This year, the North Central Alberta Baseball League is celebrating 50 years in the province.
From a tailgate party in St. Albert to the opening of the Hall of Fame in Morinville, and culminating with a cherry-on-top gala and all-star showdown in the Westlock Red Lions den, the league has events planned all year to celebrate its place in diamonds around the region.
Although fleeting, Athabasca has had its own ephemeral teams in the storied league.
From 2001-2003, local baseball buffs joined and built the Athabasca Ravens, which became the Angels in 2004.
There was hard work and there were good crowds, but the local boys never brought the big trophy home.
“They struggled, the poor Athabasca franchises,” said Paul Riopel is the commissioner of the NCABL. “They never got out of the basement.”
Despite the history of rock-bottom finishes, Riopel said he believes that with the right mix of coaching, local talent, foreign ringers and chutzpah, Athabasca could build a team that shifts its status from farce to force on the field.
“I’d love to see a team back in Athabasca. You’ve got the facilities that can accommodate it, and the beautiful town,” he said.
“It’s a matter of people with vision wanting to share their time, and for some of the local businesses wanting to share their resources,” Riopel added.
The history
Despite a less-than-stellar-more-like-cellar record, Riopel said Athabasca’s Ravens and Angels used to draw solid crowds.
Statistics show that over the course of their four years in the NCABL, the teams raked in eight wins, 68 losses and two ties. They never made the post-season.
At least they were on an upward trajectory – Athabasca registered one win per season in the first two seasons, two in their third season and three in their fourth and final season.
The How-to build guide
So how would we build up from zeros – almost quite literally – to heroes?
Bring in the big guns.
“You have to import players,” Riopel said. “Because the program there in Athabasca is not strong enough at the minor league level to develop the skill set needed to play this calibre of baseball.”
Riopel said if anyone were interested in starting a team up, he could share a plan with them if there was enough interest and some community support – i.e. a little bit of cash.
“We could make them successful from the get-go,” he said. “I’m not necessarily saying top four, but I’m saying competitive. Meaning, playing .500 baseball.”
He said billets would help, and to entice billets host families should be given cash incentive, enough to keep “a young man fed and laundered.” He added that the ringers could very well be called in from American schools, as their players might come willingly for the experience of living in Canada for three or four months.
Riopel said if about 12 decent players could be recruited from the area and three imported, the team would be competitive.
“That’s my opinion,” he said. “They would be competitive.”
Or Athabasca could aim to try following in the footsteps of the Lac La Biche Loggers, Riopel said.
He said the two-year franchise, which ran 1993 and 1994, began as a development team for a group of players with high skill sets involved with Baseball Alberta. They gathered players from a large area, and came in fourth place in the NCABL both years they played in the league.
He said a key element to that team was their formidable coach, Dave Rob.
“A very highly skilled instructor,” he said. “He came here as a baseball player and became a coach ... Together, with Baseball Alberta, they co-operated in creating a development team out there.”
Or, if there isn’t a taste for the sport in the area, Riopel said it would still be nice if former Ravens and Angels signed up to participate in the alumni weekend in Westlock August 18-19.
