Will the second version of the Calgary Outlaws enjoy a better fate than the first version?

Glenn Dmetrichuk, the new versions general manager, better hope so. His Outlaws  one of eight teams in the neophyte Canadian Baseball League  play their first home game May 22 at Burns Stadium against the Kelowna Heat.

The first incarnation of the Outlaws folded in 1994 after less than one season, along with the rest of the now-defunct National Basketball League. But at least those Outlaws had the luxury of playing indoors.

Dmetrichuk said the league chose the team name because of its western theme. He said he did not know about the basketball Outlaws, but vowed that the baseball version is here to stay.

I think these Outlaws are going to be around a long time, said Dmetrichuk, a former Calgary Herald and Calgary Sun advertising salesman who is banking on his 35 years of experience in both business and Little League coaching.

Mother Nature was rarely kind to the Calgary Cannons during their tenure from the mid-1980s until last year. The Cannons were sold and moved to Albuquerque after the 2002 Pacific Coast League season, when former owner Russ Parker, fed up with April snows, countless rainouts and city councils refusal to build a new stadium, finally said: Enough already.

In addition to bad weather, these Outlaws face the challenge of trying to sell a hard-to-define brand of baseball that is markedly lower than the AAA Cannons, who were just one notch below the major leagues.

Over the years, Cannons fans enjoyed such future Major League Baseball stars as Edgar Martinez, Tino Martinez, Danny Tartabull, Brett Boone, Jay Buhner and, very briefly, Ken Griffey Jr. Pitching great Fernando Valenzuela even popped in for a game.

The CBLs biggest star is its commissioner, retired major league pitcher Ferguson Jenkins of Chatham, Ont., the only Canadian in baseballs hall of fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.

He won a Cy Young Award and posted 100 victories in both the National and American Leagues, with the Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers, respectively.

The Outlaws survival will depend on how often Jenkins gets around the league, good marketing gimmicks, the star power of relative unknowns, good pitching in a hitters ballpark  and the bankroll of league CEO Charlton Lui, a California native who made millions in the computer industry.

Unlike most other pro sports franchises, the Outlaws and all other CBL teams are owned by the league  Lui and investors that he has declined to identify.

The league-owned model has been done before, with little success. For details, see Mickey Monus and the now-defunct World Basketball League.

But the CBL vows to be different.

Unlike other centrally owned circuits, the CBL will operate only in Canada and, therefore, wont have to worry about the U.S.-dollar exchange rate.

Dmetrichuk is an employee of the Outlaws and the league. He does not have an ownership stake.

He said that, as far as he knows, there are no local owners.

Initially, as a business model, the league model is pretty sound, said Dmetrichuk. Its not unique. If you look into some pro sports in the States, youll find this model is being done, and has been done for a number of years.

However, he did not relate any success stories.

I think from what this group of gentlemen has done, it makes perfect sense, said Dmetrichuk.

Calgary and Montreal, home of the Royales, represent the CBLs biggest markets. The other teams are Kelowna, Victoria Capitals, the London Monarchs, Niagara Stars and Trois-Riviere Saints.

Rules stipulate that each team must have five Canadian-born players, and there was an emphasis on placing Canadian players on teams closest to their hometowns.

The CBL has secured a TV deal with The Score network, ensuring that Sunday night games are broadcast across the country. The CBL season is much shorter than the PCL campaign.

The Outlaws start almost two months later than the Cannons and play only 72 games.

However, in a questionable move, the CBL regular season goes into late September.

Dmetrichuk said hes very confident the Outlaws will succeed because of the CBLs short season.

I think the fact the CBL has gone to a short season is a key factor, said Dmetrichuk.

The CBL campaign is only half the length of the Triple-A season. He refuted suggestions that Major League Baseball playoffs will detract from CBL playoffs in September. Its not a factor, said Dmetrichuk.

By that time, he said, the CBL will have developed a strong fan base, thanks largely to the 18 games televised on The Score. Five of those games, including the first CBL all-star game on July 23, will be televised from Burns Stadium.

Ron Rooke, a former Cannons executive, recalls that the team had a difficult time selling tickets for September playoff games because kids, a big part of the crowd, were back in school.

Playing in September is tough when youre a baseball team, said Rooke, now the Calgary Stampeders vice-president of marketing and communications.

Rookes advice?

Pray for sunshine and blue skies, he said.