A number of area cities will see a new brand of baseball in 2021. Ten minor league teams, some going back decades, will become ‘wooden bat league’ teams for college players next year.
There had been reports the ten Rookie league-level teams in the Appalachian League could be eliminated. Major League Baseball’s agreement with minor league teams expires Wednesday.
Instead, the re-branded league will serve as a recruitment tool for drafting professional players among college freshmen and sophomores, with plans for a 54 game season next summer in a league that includes Pulaski, Bluefield, Danville, and Bristol.
The college players will have a chance to show off their skills in front of major league scouts. The new format is a collaboration between Major League Baseball and USA Baseball, who are already working to identify the top 320 college players to participate in 2021.
Appalachian League President Dan Moushon says cities took to the plan right away.
“You’re meeting sometimes with the city manager, the mayor of the community, and they’re hearing it for the first time," he said. "They’re hearing, uh-oh, we might be losing baseball, but in reality, what they heard was something much different, and much more exciting. It was very well received by all 10 communities.”
The re-branding means all the teams will have new names and new logos. The league's Danville Braves end a 27-year relationship with its major league Atlanta Braves, and the city will seek a new operator for American Legion Field.
Danville City Manager Ken Larking says that won't make a difference to fans.
"Danville Braves fans are baseball fans in general," he said. "And the fact we're going to have this kind of operation here in our community, I think, it'll bring the same kind of excitement. I think it will bring even more excitement for Danville."
MLB Network Analyst and former major league player Harold Reynolds says the real appeal of transforming the Appalachian League was geography.
"If I was a college baseball player, and the coach was giving me an option, this is one of the first options I would want, because all 30 major league teams are going to sit in this league," he said. "And they can drive 121 miles to see everybody."
Dane Rideout is the City Manager of Bluefield, West Virginia, near two Appalachian teams, the Bluefield, Virginia Blue Jays and Princeton, West Virginia Rays. All Appalachian League teams are still owned by MLB, which could alter its plans before 2021. But Rideout says that appears unlikely.
“Major League Baseball is a very professional organization," he said. "I don’t think they would make announcement, with communication as open as they’ve had, with this many municipalities, without having already committed. There were no ‘ah-hah’s, there was no ‘gotchas’ that you’ve got to invest millions of dollars in order to have this, it was just buy-in.”
Rideout says he hopes the community can take advantage of CARES Act funding for upgrading of baseball facilities, like locker rooms, at Bowen Field.
