Do you want to play baseball on a minor league field!!! If you do, on Sunday, August 25th NI-MBL will play two games at the minor league stadium. Visit this link: Kane County Stadium. We will be playing a 40+ and a 50+ game; 9-inning game, 3-hour time limit. There will be a 20-man roster limit and pitchers are allowed to pitch 3 innings max.
Schedule. Gates open at 10 am. 50's game starts at 11 am. 40's will warm up after the 50's game. 40's game starts at 2:30 pm. There is no use of locker rooms and no infield warm-ups.
For everyone involved there will be raffle ticket(s) with winners winning gift cards to various places; grocery stores, restaurants, etc. Alcohol is strictly prohibited, but fans can bring food and drink to enjoy during the games.
If you want to play in any of these games you must meet the following requirements in order to be considered eligible for play in these promotional games.
Player Requirements - Kane County Player Form
- You can play in any age bracket; but to play in the 40's game you must be at least 40 and to play in the 50's game you must be at least 50. No exception.
- $25 per player (to guarantee your attendance and is non-refundable). Payment must be given to your manager one (1) week prior to the game.
- Bring Family/Friends/neighbors.... anyone who would be interested in joining our league
- A full-uniform. Clean as possible to represent yourself and the league
- Willingness to have fun, play hard and represent the league with a great show of sportsmanship
This will be to promote the league and inspire more people to join in on our yearly summer fun. Players who have played at Kane County before say the experience is awesome.
Additional details will follow.
As we move to the end of the season - August 4th - first and foremost on the league's mind is make-up games and play-offs. Following I will shed some light on both:
End of Season and Make-ups
The regular season is scheduled to end, Sunday, August 4th. As a result of the proposed 30's play-off schedule - two out of three series in all rounds - the 30's regular season will be extended one (1) week only; until Sunday, August 11th. On the other hand, the 42's and 50's season will be extended to August 25th.
Of utmost importance then is getting in the final 30's games. 42's and 50's players: As you can see I am giving you plenty of time, and the opportunity to NOT have to play double-headers.
The league will schedule all remaining postponed games that are not worked out between teams. Due to the tight time frame, and as always, the unknown weather factor, once games have been scheduled, they will not be rescheduled.
Play-offs Outlook
30's. Play-offs will begin Friday, August 16th - 18th; game #1 of preliminary rounds. The week of August 19th through August 25th will be game #2 and game #3 if needed. I am in contact with Plote Field and Peterson Field to see about the possibility of night games during the week. Weekday games is an option available to teams who agree to play game #2 during the week - Monday through Thursday, thereby leaving Friday through Sunday for their possible game #3. Preliminary round rain-outs. If we incur rain, the preliminary round may be reduced to a 1-game set. So play every game as if it were the last.
Round #2, the semi's, will run from Friday August 30th through Sunday September 15th. As you can/will see, this time period encompasses 3 weekends (Labor Day weekend included). I will work with remaining teams to determine how play will be set. You don't have to play over the Labor Day weekend, but you can if you want... which also allows three weekends for the possibility of three (3) games. Again, excessive bad weather (2 weekends of 3) could result in the semi-final round being reduced to a 1 game set.
Finally, the remaining weeks and weekends (2 of them) will be for the Championship series; best 2 of 3. Excessive bad weather policy into effect if we cannot get fields into the 1st weekend of October.
42's and 50's. Round #1: September 6th - 8th. Rain make-ups during the week. Round #2: September 13th - 15th. Rain make-ups during the week. Championship round, best 2 of 3, Begins Friday August 20th, thus allowing 2 full-weekends of play. Excessive bad weather policy into effect if we cannot get fields into the 1st weekend of October.
Fall Ball
The league now has forms on the website to guage the interest of playing some fall ball in October. The league is working on field acquisition and playing format. Umpires have already been notified of this possibility. We will keep you abreast of happenings in this area. If you are interested in playing some fall ball please click here.
