SAN ANTONIO — Baseball at the Wolff is going to look a little different this summer, but hey! There will be baseball.
“It’s going to be a tremendous help. We were looking at the prospect of going 18-to-19 months without a baseball game at Wolff Stadium and that is way too long," Missions president Burl Yarbrough.
The Texas Collegiate League uses wooden bats compromising of players solely with NCAA eligibility. This is like a travel team, they are not paid. The rosters are starting to form and expect to see familiar faces.
“My first calls were to coach Hallmark at UTSA, coach Shotzberger at UIW and Charlie Migl at St. Mary’s and we’re real happy we’re going to get players from all three universities here in town," Yarbrough said. "I’ve also been talking to other local area kids who are playing college ball.”
No, this is not AAA baseball, but the competition is good. Cy Young award winner Jake Arrieta, slugger Paul Goldschmidt and two-time World Series champion Hunter Pence are just a handful of MLB talents who have played in the TCL.
As for some other changes, former MLB manager John McLaren is the team skipper plus these are not the San Antonio Missions, but the Flying Chanclas all season long.
“I will tell you this, we are going to run these games like they’re San Antonio Missions games," Yarbrough said. "We’re going to give these college players — they’re going to see what it’s like to be a professional.”
The experience at Wolff Stadium will be similar to what fans are used to, except there will be less people at the ballpark. The organization is hoping to host up to 4,000 people following proper precautions during this pandemic.
“We’re not going to give you assigned seats. We will have ushers seat people as they come in to make sure we can maximize the facility and keep people distances from each other," Yarbrough said.
The season length is roughly the month of July consisting of 15 games on the road and 15 games in San Antonio.
The team will start practicing some time next week with the home opener July 3rd.
