NBC World Series announces plans to play for 86th straight year amid COVID-19 concerns
The National Baseball Congress World Series will try to play for the 86th straight summer in Wichita, although tournament director Kevin Jenks admits the COVID-19 pandemic could change that.
For now, the NBC World Series is scheduled to take place from Monday, Aug. 3 to Monday, Aug. 10 at two host sites: Eck Stadium on Wichita State’s campus and Hobart-Detter Field in Hutchinson. The initial plan features 12 teams in a double-elimination tournament, with fans allowed in the stands — masks and hand sanitation upon arrival required.
But planning an event as coronavirus cases spike in Sedgwick County means nothing is final.
“Every day is a new and different day,” Jenks said. “We understand that what we announce (Friday) could change (Saturday) or next week. We’re prepared. The goal is for us to play. We’ve said from day one that until we’re told we can’t play, we’re going to try to play.”
For those wondering if the tournament could have been the debut event in Wichita’s brand-new, downtown ball park, Riverfront Stadium, Jenks said the NBC World Series actually had an agreement in principle to host its tournament there until 10 days ago.
That’s when he received a letter from the Wichita Wind Surge, which operates the $75 million ball park, informing the NBC World Series that it would not be able to host its tournament at Riverfront Stadium due to health concerns around the rising number of cases in Sedgwick County. Since the stadium had never hosted an event before, Jenks speculated that the Wind Surge were hesitant to rush into anything.
Jenks then pivoted to Wichita State, which hosted the tournament last summer and has been adhering to health guidelines this summer in hosting baseball games for the Sunflower Collegiate League. Hobart-Detter Field will host games for the first four days of tournament, and each team is guaranteed at least one game at Eck Stadium.
“We’ve always said that we’re going to play the NBC World Series until we can’t,” Jenks said. “The reason behind that is because there’s a lot of admiration we have for our teams that have been able to fight and make it happen this year. Another reason is we’re still a strong community event. We just want to forge forward.”
Health guidelines will play a major role in determining whether the tournament can actually take place.
Fans will be required to wear masks and sanitize their hands upon arrival, while social-distancing practices will also be required in the stands. Jenks said every other row will be blocked off at Eck Stadium, with each group of people sitting at least six feet away from one another. Staff will direct foot traffic at restrooms, allowing only two people inside at the same time.
“A lot of that stuff probably seems minor, but we want our fans to feel comfortable in being there,” Jenks said. “We don’t want a situation where someone is uncomfortable and doesn’t come back the next day. We want our fans to come back day after day and they’re comfortable returning for days two, three, four and hopefully eight.”
As for coronavirus testing, Jenks said that if someone on a team tests positive, he will be placed in quarantine and the rest of the team will also be tested. If a team has two or more players test positive for the coronavirus, Jenks said, that team will be removed from the tournament.
The NBC World Series typically features more than 30 teams but will only have 12 this summer — and even that number could shrink. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leagues across the country have shut down, which is why the tournament’s defending champions, the Seattle Studs, will not be able to play. Just five leagues will be sending their champions to the NBC World Series this summer; the other seven teams are coming from at-large bids, such as the Liberal Bee Jays.
But with teams also coming to town from Colorado, Texas and Mississippi, the field could shrink in coming weeks if more states are placed on the Kansas Department of Health & Environment’s travel-ban list.
“Just like any year, we expect someone not to make it,” Jenks said. “This year if we don’t have someone make it, we’ll see how it goes. We’ll go looking for something. If we can find some replacement teams, that’s great. If not, we’ll just try to make the most of it.
“We know how much these teams sacrifice just to be able to play and how much they sacrifice to make it to Wichita. That’s encouraging us to hold the event. There is tradition. We’ve done it for 86 years. We want to keep doing it, if it’s safe and if it makes sense. Right now we feel like it makes sense. That could change, but today we’re happy to make this announcement and keep our plans moving forward.”
This story was originally published July 17, 2020 at 4:46 PM.
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