The summer of 2019 will mark the start of a new look, as well as some added excitement for the WMBL season.

As announced on Saturday, the WMBL will be re-branding to the Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL) after 87 seasons as the Western Major Baseball League.

The change, as introduced and discussed at league meetings prior to the start of the current summer season, was spurred on by a need for better exposure and to infuse a sense of a national identity.

"A lot of the kids coming up and maybe the coaches down south looked at it and didn't know what's the WMBL - Western Major Baseball League - what is it?" said Mike Mutlow, President of the Swift Current 57s. "Nobody knew really, so the idea was to (give it) a Canadian identity and give it a different feel than what it had before." 

The new look should also benefit the recruitment process for all 12 WMBL franchises.

"It all goes to the viability of the league, and maybe make it easier for recruiting," Mutlow noted. "We can interest the kids in coming up north to Canada and now they know where the league is and what it entails."

The newly formed WCBL will also be getting the opportunity to play in an all-star game for the first time, set to be hosted in Edmonton in 2019.

The inaugural event will bring additional prominence to the league.

"It's an opportunity to showcase the talent that's up here - something we've never done before," Mutlow said. "There's some quality kids coming up here to play baseball (across) all 12 franchises. Now we can bring them all together for a couple of days and showcase what we're all about."

"It's a marketing thing for the league - it's really important I think."

It's also a chance for friends, brothers and college teammates to unite on the diamond over the summer.

"It's that one crack to get playing with your peers. A lot of these guys know each other, some of them are from the same schools but they're playing on different teams," Mutlow explained. "So, maybe they get a chance to play on the same team for a night and have a little more fun."

The execution and the particulars of the event are still being sorted out as the league prepares to implement the all-star game for next season. More information will be provided once further details are ironed out.