NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Mavericks owner and general manager Greg Morrison throws batting practice Thursday, the WCBL club's third day of training camp ahead of the season opener Friday in Lethbridge against the Bulls.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
There are players on the Medicine Hat Mavericks’ 2023 roster who were not yet born when the team joined the Western Canadian Baseball League in 2003.
The Mavericks are getting ready for their 20th season in the WCBL, formally known as the WMBL, as they open the season with a home-and-home in Lethbridge tonight before facing the Bulls in the home opener Saturday
Mavericks owner and general manager Greg Morrison says he can’t wait to see the team in action and get the monumental season underway.
“I’m very excited, we have some very talented kids here up the middle, very polished, rolling double plays, some quick hands with the bats,” Morrison said. “I’m hearing promising things from our pitching coach, they’ve thrown their first bullpen. It’s pitching and defence that wins baseball games, so it looks like we’re solid in that respect right now.”
The Mavericks enter the summer coming off an 18-38 season where they fell in Game 3 of the semifinals against the Moose Jaw Miller Express, one win short of making it to the league finals. Not long after the 2022 season wrapped up Morrison was putting in work getting ready for this year both on and off the field, something he says he enjoys even more as first pitch draws closer.
“Last year we had a lot going on with construction that occupied a lot of our time, this year was just really focused in the winter to player recruitment,” Morrison said. “We put together a really good baseball team and for me and my family, that’s what it’s all about. These next three months of just being at the ballpark 12 hours a day, we love it. Lots of our volunteers have been coming down, puttering around, it’s great to be back from a long winter in Medicine Hat.”
The 2022 season was the Mavericks’ first since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning the debut of the newly renovated Athletic Park. While last season was focused on seeing how people enjoyed the new renovations and what worked with that, Morrison says this year they’re really focusing on entertaining everyone that walks through the gates.
“The excitement from fans has continued, we’re really pleased with season ticket sales going well, walk-up sales are going well, I think the entire league is seeing this excitement for baseball, maybe call it a resurgence,” Morrison said. “In 2018 and 2019 we had great growth, too. But it’s about the baseball, putting together a great team and then putting together a great fan experience again for fans.
“Whether you want to sit for two-and-a-half hours and watch baseball or not, you’re going to come, you’re going to see your friends and family and it’s a great couple hours to spend with the community.”
They will be sprinkling celebrations for their 20 years in the WCBL throughout the season, Morrison says, starting with having members of the 2003 team at the home opener. He says they hope to tell and relive a lot of the stories from the Mavericks’ 20 years in the league while enjoying this year’s team.
“Time flies when you’re having fun, literally, and to think of the vision that first ownership group had when the Jays left to say we need high-level basebal, and nobody had heard of this league,” Morrison said. “In my message in the program, I talked about standing on the shoulders of giants, and really that’s what it was for me. They knew this could be next level and it’s been 15 years with me and it’s just been an amazing process. It’s never easy but it’s been quite an experience.”
