The World Baseball Challenge at Citizen Field has been highly entertaining with an abundance of offence.
The well-organized tournament has received lots of publicity and the weather has been ideal.
The teams are enjoying their visit in Prince George and most, if not all, want to come back.
Japan has lived up to its billing and Roswell, as a late replacement for the Bahamas, has been belting homers at an alarming pace.
Yes, the signs from nearly all aspects deem the 2016 WBC a success.
However, there is one element that has the host committee puzzled with two days remaining, including the Japan-Roswell gold medal game Saturday night at 6.
The amount of spectators in the stands has fallen far short of expectations.
“The only disappointment I really have is a lack of attendance. I think the citizens of Prince George are really missing some great baseball. The weather has been spectacular and action on the field has been great. We are still ecstatic about everything that has happened. We are excited about the caliber. The Committee is still on a high. I just wish more people would come down and get involved,” stated a puzzled tournament chair Rick Pattie.
One can always come up with reasons or excuses when things fall short of the goal and many may appear lame.
Here’s a few that have been kicked around.
# There wasn’t a local Prince George team to watch although seven PG players suited up for the Kamloops Sun Devils.
# With Cuba absent, there was a lack of star power and familiar teams.
# The weather was almost too nice as families wanted to take advantage of the sunshine to head out camping or to the lake.
# The Olympics were on and with many Canadians in medal contention it is more convenient to watch television than make the trip to the Park.
# The game times of 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. are not ideal. 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. would have allowed fans to call it a night an hour earlier.
One can easily nitpick since there isn’t one answer but this begs the question, is Prince George big enough to host an elite baseball competition of this magnitude?
“I always thought they (PG) was a baseball town,” stated the likable and straight forward Pattie.
“Growing up here with a young family, my kids were all involved in baseball. It was thriving. I know there has been a decline but with the interest in Blue Jays activity and more kids getting interested, it’s just a matter of getting the parents out. They just seem to be more apathetic towards baseball.”
Pattie is looking for a surge over the final four games to help balance the books.
“Our target is approximately 500 (fans) per game and that gives us our break even. We are close.”
While official attendance figures have not been released, the late afternoon games have been drawing 300 fans or less. That number has increased for the featured late game but not to the point of reaching the target.
Having the Ramada on board as the title sponsor was a major boost for the tournament.
On the field, Japan has been as good as advertised averaging nearly 11 runs a game.
Roswell has provided the power with 13 homers after five games.
The other three teams, particularly Kamloops, have struggled with their pitching depth.
Kamloops finished 0-6 after Thursday’s 8-4 loss to Japan, and is the first team to be sent home.
Overall, offence has out-shined pitching and defence.
After 13 tournament games, there have been a total of 197 runs scored, an average of just over 15 a game.
How competitive have the games been?
Three have been three mercies (decided by 10 runs) and two have been decided by eight runs There have also been games decided by five runs (once), four runs (three times), three runs (twice) and one run (twice).
This is the 4th WBC in P.G. but the first for the 2016 committee.
They should be applauded for their efforts in this undertaking after facing many challenges, especially when teams and players indicate they are coming but pull out at nearly the last minute.
Will the World Baseball Challenge return to Prince George?
“Ask me on Saturday,” was the quick response from Patty.
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And in case you missed it:
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Hartley Miller is the sports director and morning news anchor for 94.3 the Goat. He also is the 94.3
radio color commentator for P.G. Cougars home games.
His column appears Fridays on myprincegeorgenow.com. Send along a quote, note, or anecdote to [email protected]
Follow him on twitter: @Hartley_Miller
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