WMBL will become the WCBL in 2019

In courting players from American colleges, the Western Major Baseball League wound up at times with an unusual return question: Where is your league located?

Next year, the league is taking a big step in being more direct about what it is. The WMBL will be no more — it’ll be renamed the Western Canadian Baseball League in 2019.

“We are excited about the new name, in that it will highlight the fact that the League’s footprint lies entirely in Canada,” said league president Kevin Kvame in a press release Saturday. “We are a baseball showcase for Canada and are proud to bring in fans and players to celebrate our beautiful country. Being in Canada gives us a unique advantage to provide great experiences to not only our homegrown talent, but visiting players as well. The same applies for the fans and community sponsors of the League.”

Originally known as the Southern Baseball League founded in 1931, the WMBL changed its rules to only allow college players in 2013 — aiming to lure more young talent to the wood-bat summer circuit. In the past five years teams have added Internet broadcasts so that players’ families can watch from afar, and there’s a new expansion team in Fort McMurray. Attendance topped 220,000 across the 12team league in 2017.

The press release also mentioned a goal of future expansion, and an all-star game to be played mid-season each of the next two years in Edmonton. The first date is already set for July 8, 2019.

“I can’t describe how thrilled we are that they’ve adopted our proposal to bring the WCBL All-Star Game to the great sports city of Edmonton in 2019 and 2020,” said Prospects owner Pat Cassidy in the release. “We know that our fans and baseball community will join with many new fans to make this a must-attend event in Alberta’s capital.”

The all-star game concept isn’t new to the league. Seven Medicine Hat Mavericks helped the West beat the East 12-3 on July 17, 2004 in Swift Current. But logistics — particularly transporting players from across the league to a central location amid a busy summer schedule — made the all-star game unpopular with many owners at the time. First and second-team all-star rosters have been named since then, but no game played.

Edmonton, which plays out of the 9,100-seat Re/Max Field, could fill some league coffers if the game is a hit with fans.