I hope you're all ready for a great summer of baseball! We have 72 people signed up to play in the league this year, including almost 20 new players! Once again, we'll have six teams of 12 players each. Be sure to check out the official BCBL calendar on the website to see your opponent and game time. These may change over the course of the season, but your manager should confirm the games weekly.
Discounted Bats
Each team has a bat provided them by the league, however you are encouraged to bring and use your own. Additionally, through Ed Pearson, the league has gotten wood bats at a discounted price from the Old Hickory Bat Company. You can even customize them. If you are interested in getting some very nice wood bats at a great price, drop us a line and we will send you additional information.
Below are a few key ways you can get further involved in the league over the course of the year.
Subs List
Throughout the year, many players will be unable to make certain games. Yes, only 9 people can play at a time, but we don't have 25 man rosters to take up the slack when multiple absences stack up. Last year, to great success, we created a Subs List that managers could put out the call for players when they knew they'd be playing short-handed. This subs list is open to anyone, inside or outside the league. As members of the league, you are not expected to pay the $10 'sub' fee to sub for another team in a game. Think of it as free baseball!
If you would like to be on the Subs List, send us an email and include the email you are most like to check.
Scorekeepers
The other feature that the league implemented last year was full league stats. It had it's rough spots, but generally was well received. This was only made possible by a small crack team of volunteers who went to games and kept the official books. It can be a lot of fun, and is a great way to scout the other teams at the same time. We keep all our stats electronically, utilizing the iScore ap ($10 on Android, iPhone and iPad, reimbursed after you scorekeep your first game) on smart devices. If you don't have access to such a device, don't worry! Most of the time, we can provide access. Volunteers are vital for this and it's pretty cool to look back on your year and see how many RBIs you got or how low your ERA is. There might also be some incentives or a drawing at the end of the year for those who do volunteer.
If you are interested in helping with scorekeeping/stats, please let us know by email and we will send you additional information.
Photographs
In today's day and age of a camera in every pocket (read: cell phone), it's a wonder we haven't gotten more pictures of the BCBL in action! Starting this year, I would like to request that any shutterbugs (or players with shutterbug significant others) in the crowd try and capture this year in pictures and video. Pictures make for great memories. I'll be able to put these pictures to good use in a photo gallery on the website or on Facebook.
If you fancy yourself a photographer or amateur videographer and capture some shots of the league in action, send them via email to our BCBLbaseball account.
These are just a few of the ways that we try to add some value to the BCBL experience, and they are only possible through volunteers helping take up some of the workload.
If you have any more questions, please feel free to email us and we will try our best to answer them.
I'll see you guys out on the diamond! Have a great season!!!
~Swatch
League Information Guru
