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Men’s baseball leagues on hold

No league is being spared from cancellations and postponements in the current COVID-19 pandemic. The latest is men's baseball
baseball in grass
Local men's baseball leagues are the latest casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Don’t play ball.

That’s the message from the Lower Mainland Baseball Association to the 38 teams in four leagues for 18-and older players. Three teams — the 18+ Coquitlam Cardinals and Thunder, as well as the PoCo Cold 45s — are in the Tri-Cities.

Lower Mainland Baseball League commissioner Dan Taylor said public health concerns trump sports. But he has set some scenarios for regular activities to resume once the pandemic scare has abated.

“I’m hoping it isn’t too long,” Taylor said. “I’ve got about 700 guys who are itching to play.”

Taylor added he’s hoping a schedule of games could resume by the Victoria Day weekend, May 16 to 18.

Even then, that would mean a shortened 16-game season, plus playoffs, for the 38 teams that compete in 18-plus, 30-plus and 45-plus age divisions.

“Basically, we’re just in a great big holding pattern, like everybody else,” Taylor said, adding his league’s ability to schedule games is dependent the plans of the region’s various minor baseball association as field access for the men’s teams relies on availability after the kids play.

“We share all the same diamonds as the minor associations,” Taylor said. “Most parks are allocated (municipally) for the minor organizations, because the kids come first.”

Taylor said 26 years of working with those kids’ leagues has generated a lot of goodwill, and everyone can get their needs met.

Meanwhile, the league’s registration system remains open. Teams that haven’t yet paid their registration fees are being told to hang on to their money until a date for opening day has been set.

“We are confident we will get in some baseball time in 2020,” said a notice posted on the LMBA’s website.

Taylor said one casualty that isn’t related to the current pandemic is the absence of the B.C. Badgers, a female team comprised of provincial and national-level players that played the last two season’s in the over-45 division.

“The schedule just didn’t mesh well with them,” he said, adding the team has moved on to the Vancouver Recreational Baseball League to stay sharp for women’s national team responsibilities.