dominic Hambley of the Mariners, who was pitching for the Victoria club (5-5-2 heading in) on Saturday in its second game of a doubleheader against the UBC Thunder (5-7) at Layritz Park.
The six-foot-three, 230-pound hurler has it all, from a 95 miles-per-hour fastball with also a slider, curve and change-up.
The righty out of Belmont Secondary can also hit and he bats third in the Mariners order.
Hambley is projected for the third to sixth rounds of the 2021 MLB draft, which should net him a decent signing bonus. His other option is the collegiate NCAA and he has been recruited by the highly-touted Oregon State Beavers of the Pac-12.
鈥淭hey probably won鈥檛 let him bat in the pros but they would in the NCAA,鈥� said Chewpoy.
Hambley was the only Canadian player invited to this year鈥檚 Prep Baseball Report鈥檚 Super 60 Pro Showcase camp, out of which over 19 years, more than 300 players have been selected in the MLB draft, including 22 first rounders and 25 second-round selections.
Prep Baseball Report has Hambley as the 33rd ranked pitcher for the 2021 draft, which runs Sunday through Tuesday.
The Island teams in the BCPBL are the Mariners, Eagles (6-4-2 heading into Saturday), Mid-Island Pirates of Nanaimo (3-7) and Parksville Royals (6-4). The other teams are the Thunder, Abbotsford Cardinals, Coquitlam Reds, Langley Blaze, North Delta Blue Jays, Whalley Chief, North Shore Twins, White Rock Tritons and Okanagan Athletics.
The regular season runs through July 25.
