by British Baseball Federation, www.britishbaseball.org
The biggest pre-season baseball competition in Britain, the Herts Spring League (HSL), will begin on 21 March, with 20 teams competing over three weekends in Britain’s very own version of MLB’s Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues currently under way in the United States.
Organised by the Herts Baseball Club, the HSL and is a sign that BBF regular season baseball is just around the corner.
THREE TIERS
The 20 teams will be entered into three HSL tiers. The top teams in the country from the National Baseball League and Triple-A Leagues will play in the HSL Majors. The HSL-AA will feature predominantly British Double-A League teams. The third tier, HSL-A, will consist mainly of Single-A teams.
The organisers considered the possibility of a tournament format, but ultimately adopted a league format like that of the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues in Major League Baseball.
“The objective of the HSL is to enable teams to prepare for the new season and we have noticed that teams are increasingly starting to approach the HSL in the same way as MLB teams approach the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues,” said HSL Commissioner Aspi Dimitrov. “We have taken this into account when formulating the schedule, putting greater emphasis on the preferences and requirements of the teams regarding the format of the competition.”
Teams finishing at the top of their respective division will be HSL winners. While the “games-back” column in the standings will be critical, some teams will undoubtedly end up with the same record and so it may go down to the number of runs conceded per game to break the tie.
Herts Spring League begins this Weekend http://t.co/s2B5SYLE8j #mrbb