The Victoria HarbourCats came up with a novel idea amid the novel coronavirus pandemic 鈥� virtual pop-up baseball.
This weekend would have been the start of the HarbourCats鈥� 2020 season in the West Coast League.
COVID-19, however, put paid to those plans.
But the club kept the spirit of the season alive Saturday on a projection screen by replaying a past game and a past fireworks display in the parking lot behind Wilson鈥檚 Group Stadium at Royal Athletic Park. There were also food trucks.
鈥淲e鈥檒l be co-ordinated with lines and distance, as we all know is the necessity right now and no more than 40 people will be on site at any time, hence, the come-and-go nature of the physical setup,鈥� said HarbourCats GM and managing partner Jim Swanson, as he prepared for the event.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a chance to be outdoors, see people from safe distance and give a wave. We鈥檙e all missing the social aspects of life.鈥�
The team will also look to do a similar event June 30.
鈥淲e鈥檙e still here and we鈥檒l be back [in 2021],鈥� said Swanson.
The HarbourCats have issued a version of their 2020 game-day program, featuring what would have been the club鈥檚 2020 lineup. It is available for download via the team鈥檚 website.
Games from past seasons are being made available on hcats.tv
Meanwhile, the WCL officially cancelled its season Saturday. The HarbourCats, one of two Canadian clubs in the 12-team league, had announced last month they could not play this season due to the sa国际传媒-U.S. border being closed to all but essential travel. Most of the HarbourCats players鈥� are American collegians from the NCAA.
sa国际传媒 is also currently banning gathers of more than 50 people, including at sports events.
Nanaimo will become the WCL鈥檚 13th franchise in 2021.
