The learning curve for Brian McRae last year was a wide arc that stretched from Walla Walla, Washington, to Corvallis, Oregon, with numerous stops along the way.
The former 10-season major leaguer, and 2017 Victoria HarbourCats rookie head coach, got a feel for the idiosyncrasies of life in the West Coast League. He also got a taste of winning, guiding the HarbourCats to the second-half North Division championship, and to within a game of the league title in the 2017 WCL final against the eventual champion Corvallis Knights.
鈥淭here will be no surprises this year, from the travel to the different ball parks,鈥� said McRae.
鈥淚 am familiar with all of it now. It took me 27 games [of the 54-game schedule] to find out what the league is about, and I benefited from that knowledge, and we had a better second half of the season.鈥�
If unfamiliarity almost resulted in a league title last season, what will familiarity bring this season, which begins tonight at Wilson Group Stadium at Royal Athletic Park against the visiting Wenatchee AppleSox?
That is often hard to tell in amateur summer ball leagues such as the WCL, which are summer circuits where collegiate players extend their seasons once school is over while maintaining their college eligibility. That鈥檚 because many of the top players are still involved in the NCAA Div. 1 playoffs, and the HarbourCats aren鈥檛 immune.
It鈥檚 an annual issue that a WCL team on opening day will not remotely resemble the team at mid- or late-season. But these wins and losses in early June, with rosters stuffed with 10-day tryout players, count just as much as the wins and losses in July with full rosters.
The teams that sign the best 10-day tryout players have a big leg up in the early part of the season on teams that don鈥檛.
鈥淲e have 30 players in right now, but some of our key players are still involved in the NCAA tournament with Oregon State, Mississippi State and UC-Fullerton,鈥� lamented HarbourCats GM Brad Norris-Jones.
Even Claire Eccles, who last season became the first female player in WCL history, won鈥檛 be in the lineup for the opening weekend three-game set against the AppleSox tonight, Saturday and Sunday.
Decidedly in town, and ready to go, is the HarbourCats鈥� assemblage of international players from baseball-playing nations outside North America, including four players from Taiwan and two from Cuba.
Expect a lot of communication by hand motion this season among the HarbourCats, which luckily, is done regardless in baseball.
鈥淚 know baseball Spanish,鈥� said McRae, adding it鈥檚 impossible not to pick up bits of that language because of the number of Latin players in ball.
鈥淚 took French for five years,鈥� he added with a chuckle, of a language that is little used in the sport outside Quebec.
鈥淎s for all the others, I can use Google Translator.鈥�
Whatever the language, McRae said it is fulfilling as a coach to help these young players along in their career paths. For most, this will be as good as it gets. For a select few, pro ball may beckon. There were 32 former WCL players who played in MLB games in 2017, including former HarbourCats pitcher Nick Pivetta of the Philadelphia Phillies. Others included former Kelowna Falcons James Paxton of the Seattle Mariners, Brett Nicholas of the Texas Rangers, Ryan Tepera of the Toronto Blue Jays, Phil Maton of the San Diego Padres and Chris Davis of the Baltimore Orioles and former Bend Elk star Jacoby Ellsbury of the New York Yankees.
The 2017 MLB alumni from tonight鈥檚 visiting AppleSox include Marco Gonzales of the Mariners, Jason Hammel of the Kansas City Royals, Pat Valaika of the Colorado Rockies and Tommy Milone of the New York Mets.
Ethan Fox of Campbell River will make his second consecutive season home-opening start tonight on the mound for the HarbourCats.
Meanwhile, the HarbourCats completed their two-game cross-strait WCL exhibition campaign with an 8-7 loss against the Lefties on Thursday night in Port Angeles. The Lefties beat Victoria 8-6 in the opening exhibition contest on Wednesday night at Wilson Group Stadium.
