MSBL taking one year hiatus

Details

Published on Friday, March 4, 2016

Eoin Devereux

The Neepawa Press/Neepawa Banner

Bad news for baseball fans across western Manitoba, as the Manitoba Senior Baseball League will not operate in 2016. On Wednesday, Mar. 2, MSBL president Neil Franklin and league officials contacted Baseball Manitoba and informed them that the league will take a one-year leave of absence.  The hope is for the league to regroup and return in 2017.

The MSBL has had a very difficult winter, as the Brandon Cloverleafs informed them in January, that they would not be able to field a club in 2016. The Cloverleafs' decision left the Neepawa Farmers, Brandon Marlins and defending champions, the Oak River Dodgers as the only three teams left. Unconfirmed reports recently suggested that two other MSBL clubs had told league officials that they felt they’d be unable to field full rosters this coming season. No representatives from the MSBL or its member clubs have confirmed that speculation.

MSBL President Neil Franklin has not yet commented to the Neepawa Press/Banner on the situation, but in an interview with CKLQ in Brandon on Friday, Mar. 4, he noted they will likely reconvene in the fall to discuss the possibility of resuming play in the spring of 2017.

The Manitoba Senior Baseball League started in 1961 and during its peak, had as many as dozen teams operating throughout western Manitoba. This would have been the MSBL’s 56th year.