World Baseball League holding tryouts in Birmingham

A new startup baseball league will hold a series of open practices for prospective players beginning this weekend at Birmingham’s historic Rickwood Field.

The World Baseball League, created by Samford University graduate Gaines Johnson, will take a unique approach to the game that aims to add entertainment and performance elements to the experience, reminiscent of the viral internet sensations The Savanna Bananas.

We admire what the Savanna Bananas are doing because they’re growing the game of baseball and that’s what’s most important to us. Families and kids and communities are passionate about going to a baseball game.

Gaines Johnson, President of the World Baseball League

The league will hold open practices that will serve as tryouts for a variety of roles from players to entertainers to stadium staff. The practices will be held every Sunday at Rickwood Field from noon to 4 p.m. through the end of February and are open to fans as well.

Reviving classic ballparks

The World Baseball League aims to build its league around cities with great baseball venues that are currently going largely unused. In Birmingham, the league hopes to field two teams with one playing its games at Rickwood Field and the other at the Hoover Met, the former home of the Birmingham Barons.

Johnson said part of the genesis of the idea for the World Baseball League came from last summer’s Major League Baseball game at Rickwood between the St. Louis Cardinals and the San Francisco Giants. Johnson said seeing fans filling the stands at Rickwood made him realize baseball fans in Birmingham were plentiful and looking for more reasons to get out to their favorite ballparks.

We came up with this idea in part as a way to bring fans back to Rickwood. The Hoover Met is sitting there empty for most of the year, that’s another great example. This could be something that could fill a need in many cities who have lost their minor league baseball teams and now have wonderful but unused stadiums.

Gaines Johnson, President of World Baseball League

Baseball with a twist

The World Baseball League will be a showcase for baseball skill but it will be far from your standard baseball game. Rather than each run counting as one point on the scoreboard, scoring will be done matchplay style, meaning whichever team scores more runs in an inning will receive one point for that inning. This alternative scoring style will lead to more exciting games, with the potential for thrilling walk-off runs in every inning.

In addition to the matchplay point, teams will be able to earn additional points through a performance section of the game, in which each team will send out an entertainer to put on a performance, with the winner earning a point for their team. The performances could range from singing to comedy to magic.

Johnson said the performance element of the game will not only make games more fun for families and kids but also involve more people in the community in the games.

We can’t do this on our own. We’re a small team and we hope the City of Birmingham will embrace this and help us figure out how to make this team and this league successful.

Gaines Johnson, President of World Baseball League

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