The crack of wood bats will fill Sunday afternoons at Lampe Park this summer if the Douglas County Parks & Recreation Department is able to get its plans for an adult baseball league off the ground.
Recreation coordinator J.P. Albert is attempting to drum up enough interest to field six teams for the upcoming summer.
"We'll give it a try," Albert said. "I've been kicking the idea around for about a year. If it doesn't go, it doesn't go. But it will be interesting to see if there are enough people out there to make this work."
Teams would be allowed to have up to 25 players on a roster, much in the style of Major League Baseball, but the minimum number will be 10 or 11. The season will run for 10 weeks starting in late May with each team playing once every Sunday at Field 1 at Lampe. A single-elimination tournament at the end of the season in August would determine the league champion.
Only wood bats would be allowed and players must be at least 18 years old.
"We wanted to start up late enough and end early enough so that we could get some of the guys coming back from college," Albert said. "We're going to ask that the teams look as much like a real baseball club as possible, with hats, sliding pants, cleats and jerseys. It should be a lot of fun."
He said he has about two teams ready to come down from Lake Tahoe and expects there are plenty of former players in the Valley to make it work.
"It's not going to be the same atmosphere as adult softball," he said. "It's just a different game. There are some good pitchers around here. We're not sure what the overall level of play would be but people would probably want to come out and watch."
Games would run about two hours each with a half-hour break in between to prep the field.
Cost per team will be $950, but that deferred among a roster of 20 players wouldn't end up being so much.
"We'll provide the umpires and the baseballs," Albert said. "It'll probably be a little steep start up cost for a team to get outfitted with uniforms, helmets and catcher's gear, but they could probably work it out with sponsorships."
Albert said for the first year all the league would be able to handle would be about six teams. They would look at expansion in the future if the league were a success.
He said for right now he's just looking to gauge the community interest and for input on rules and regulations for the league.
For more information, e-mail Albert at jpalbert@co.douglas.nv.us or contact the Douglas Country Parks & Recreation Department at 782-9828.
-- Joey Crandall can be reached at jcrandall@recordcourier.com or at (775) 782-5121, ext. 212.
