It’s great to have harness racing back as part of Lobster Carnival

Tignish-based midget baseball team facing scheduling issues

Governor’s Plate Week harness racing begins on Sunday, and having the horse racing the same time as the Lobster Carnival is a great move for both.

This is the 61st edition of the Lobster Carnival, and until recent years harness racing has always been a big part of the week. This year’s Lobster Carnival runs for three days from Thursday, July 13, until Saturday, July 15, wrapping up with the 49th edition of the Governor’s Plate.

Most of the events, including the midway, have returned to the Credit Union Place grounds, and that has pleased a lot of people. The parade goes on July 15 at noon time, with a lot of entries still coming in. Culture Summerside is putting on this year’s Lobster Carnival, and Marlene Campbell, Lori Ellis and staff from Culture Summerside are really pleased with the community’s response. They say there is a real buzz in the community about this year’s carnival.

As far as the racing goes, race secretary Gerard Smith has assembled two eight-horse fields for the Governor’s Plate eliminations on Sunday. The top four from each $5,000 dash advance to the $22,000 Governor’s Plate final.

Harness racing and the Lobster Carnival have been a great combination in years past, and hopefully for years to come.

Baseball

It has been a problem for years, and this year is no different. The Western team is a member of the Baseball P.E.I. midget league, and plays out of the Legion Field in Tignish. They had two games postponed this past week because both of the visiting teams said they could not field a team. This happens far too often when it comes to eastern teams travelling west for baseball.

There are always legitimate excuses, but more often than not it is simply the travel time that these teams don’t want to face. Dwayne Handrahan coaches the Western team, and says it is the same distance for his team to travel to visit the other teams – and they make all their games.

It is hard to keep players interested when teams cancel games, says Handrahan. That is where Baseball P.E.I. needs to step up to the plate and fix the problem. Teams who postpone games should be given a choice of two dates within a week of postponement, and failure to play the game in that time frame should result in a fine or possible suspension.

I think teams would try a little harder to make the original date, knowing they have to play it within a week. When you sign up to play any team sport, there has to be commitment by everyone.

Experience tells me that Tignish is second to none when it comes to commitment to team sports, and Baseball P.E.I. can help make other communities that same way.

Major League Baseball

It will be a very interesting month ahead in Major League Baseball as many teams are still in playoff contention, including the Toronto Blue Jays.

The July 31st trading deadline adds to the scenario as teams decide whether they are contenders are not. There are nine American League teams within 4 1/2 games of each other in the wild-card chase, and what more could fans ask for.

Some big names have been linked to various teams in trade talk, including the Jays’ Josh Donaldson going to St. Louis. Detroit’s Justin Verlander has been linked to various teams, with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs the front runners for his services. The 2016 Cy Young award runner up would be a welcome addition to any team, especially a National League club.

Will the Jays finally rid themselves of Jose Bautista?

The all-star break takes place this coming week. There are no games from Monday to Thursday, but there will be plenty of baseball talk, and maybe even some big trades. Have a great week!