ABL tourney gone

JEREMIAH BARTZ/ Frontiersman sports editor

For the second-straight year, plans to schedule a postseason Alaska Baseball League tournament have been postponed.

For the past two seasons the general managers of the six-team ABL have been trying to put together a week-long baseball extravaganza that would cap the league's regular season. But each year something has stood between the ABL and the tournament. Most of the problems have surrounded scheduled conflicts.

The ABL had planned to give the season-ending tournament an international flair. Teams from Taiwan and Canada had shown interest, as did the Aloha Knights, a squad from Oregon that regularly competes for the National Baseball Congress World Series title. Pete Christopher, general manager of the Mat-Su Miners, said the ABL was unable to get a concrete commitment from the international teams, and that caused problems. So now the tournament is postponed for at least another year. Christopher said he hopes the league can get a jump on preparations for next year.

Last year the league found time for the tournament between the league's regular season and the NBC World Series. But there was a problem acquiring the use of Anchorage's Mulchahy Stadium for the tournament. The American Legion state championships were already scheduled at Mulchahy during the same time.

The cancellation of the tournament brought two big disappointments to Christopher. The Miners' home ballpark, Hermon Brothers Field, was to host about half of the tournament games. From the standpoint of a general manager, that's lost revenue for the Miners' organization. From the standpoint of a former professional baseball scout, Christopher said the lack of a major tournament in Alaska hurts the chances of an ABL player being seen by a scout in action during the summer.

&#8220The scouts love it,” Christopher said. &#8220They get to see all of the teams in one place. Lets face it, these (players) want to play pro ball. It hurt's the league not having a tournament to showcase.”

The ABL used to have the annual Wood Bat Invitational in Anchorage. But that tourney is history. The NBC World Series is the premiere event in summer amateur baseball. But Christopher said even that event has lost a little bit of its luster with the scouts.

In the past the ABL had qualified multiple teams for the NBC World Series, held each August in Wichita, Kan. But the amount of money needed for the teams to travel to the tourney made it tough to afford. Before last season the teams of the ABL agreed to all pitch in and send only the league champion to Kansas. The league would then also create a new tournament to give all of the teams in the league a shot at postseason action.

The 2006 ABL season starts in June. The Miners' first action is June 11, when they host Lake Eerie, a nonconference opponent, in Palmer. Mat-Su finished second last year, and will be looking for its second league crown in three seasons in 2006.