Abnormal Season Ends In Unfortunate Way As Blue Wahoos Look Ahead To 2022 

The most unusual season in Blue Wahoos team history ended in an abnormal way.

The last four games of the 2021 schedule on the road last week against the Rocket City Trash Pandas were all canceled, forcing an unexpected kind of finality.

It left the Blue Wahoos returning Sunday morning from Madison, Alabama on charter busses to Pensacola for exit meetings and physicals at Blue Wahoos Stadium. Players then scattered late Sunday night in all directions to begin their off-season at their homes, or to prepare for extended playing time.

The Arizona Fall League, which begins Oct. 13 and showcases top prospects of each Major League Baseball team, is expected to include several Blue Wahoos players.

Despite missing a sixth consecutive trip to the playoffs and finishing fifth overall in the Double-A South, based on winning percentage, the Blue Wahoos (57-54) posted a fifth consecutive winning season among three different affiliations during the period.

They played their fewest games (111) in club history. None of the eight Double-A South teams played the same amount of games. The Blue Wahoos were one of three teams able to play all 60 home games.

The Mississippi Braves (67-44) were runaway winners of the regular-season title and will face the Montgomery Biscuits (62-55) in a best-of-five championship series, which begins Tuesday in Montgomery.

The Biscuits edged the Birmingham Barons by a half-game, after a Sunday doubleheader was rained out. Montgomery earned the position by winning the first four games of the series.

After Pensacola split the first two games of its series last week at Rocket City, the remaining games were cancelled. The Trash Pandas released an explanation, citing issues with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

“Following testing and contact tracing within the Rocket City Trash Pandas organization, Saturday and Sunday's games at Toyota Field between the Rocket City Trash Pandas and Pensacola Blue Wahoos have been canceled,” the team said in a statement posted on its website.

“We adhered to Major League Baseball’s health and safety protocols, and it was determined the best course of action for the safety of players and coaches was a cancellation of the remaining games.”

Nine of the Blue Wahoos final 23 games, all road games, were cancelled without weather being a factor. The Blue Wahoos had the final five games (Aug. 25-29) at the Mississippi Braves wiped out and Covid-19 issues were the reason.

The ballclub and full time staff have now turned attention to 2022 when the franchise celebrates its 10th playing season in club history. It will also bring a return to normal with a season starting in April and playing two more home series' than 2021.

Meanwhile on Monday at Blue Wahoos Stadium, preparations began to convert the field for football, where the University of West Florida will play Saturday night at 6 p.m., seeking to extend their unbeaten (3-0) start as reigning NCAA Division II national champions.

Workers from River Region Sports Fields, located in Millbrook, Ala., began removing the pitcher’s mound and preparing for a sod resurface of the infield area. Bleachers will be placed in the right-centerfield portion of the outfield.

The Argos have four home games remaining, plus the possibility of hosting Division II playoff games in November for the first time, should they qualify.

It will be the final time a grass surface exists at the ballpark. The Blue Wahoos have committed this winter to installing a synthetic playing surface, but with an clay-dirt infield, to match the Miami Marlins home ballpark at LoanDepot Stadium in Miami.

The same kind of surface exists with the Marlins’ High-A affiliate, Beloit Snappers new ballpark, ABC Supply Stadium in Beloit, Wisconsin.

The Blue Wahoos have also pivoted to preparations for the 2022 season, which will start at home on April 8 against the Biloxi Shuckers and will end at home on Sept. 18 against the Shuckers. It will be a 138 game schedule.

Season-ticket renewals have begun with incentives to renew early. The Blue Wahoos are hosting a private, sponsor party on Tuesday and then will begin a busy fall of various public events.