The only thing missing will be Bill Murray’s hijinks and the Candy Man’s knuckleball.
The Victoria HarbourCats will honour the capital’s quirky three-seasons in the minor-pro baseball single-A Northwest League, from 1978 to 1980, when the ’Cats don throwback Victoria Mussels jerseys for tonight’s West Coast League game against the Yakima Valley Pippins at Royal Athletic Park.
Yes, that’s Mussels as in saltwater bivalve mollusks.
The Mussels were owned by Murray’s buddy Van Schley, so during one game the actor and Saturday Night Live original cast member came to the plate to bat for Victoria at Royal Athletic Park, but the umpires were having none of it and turned Murray away. The late Danny Gans did bat and he hit .234 in 35 games for the Mussels in 1978 and went on to gross $18 million a year — not on the diamond — but as one of the most prolific entertainers on the Las Vegas Strip. The most famous Mussels pitcher was future 16-season MLB knuckleballer Tom Candiotti, a walk-on who slept in the Royal Athletic Park dressing rooms when he first got into town with nowhere to stay.
Victoria fans of the time didn’t know what they were missing as the Mussels averaged less than 300 fans per game. The HarbourCats (19-15 overall, 5-2 second half) are leading the WCL in attendance with a 1,818 average heading into the three-game set against the Pippins (14-15 overall, 1-1 second half), who are named after a kind of apple grown in the Yakima Valley.
“Now that we’ve created stability [for a Victoria baseball franchise], we want to begin recognizing the history of baseball in Victoria,” said HarbourCats co-owner and managing partner Jim Swanson, about the Mussels throw-back night.
Meanwhile, three HarbourCats pitchers and one slugger have been selected for the North Division team to the 2017 WCL all-star game next Tuesday in Yakima Valley.
“It’s odd because we are a better hitting team than a pitching team,” said Swanson.
The Victoria hurlers tabbed were six-foot-four Adam McKillican (4-0, 1.85 ERA) of Comox Valley, six-foot-four, 245-pound fireballer Indigo Diaz (1-0, 5.19 ERA) from North Vancouver and incoming six-foot-two NCAA Div. 1 SEC Auburn Tigers freshman Jack Owen (3-0, 1.06 ERA).
Also named was outfielder Hunter Vansau from NCAA Div. 1 Mississippi State, who went five-for-five with a homer and six RBIs in an 11-5 win over the Bend Elks on Saturday night, and who is hitting .426 on the season with four home runs. Vansau, however, cooled off in a 6-1 loss Sunday to Bend as he went hitless in four plate visits with two strikeouts.
It really didn’t matter because the resident of Crawford, Texas, whose family is neighbours of former U.S. president George W. Bush, was still named WCL player of the week for going a combined 11-for-21 (.524) with eight runs scored, a double, triple, three stolen bases, three home runs and 12 RBIs.
“This shows the level of players we are bringing in,” said Swanson.
“The all-stars are largely picked on pro scouting interest. Diaz has garnered lots of scouting interest and McKillican is working into that. Owen and Vansau will be high prospects.”
Swanson also would not be surprised to see league saves leader Travis Kuhn (six saves, 2.21 ERA) as a late injury-sub to the North Division all-star team.
Getting the nod tonight on the mound for the HarbourCats against the Pippins will be six-foot-three Taylor Prokopis (2-2, 3.09 ERA) from Sandy, Utah.
Claire Eccles of White Rock (1-0, 18.69 ERA in 41Ú3 innings) will become the first female starter in a WCL regular-season game when she takes the mound Wednesday.
The all-star Owen will get the start to close out the series on Thursday night.
