The timing couldn鈥檛 have been more opportune Tuesday for the Victoria HarbourCats to unveil their 2016 West Coast League schedule.
鈥淲e owe the Blue Jays a big thank you. They kept the game in the forefront across the country this year,鈥� said HarbourCats general manager Jim Swanson,
鈥淚t鈥檚 reminiscent of the early 1990s [Blue Jays World Series era].鈥�
Even though the Toronto Blue Jays didn鈥檛 make it to the 2015 World Series, their first pennant and playoff run since 1993 rekindled baseball interest in sa国际传媒. The HarbourCats are hoping to ride that wave.
The 2016 WCL season opens for Victoria in Walla Walla, Washington, against the Sweets on June 3. The home opener at Royal Athletic Park is June 7 against the Wenatchee AppleSox, with the HarbourCats launching a Drive for 5,000 campaign in an attempt to break the league single-game record attendance of 4,627 set during last season鈥檚 Victoria home opener.
The 54-game schedule, including 27 home dates, runs to the closing game, which is at home Aug. 7 against the Yakima Valley Pippins.
Promotional home dates that have proven popular in Victoria 鈥� Father鈥檚 Day and sa国际传媒 Day 鈥� have been retained.
The HarbourCats led the WCL, which features top U.S. collegiate NCAA players, in attendance in 2015 for the second consecutive season with a per-game average of 1,910 fans.
The league itself has seen some changes. The Klamath Falls Gems will move to suburban Portland in Gresham, Oregon. The Medford Rogues have dropped out, leaving 11 teams. The new divisional alignments will feature five teams in the North Division, including Victoria along with Kelowna, Bellingham, Wenatchee and Walla Walla. The six teams in the South Division will be Yakima Valley, Kitsap, Cowlitz, Corvallis, Bend and Gresham.
The most significant format change for 2016 is the split-season pennant races. The divisional winners of the first-half of the season will play the divisional winners of the second half of the season in the playoff semifinals. If a team wins both halves of the season, the team in that division with the next best overall record will get the second playoff slot.
鈥淏y creating two pennant races, it gives teams who get off to a slow start something still to shoot for in the second half of the season,鈥� said Swanson, whose own club would have been the biggest beneficiary in 2015.
鈥淯nder the split-season format, we would have made the playoffs last season.鈥�
The HarbourCats opened with an 8-16 record but rallied to close the 2015 season 21-8.
A format weakness of split-season pennant races is that it is possible for a team with the best overall record on the season, say a team that just misses the first- and second-half pennant races by a game to two different teams, to miss the playoffs.
HarbourCats individual game tickets are now available through the team office and will also soon be available online.
FOUL TIPS: Tickets are available for the HarbourCats鈥� annual Hot Stove event Nov. 7 at the new Holiday Inn Express in Colwood. Appropriately for the times, it features Blue Jays television analyst Gregg Zaun, the 16-season major-league catcher and World Series champion, who received no shortage of national TV exposure the past few months. The evening of baseball talk will also include Tom McNamara, director of amateur scouting for the Seattle Mariners. Tickets are $125 and available at the HarbourCats office located at 101-1814 Vancouver St. Information: 778-265-0327.
