There’s no question that metro Atlanta is hot bed of baseball talent. From Little League to the majors, this area has produced world champions. Twenty-eight years ago East Marietta won the LLWS, and 16 years ago the Braves won MLB World Series. These events created the Atlanta baseball legacy. Now fans have more options than ever to catch quality baseball with local players, close to home, at an affordable price, in a family atmosphere.
It’s the Sunbelt Baseball League. The SBL is the southeast’s version of the Cape Cod League, a summer wood bat baseball league for college players with professional baseball on their horizons. For nine Atlanta communities, it’s a win-win situation.
TALENT POOL …
A few years back, League Commissioner Bobby Bennett was playing Stan Musial summer ball for coach Marty Kelly. Kelly realized two evident truths: metro Atlantans love baseball and foster amazing college talent. Kelly then founded the league, and his protégé now runs the league. Over the last three years, 40 players have been drafted by major league teams. Tyler Flowers, a catcher for the Chicago White Sox currently on their AAA Charlotte Knights, is an alumnus of the SBL.
When asked how a team of his best players would fare against the top talent in the famous Cape Cod League, Bennett was forthright, “We’d be competitive, but they would probably take four of five [games] with their pitching.”
That said, the SBL is an aspiring league. When asked about the future, Bennett let out a slow smile, “With all the homegrown talent and college kids from this area, in five years, we’d win.”
He realizes that the top major league college prospects still drift to the New England tradition but is optimistic that a paradigm shift is realistic.
For fans, this is baseball up close, affordable and packaged in a family atmosphere –without the typical Atlanta traffic nightmares. The league will feature nine teams from Cumming to McDonough, Douglasville to Conyers, and even inside 285.
Marquis Grissom was the centerfielder who caught the final out for the Braves in the 1995 World Series. The Atlanta native has come full circle. He’s now the Rockdale Roadrunners’ owner.
Teams will welcome youth leagues to participate in pre-game interaction with the players. Full concessions and music will set the scene. Tickets will only be $3 for adults and free for kids. A 28-game schedule for the league will take teams around Atlanta before a playoff final at Coolray Field, home of the Gwinnett Braves.
Tickets are $3 for adults and kids are free for every location except for Oglethorpe University, where they are $4 for adults and $2 for kids.
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