Calgary baseball diamonds see 'Blue Jays bump' as kids flock to little leagues
25-30% more kids signed up to play ball this year
Originally published May 17.
Lucas Shellborn leaps sideways, baseball glove extended, and falls flat to the ground. "It's the Pillar catch. Like Superman," he says dusting himself off.
It's the nine-year-old's imitation of the Blue Jays' outfielder Kevin Pillar, known for diving through the air to make unbelievable catches.
You'll be seeing a lot of these fancy moves on Calgary baseball diamonds this year as record numbers of kids are signing up to play ball, inspired by Canada's only professional team's success.
The Blue Jays made it to the playoffs in October 2015 — for the first time in 22 years.
They call it the "Blue Jays bump", says Calgary West Little League president Kevin Gerla.
"We have seen a 30 per cent increase in registration over last year. That equates to about 200 more kids."
Other leagues report increases of 20 to 25 per cent.
'All Jays all the time'
Herman Figueroa has the 'Bautista bat flip' down.
"Once you connect with the ball, then you take five steps before throwing the bat. It's all with the wrist," Figueroa says.
The move was immortalised by the Blue Jays right fielder, Jose Bautista after he hit a series-winning home run in October 2015.
Figueroa, who plays for the Blue Jays team in the Calgary N.W. Little League, says he watched the move on YouTube a dozen times before trying it himself.
He knows not to try it during a game, as the move is frowned upon by baseball purists, not to mention second basemen with the Texas Rangers. (Bautista was punched at second base during a game in Texas on the weekend. It was seen as retaliation for the now infamous bat flip).
Nice Problem to Have
Calgary West Little League President Kevin Gerla says they had been warned that the surge would happen.
"Those people in our league that were involved in baseball in the 90s after the Blue Jays won the World Series then they saw a similar bump, so it wasn't an unexpected event," Gerla said.
Just because they were expecting it, doesn't mean they were prepared.
"It's a nice problem to have. But it does pose some challenges. We may have got 30 per cent more kids. But we didn't get 30 per cent more diamonds. And we didn't get 30 per cent more coaches."
Gerla says many of the newcomers don't come from baseball families, so it took a bit of encouragement to get the parents to sign up for coaching duties.
Back to ball
Tom Polmear has spent eight years standing on the side of baseball diamonds as president of Calgary North West Little League.
Polmear says five years ago, baseball numbers were down.
"Kids were encouraged to specialise at a young age and we saw an explosion in spring hockey," he said.
That lasted a few years and then kids starting to come back to the diamonds.
"The sports that go year round like hockey and soccer, the kids have tried it, they are great sports, but it just wasn't their cup of tea, so they've come back to playing little league," Polmear said.
Basketball bump next?
Things aren't going so well for the Jays this year.
The Toronto Raptors, on the other hand ... in a year, maybe we'll be talking about a 'basketball bump'.
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