Where baseball couldn't get a hit at Labatt Park, soccer hopes to score on the rebound. The echoes of officially dead London Monarchs' bats barely gone, London City Soccer Club is seeking to place two national championships in the ancient ball park this fall. The plan was in motion before the demise of the Canadian Baseball League and the Monarchs.

In what could be a toe in the water for regular season soccer games by various users, the club has applied to play host to the Canada Cup on Labour Day weekend and the Rogers Cup Oct. 3-5. The Canada Cup is an open competition for all senior clubs and the Rogers Cup is for the championship of the Canadian Professional Soccer League.

"It would be fabulous if we got one or both," London City general manager Harry Gauss said. "Labatt Park is a terrific downtown place for it. It's a great place for soccer."

That grumbling you hear is from baseball. Labatt Park has been used for soccer and even football (London Lords) but the scenic park is better known for its baseball history.

Gauss, with the endorsement of Tourism London, seeks to bring in the two Cups on an annual basis. Failing that, he would put both on his home Cove Road field this year.

The prospect of putting the tournaments on annually, rather than moving them around the country as in the past, is not necessarily a hurdle, CPSL's chief administrator Stan Adamson said from Toronto. City hall support is important in a bid, he said.

"We're just looking at information we received from acting Mayor Russ Monteith and we're impressed," Adamson said. "It appears London wants it to be a bit of a show. One of the strengths of London's bid is that Harry (Gauss) has proved in the past when he says he'll do something, it gets done. I'd say the London bid is looking very good."

A decision will be made on both tournaments within a week, Adamson said.

There are some logistical problems, chief of which is the amount of baseball played there now. Kent McVittie, manager of the city's recreational services, says Labatt Park is used about 99 per cent of its availability between early May and Labour Day.

As with other multi-use fields, the pitcher's mound would have to be moved in for baseball and out for soccer. The configuration would have the soccer playing surface running from the southwest to the northeast, with the current grandstand farthest from the action.

Soccer (or football) capacity could be increased with portable bleachers.

"I played for the German-Canadians at Labatt Park in the 1970s and it was great," Gauss said. "It's been multi-use a long time."

That includes an equestrian event seven years ago that tore up the well-groomed grounds.

What the city would like to see is a prime tenant and pro baseball has proved it no longer possesses the kind of appeal that can put fans in the seats on a consistent basis. While attendance figures given by the Monarchs and the actual number in the seats were often at odds, the 540 witnesses at the team's final game Sunday was about as good as it was going to get.

While soccer registrations make it London's largest sport outside city hall-bashing, the turnstiles haven't exactly been twirling like helicopter rotors, either. On a good night, Gauss's London City gets about the same at Cove Road.

It would be interesting to see whether the old business trio of location-location- location might bear on a pro soccer operation at Labatt Park. The city wants a prime tenant to help pay the bills and baseball, as the third failure in a decade proved, has struck out.