Sunday, January 24, 2010

Returning to the field of play

This is Steven Vitte reporting, and I would like to announce that I will be coming back to give you reports from the Prospect League, an up and coming summer collegiate baseball league, for the 2010 baseball season. I admit that it's been some time since I've last reported on anything baseball related, but rest assured, there has been stuff to talk about, and I believe it's time to report again. Now I enjoy doing what I do. I do enjoy writing articles, but I have found a new passion in the field of writing, such as scriptwriting and making stories, so it's been rather interesting to see how I've progressed as a writer in general.

Now as mentioned previously last year, I had often wondered what the Prospect League would do when it came to the first round of expansion for 2010. In 2009, there were 11 teams playing in the league, which was an odd number, and that led to an interesting looking schedule where one team would sit out for a day or a few days while the other 10 teams would play. Having an even number of teams would seem to be essential and prefered, but after this round of expansion in the offseason, it turns out that the league still has an odd number amount of teams, at least for the moment.

The Prospect League has added four more teams to make the league grow from 11 to 15 teams. The West Virginia Miners, the Terre Haute Rex, the Dekalb County Liners, and the just recently added Nashville Outlaws are the four newest teams to the Prospect League. Since it's now a 15 team league, the Prospect League has expanded from two divisions to three divisions of 5 teams each. The Eastern Division will consist of the Chillicothe Paints, the Butler Blue Sox, the NoirthCoast Knights (but they have been labeled as Lorain, so stay tuned...), the Slippery Rock Sliders, and the West Virginia Miners. The Central Division will consist of the Danville Dans, the Dubois County Bombers, the Nashville Outlaws, the Richmond RiverRats and the Terre Haute Rex. The Western Division will consist of the Dekalb County Liners, the Dupage Dragons, the Hannibal Cavemen, the Springfield Sliders, and the defending Prospect League Champions Quincy Gems.

http://www.chillicothegazette.com/article/20100122/SPORTS/1220326/1006/rss02

Here's the Chillicothe Gazette story on the Nashville Outlaws joining the Prospect League, and I have to say that this was an addition that clearly came from left field, but then again, I probably shouldn't say that since the home of the Nashville Outlaws has a huge wall out in left field. The Outlaws will play their home games at Hawkins field, and that's located in the Nashville that you're thinking of. Nashville, Tennessee is in the Prospect League. That's what makes this addition rather interesting because I personally wasn't expecting to hear of this news. I wasn't thinking of Tennessee when I thought of the Prospect League's map, but this just so happens to be a confident summer college wooden bat league that's willing to take on teams from some ways for one season, and then supposedly bridge the gap later on.

Here's what league president, and close friend, Bryan Wickline had to say about the Outlaws:

"Nashville had everything the league was looking for when discussing expansion. Nashville has a rich baseball history, a terrific venue in Hawkins Field and experienced ownership to make the Nashville Outlaws a successful franchise in the Prospect League."

The Outlaws are owned by a group of three executives in Brandon Vonderharr, Jason Bennett and Chris Snyder, and they make up the Nashville Baseball Club LLC.

The addition of the Nashville Outlaws really catches my eye because this could signal some other additions in the future that involve either the state of Tennessee or nearby states, such as Kentucky, more exploring in West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. I have often wondered if Michigan and Wisconsin will join the Prospect League party eventually, but that remains to be seen because there haven't been any reports of possible teams setting up shop in those places. I remember going down to Tennessee for a bus trip, and believe me, I can't wait to tell you how that trip went. It was great. That was the thing that really stood out to me this past offseason. I went down to Jackson, Tennessee, the home of the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx, to see an old friend. Tennessee is a great baseball state, in my opinion, and I have read some stories about the past of baseball in Tennessee, so when I find the time, I'll be sure to tell you a story or two about that.

As for the other three additions to the Prospect League, I believe that these are very sound and logical additions. I have always wanted to see my hometown team, the Chillicothe Paints, take on a team from the state of West Virginia, but we haven't been able to do that at all, but that will change this year as the West Virginia Miners will come to town often. The Dekalb County Liners are an interesting case. I'm interested in knowing how they came up with the name "Liners" for the team, so I'm hoping I'll get to find out sooner rather than later. I have read some stories about Terre Haute, Indiana wanting to be in the Frontier League if that could be done, but apparently with the addition of a Prospect League team, that doesn't seem so likely anymore.

Certainly, the look of the Prospect League has changed quite a bit in just one offseason, and this adds some intrigue as to what will develop from here. Once there's something else to report on the Paints or on the Prospect League, then I will do just that, like always.

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