HOT CORNER: Great move by SABA naming tryout selection committee

SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — Most would agree that the best coaches in most sports are the ones who have played the game.
They have the experience and knowledge that is so valuable in the selecting and coaching of a team. Unfortunately, the sport of baseball has not been played at any level other than minor baseball in our area in a long time.
So, where do local coaches get that experience and knowledge?
The simple answer is they don't. That is why I think it is a good move by the Summerside Area Baseball Association (SABA) to have a tryout selection committee pick the teams at the AAA and AA level.
I remember watching a peewee game in Charlottetown a number of years ago that had Summerside leading by 12 runs and still stealing bases and running up the score. Anyone who knows baseball knows that is a no-no in the sport.
I was watching the game near the third-base coaching box and knew the Charlottetown coach, who played in the Charlie Ryan Baseball League when I coached Summerside in that same league. He asked me why the Summerside coach would have his team play that way, and my answer was that he never played the game and does not know the difference.
It would be great if good baseball players of the past stepped forward and volunteered to coach, but that rarely happens. There would be no need for a selection committee if the coaching resumé was impressive.
The coaches and players are often selected based on who they are, and not how good they are, and that is why a tryout committee is a good idea. Chuck Grady, Nick Hann and Matt Barlow make up the committee, and all three have played the game at a good, competitive level – and will do a good job in their selections.
They should be able to evaluate talent and pick the best team, and not be influenced by the political stuff that too often is involved in selecting these teams. The winners in all this will be the kids trying out. They know going in that they will have to work hard to impress, and will be given a fair opportunity to make the team and not handed a spot, which has been the case too often in the past.
This is a good move by SABA president Tanner Doiron and the board of directors. Good luck to all involved.

Backyard rinks 
It was great to see CBC Compass feature various backyard rinks across our Island. Weatherman Jay Scotland visited five rinks last week, and told us the story on each.
CBC had 70 submissions for Scotland to visit, which is a strong indication of how popular backyard rink making has become on P.E.I. It would be nearly impossible to visit all 70, but picking rinks in all three counties was a fair way to select where he went.
Hopefully, CBC makes it an annual event, which should lead to even more submissions in the future. It is good pure fun for the users of these rinks, and a way of getting our youth off the couch and enjoying the great outdoors. Kudos for a very worthwhile venture.
I think both Scotland and Louise Martin have done a great job with Compass since their arrival in August 2017. I doubt there could have been better selections than Martin and Scotland for the very popular news program, with both being very in touch with Islanders and our Island way of life.

Harness racing
If you are a fan of harness racing, you will want to watch the documentary on the great Somebeachsomewhere, which airs Sunday at 9 p.m. on Eastlink. The Beach, as he was nicknamed, was one of the best – if not the best standardbred racehorse – of all time.
He was owned by the six-member Schooner Stable from Truro, N.S., and what a thrill it was to watch this magnificent animal perform back in 2007 and 2008. He won 20 of 21 lifetime starts, and was beaten only by a neck in his second-place finish after being parked on the outside for most of that race.
He earned $3.3 million in those 21 races, and that was quite a return off the $40,000 purchase price as a yearling. He set a world record of 1:49:3 in only his fourth race as a two-year-old, and still co-owns the world record for three-year-olds of 1:46:4.
Eleven of his 20 wins were sub-1:50 miles.
He was retired to stud after his three-year-old season, and went on to earn over $13 million in stud fees. He was humanely put down in January 2018 after developing cancer at the age of 13.
The big and powerful racehorse was really a horse of a lifetime, and it may be a while if ever until we see a horse as good.
That's it for now, and have a great week!

Joe MacIntyre is a local life insurance broker. His column appears every Saturday. Comments and suggestions can be sent to [email protected].