Glacier Outlaws preparing for season
Glacier Outlaws field manager Mike Goss has mixed emotions as the countdown continues for the first practice with his Mount Rainier Professional Baseball League team.
“I’m excited, and I’m nervous, too,” he said.
“Excited for some great baseball and nervous about managing my first club.”
Goss was hired by Outlaws general manager Bob Lockman back on Dec. 18. Goss was the hitting coach with the San Angelo Colts of the United League in Texas for the past two seasons.
Goss is expected to arrive in the Flathead Valley on May 14 from his residence in Corpus Christi, Texas.
“I’m ready put a good club out on the field,” he said.
“I’ve been around baseball for a number of years. I can’t wait to get to Whitefish, get settled, get comfortable and get set to be the baseball manager.”
The schedule for Goss and his players will be hectic with the season opener fast approaching on May 21 versus the Skagit Valley Lumberjacks at Memorial Park. The Outlaws have the luxury of playing their first eight games at home.
The first road trip is May 29 to Ellensburg, Washington, versus the Bulls.
The season ends Aug. 2 at the Skagit Valley Lumberjacks.
The other three teams in the league are the Moses Lake (Washington) Rattlesnakes, Grays Harbor (Washington) Gulls and Oregon City (Oregon) Mud Turtles.
Lockman says the Outlaws roster lists 40 players from the U.S., Canada, Japan, Dominican Republic and Venezuela. They will be present for a special Meet and Greet session at Memorial Park on May 15 from 2-4 p.m.
Tryouts and evaluations begin the following day from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. and continue for the next three days. The team must get down to a 24-man roster by May 21.
The Outlaws will scrimmage an American Legion squad of Glacier Twins and Mission Valley Mariners players on May 20 at Memorial Park.
“Five days is not enough time,” Goss said of evaluating the players.
“But it is what it is. Long days on the field.
“I want 24 guys that truly love this game, night in and night out,” Goss said of his opening-day roster.
“Guys who will go out there and give the fans and the organization 100 percent. Guys who play hard and leave it out there on the field. I will do my best in camp to evaluate the players.”
The Outlaws experience level runs from players with limited professional experience to some collegiate All-Americans.
Starting pay for the players is $100 per week. Host families for players are still needed. For more information on that, visit the Glacieroutlaws@gmail.com website or call (406) 471-4897.
Lockman said the team provides a post-game dinner so the player only has to provide a lunch or snack on his own. The league takes care of the costs involved with travel, housing and meals while on the road trips.
For information regarding 40-game season ticket packets or 10-game packs visit the team’s website.
Goss’ baseball career began in 2002 as an 11th-round selection in the Major League Baseball draft by the Boston Red Sox.
He was one of the players involved in the blockbuster Curt Schilling trade two years later between the Red Sox and Arizona Diamondbacks. Goss played with the El Paso Diablos after that. For the last eight years of his career, he bounced around the Northern, Can-Am, Golden and United leagues.