Record season for offence in the Western Canadian Baseball League

By Lethbridge Herald on August 22, 2024.

Herald Photo by Justin Seward Herald FILE photo Lethbridge Bulls Jack Lacey begins his dive back to first base as Sylvan Lake GullsÕ Reese Hormon waits for the throw over from pitcher Finbar OBrien during the first game of this yearÕs Canada Day doubleheader at Spitz Stadium.

The hits kept coming.

They came in bunches. Batters slapping out singles, line-driving doubles and hammering out homers.

It was a record year for long balls and base hits in the Western Canadian Baseball League, making for fun days at the ballpark for sluggers and challenging nights for those who work on the mound.

The statistics tell some of the story. The WCBL experienced record totals of at bats (23,756); runs (4,705); hits (6,887); doubles (1,260); home runs (570); RBI (3,890); and total bases (10,113) in 2024.

Some of the increases can be attributed to the league expanding from 10 teams in 2023 to 12 squads this year. The WCBL welcomed the expansion Saskatoon Berries in 2024, as well as the Edmonton Prospects, who took the previous season off to focus on building a new stadium in Spruce Grove.

With those additional two teams, the WCBL saw its total number of regular season games climb from 280 in 2023 to 335 contests this summer.

Breaking down the numbers even further, the runs scored per game went from 11.4 last season to 14 this year. In 2022, there were an average of 12.5 runs scored each game and a typical matchup in 2019 saw two teams combine for 11.6 runs per contest.

Over the last five years, home run output declined from an average of 1.17 long balls per game in 2019, to 1.11 homers a game in 2022, to 0.95 round trippers per contest last year. That number spiked this season to 1.7 homers per game.

The offensive outburst resulted in team batting records across the league.

Sluggers on the Brooks Bombers combined for 80 home runs, a single-season high for a WCBL team, while the Bombers also established a new record for total bases with 951 this summer. A half-dozen WCBL teams passed the 900 total bases mark for the first time in league history.

Meanwhile, the Sylvan Lake Gulls scored more runs (475) than any franchise on record, edging out the 473 runs scored by the Okotoks Dawgs.

The 650 hits registered by the Regina Red Sox in 2024 was another new high for a WCBL team.

Not to be left out, the Okotoks Dawgs set the standard for runs batted in (RBI) by recording 398 RBI in 56 games during the regular season.

Nothing underlined the scoring frenzy quite like the Lethbridge Bulls 31-26 victory over the Brooks Bombers at Elks Field on June 4. The 57-run parade to home plate set a single-game record for scores.

However, as if to illustrate the mercurial nature of baseball, the same teams met up at Spitz Stadium in Lethbridge a few days later and the result was a 1-0 victory for the Bulls.

The reasons

So, why were the bats so hot? What accounts for such potent plate appearances across the WCBL? Is it just one crazy summer or is there more to it than that?

There are a number of possible explanations.

With the addition of two new franchises in 2024, the number of quality arms to go around to each pitching staff is potentially diminished. Although, the same could also be said of the pool of high-calibre hitters available to WCBL recruiters.

Environmental conditions certainly play a role in the outcome of games. The baseball-bashing bonanza in Brooks occurred at the smallest ballpark in the league (365 feet to centre field and 310 to each foul pole) and high winds contributed to the mound misery.

Another obvious factor is the incorporation of a different baseball this year.

Diamond Sports entered a two-year agreement with the league to provide teams with their D1-CL LS model – described as the ‘ultimate baseball’ – for this season and the 2025 campaign.

“Hopefully we’re going to treat the fans to more home runs, more doubles, more triples and harder hits,” WCBL president Kevin Kvame said of the deal with Diamond Sports before the season started.

“We’re happy with this baseball that we’re going to showcase this year.”

The new ball appears to have delivered more offence.

“I definitely think the new baseballs are contributing,” Carlin Dick, an outfielder with the Bulls, said early in the season.

“Last year, the baseballs were a little softer and the games were a little more low scoring, but definitely the new balls and the Alberta and Saskatchewan air are causing some high-scoring affairs.”

Austin Gurney, a veteran infielder who has played 170 games for the Moose Jaw Miller Express since 2022, indicated anything can happen on any given day in the WCBL.

“The talk around the league is that the ball has been flying a little better this year but I haven’t noticed too much of a difference myself,” said Gurney.

“There’s a lot of different factors.”

His teammate, pitcher Takao Cookson, said more runs and hits are to be expected.

“This league is pretty offence heavy, I would say,” said Cookson.

“You just have to trust that your offence is going to go out there and have your back.”

In Medicine Hat, Tyler Vanneste struggled to pin down a root cause for the booming bats.

“I’m not sure. I think obviously each game is different. I think a big thing is pitching,” said the infielder with the Mavericks.

“Early on, winds were gusting. If you hit the ball in the air, those ones would go, so I think that was a big part of it and just teams getting hot.”

Added Vanneste: “I don’t really remember what the balls were like last year but obviously the hitters like them because the numbers seem to be going up.”

Ian Wilson is the co-founder of Alberta Dugout Stories, a platform focused on baseball in the province. He has served as the WCBL’s media co-ordinator since January 2021.

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