Play ball!

GCS Ballpark

The Wild Things' 15th Frontier League season -- and and their most important since the first one back in 2002 -- begins tonight in Sauget, Ill., against a veteran Gateway Grizzlies team at GCS Ballpark.

I say most important because of a number of reasons.

* They've missed the playoffs seven of the last eight years and have posted only one winning season since 2007.

* For the first time, the local radio station will not be carrying Wild Things games. All games are supposed to a live audio/video stream. You can find this on the team's website. There are currently two 'Watch Live" buttons. It will be interesting to see what the webcasts look like. Many of us have seen webcasts before for college or MLB teams. Here is what a good webcast of an independent team:

http://www.americanassociationbaseball.tv/event/561/st-paul-saints-vs-sioux-city-explorers?replay=yes

It will be interesting to see the Wild Things' production, though I might be willing to give it a pass during the season-opening road trip. As I understand it, one camera will be used on the road and multiple cameras, like in the above-linked game, at home.

* Average attendance has held steady in the 1,700-1,800 range for four years. The schedule is somewhat favorable for attendance early this season. There are only two weekday home dates when the kids should still be in school.

* The Consol Energy Park name is gone at season's end. My guess is the asking price for naming rights will be hefty because it will likely have to help cover the financial losses incurred by the Pennsylvania Rebellion.

* There is a new manager (again).

* The Wild Things need to create some kind of buzz about the team.

I can go on.

As for the team, we basically learned nothing from the exhibition games. The New Jersey Black Sox are a bad team and were overmatched. They lacked pitching.

My guess is this team will be better than last year, but will it be good enough to make the playoffs?

The hitting should be better than last year when Washington finished tied for last in batting average and next-to-last in runs. The pitching staff had a big makeover and a lot of roles are unsettled. As always, pitching will hold the key to the team's success.

The big change for the Frontier League this year is it's down to 12 teams with the folding of the Rockford Aviators and the no-longer-needed Frontier Greys traveling team. History tells us that each time the Frontier League has contracted, pitching was much improved across the league.

The Wild Things will have new division rivals. No longer are Florence, Evansville and Southern Illinois in the same division as Washington. The Frontier League has switched to what is basically a north-south format, though it kept the East and West division names. Washington, of course, is in the East, with Lake Erie, Traverse City, Windy City, Schaumburg and Joliet.