Instead, the Anchorage Glacier Pilots and Anchorage Bucs will open the season at 4 p.m. Sunday with a nonleague doubleheader at Mulcahy Stadium that gives them a bigger bang for their buck.
Not only does the double dip match rivals who share the stadium, but the clubs don't have to shell out the money required to bring in an Outside team.
"A lot of (Outside) teams didn't want to travel because of the economy -- it's bad down there," said Bucs general manager Dennis Mattingly.
And given that the Bucs and Pilots are nonprofits, said Pilots GM Jon Dyson, they watch the bottom line as intently as a pitcher eyes a base-runner in a tight game.
"We're trying to save every nickel we can and use our resources as well as we can," Dyson said.
Each team is filling in its nonleague schedule -- the state's six ABL teams each play a 45-game league schedule -- in its own way.
The Pilots on Monday open a three-game nonleague series against the defending ABL champion, the Mat-Su Miners, and Dyson hopes it becomes an annual early- season series -- the teams are still musing about what to call it. And the Bucs will play four early games against Heroes of the Diamond, a collection of military players who raise funds to pay their own way -- "No taxpayer expense," Mattingly said.
Mattingly and Dyson say less will be more. ABL teams historically have drubbed visiting Outside clubs, and nonleague games between ABL teams are more likely to be competitive.
On another front, both general managers agree more will mean less. After local American Legion Baseball spent nearly $1 million to massively improve Mulcahy, Mattingly and Dyson won't have to spend nearly as much time and effort maintaining the field.
American Legion Baseball installed an artificial turf infield, added 35 feet in length to each previously cramped dugout, put in new bullpens off the playing surface -- the old ones were in foul territory -- and installed an underground sprinkler system in the outfield.
That means the infield no longer needs constant care. The exception is the pitcher's mound.
"I wouldn't even want to guess how many hundreds of hours were spent on this field every season in the past," Mattingly said Thursday, sitting outside the Bucs' clubhouse. "Somebody had to water it, thatch it, rake it, fertilize it, shape it, mow it. Guess what? I'm that somebody.
"And dragging all that hose around to water the outfield? Ask a fireman how heavy hoses are with water in them. Now, I can sit here and water with my little remote."
Amen, said Dyson.
"It makes me smile just talking about it,'' he said. "Not having to come out here and break your back trying to get a few blades of green grass."
The Bucs and Pilots play 14 times this summer, and that includes their annual Fourth of July doubleheader, which is followed by fireworks. The clubs wrap the season with the annual three-game Mayor's Cup on Aug. 1-3.
And all six ABL teams will play on Mulcahy's new Fieldturf on July 16-18 in the annual Scout's Showcase.
PROMOTIONS GALORE
As usual, both the Bucs and Pilots have a slew of promotions planned.
The Bucs' promotions include Military Appreciation Night (Monday), Breast Cancer Awareness Day to honor survivors (June 13), the Anchorage Running Club/Bucs 6-K Run (June 26, T-shirt and season passes to participants), and a Special Olympics event (July 5).
The Bucs also have South of the Border Night (June 23) to honor the Hispanic community, with Mexico's consul in Anchorage scheduled to throw out the first pitch. "I think we're the first ABL team to have the first pitch thrown by someone with diplomatic immunity," said Bucs director of baseball operations Gary Lichtenstein.
The Pilots likewise have Military Appreciation Night (June 12), plus St. Patrick's Day in June (June 17) and the Summer Solstice Showdown, which begins at 10 p.m. June 19. Last year, the Showdown ended in 11 innings with a 1-0 win over the Peninsula Oilers in a game that ended about 1:30 a.m. "The last two innings," said Dyson, "the fans were singing along with Journey's 'Don't Stop Believin'.''
The Pilots also have Ladies' Cancer Awareness Night (July 22) and a Celebrity Softball/Hall of Fame game to recognize the Special Olympics (July 31).
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