Update on the Wranglers

Here we are already at the beginning of July, and I haven’t had a chance to catch a Luray Wranglers game – much less put up a post about the Valley Baseball League (VBL). I realized this last week as Mary and I sat in the Artisans Café in Luray and two players rushed in for a last minute burger before their game.


With travel and deadlines for the next three weeks, I’ll be hard pressed to be able to take in a game before the last weekend of the month – but I’m lucky in this regard, as this year’s 44 game schedule includes a couple late home games on July 29, 30, and August 2. It seems like I’ll have to target one of these.

Now, according to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valley_Baseball_League ), the VBL was formed in 1923 and sanctioned by the NCAA in 1961. The NCAA is not involved directly in the league, but is a source of the rules, which include the use of wooden bats. It’s currently comprised of 11 teams, but it has had 12 teams in the past and expects to be at that level again next year.

Current standings (from http://www.valleyleaguebaseball.com/seasons/2010/standings ) show a three way tie for first place: Front Royal, Haymarket, and Luray. Of course, Luray is our “home” team, so we’ll be cheering for them. They’ve done very well over the last few years that we’ve been going out to Hawksbill Cabin.

A final note for now: in the June issue of The Mountain Courier, a monthly shoppers’ paper published in the North Branch valley, the Luray Wranglers’ Bulldog Field was highlighted:

…Bulldog Field, located at the intersection of US Highway 211 and US Highway 340 in Luray. The park is also home for the Luray High School athletic teams. Fans at Rebel Park in New Market look at the same mountains…except from the opposite side.

There’s one more resource for tracking the VBL – probably the most enthusiastic, passionate, and even complete coverage. It is the “All Things Valley League” blog at http://allthingsvalleyleague.typepad.com/ . You can spend hours at this site reading on the successes and stories of VBL players, staff and families. I recently spied a draft history that I want to go back and check out – Alex Wimmers, a 2008 member of the Luray Wranglers, was a first round draft pick this year.

We’ve got to make it to a game. So we’ll plan on that Friday night game at the end of August if not sooner – and I’ll keep you posted.