Last weekend saw the beginning of the new league, this weekend sees it take its second steps. There are two games on tonight, Perth vs Brisbane, and Adelaide vs Melbourne.
Opening for Brisbane will be James Albury. Albury is a 24-year old right-armer who played for the Oakland County Cruisers in 2010, and has about five years experience in the Minors. He racked up a great year in 2009 for the Midwest Sliders, going 6-2 from 10 starts, and was then signed by the White Sox in July. He went on to finish the year in class A ball with the awesomely named Kannopolis Intimidators (for the aspiring geographers out there, Kannopolis is in North-Carolina, and for anyone wondering why they are called the Intimidators, apparently the word is NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt's nickname, and he owned the team for a while) where he went 5-2 from 9 starts, with a 4.79 ERA. He played 2010 at the Oakland County Cruisers (which, despite what you might think, not located in California, but in Michigan), where he went 6-5 from 14 starts with a 4.72 ERA. The season there wrapped up in September.
For the Heat, it is 22 year old Liam Baron. He has been playing college ball in the States for a few years. In 2010 he pitched for the Gonzaga Bulldogs - both as a starter and out of the pen. His record of 0-7 and ERA of 5.79 would suggest he did not have the best of times. Interestingly enough, he has decided to 'postpone' a professional career (it seems he won an award for some sort of science project as a youngster, and was also no the dean's list at Linn Benton, so perhaps he wants to continue to study) . He was reasonably effective in the two warm up games for the heat, where he did not give up an earned run in 11.2 innings.
In Adelaide, Adam Blackley will be given the ball to face off against the Bite. The younger brother of Travis Blackley, Adam has slogged it out in the minors since 2003, culminating with a season of AA ball for the El Paso Diablos in 2008. He went 4-1, with a 3.95 ERA in the 2009 Claxton Shield, and then signed with the Amsterdam Pirates for the 2009 season. He returned to Australia for the 2009/2010 Claxton Shield, and went 2-0 for the Aces in 4 starts. He also featured in a couple of games from the pen.
For the Bite, fresh from a strong Claxton Shield in 2009/2010, Paul Mildren will take the mound.
Later this week, Sydney and Canberra will resume hostilities. Stay tuned for more updates.
Nov 11, 2010
Nov 7, 2010
ABL Game 1: Blue Sox open up the season with a win
The Sydney Blue Sox and Canberra Cavalry opened the new Australian Baseball League in style on Saturday night, with the Blue Sox running out 1-0 victors in a game dominated by defense. The Blue Sox benefited from some clutch hitting from centrefielder Mitch Dening, who slapped a 2-out single to score Tim Auty in the bottom of the eigth. The Cavalry were unable to overcome the Sydney pitching in the ninth, and Dae-Sung Koo closed out the game by striking out Nick Kimpton.
It has been a decade since we have had a professional baseball league in Australia, and the eyes of all local baseball enthusiasts were on Blacktown Olympic Park to see how the ABL would turn it on tonight. All in all, it has to be said that professionalism was the order of the day. Apart from some minor technical difficulties with a microphone, it was a very professional operation. Major League Baseball USA has thrown a fair bit of money behind this competition, and there seemed to be a good number of officials on hand to make sure a quality product was delivered.
There was plenty of ceremony about the occasion - in what could be seen as a somewhat self indulgent exercise, a helicopter flew in current ABL Baseball Operations Manager, Ben Foster, and a young lad to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. After the formalities , the general atmosphere was great. Off the field there was music, activities for kids, giveaways, mascots and a variety of food and merchandise stands. Many fans could be overheard reminiscing about the old Sydney Blues/Wave days, with games at Parramatta Stadium or Moore Park. In an obvious nod to another famous 'Sox' team, Sweet Caroline was played in the seventh inning stretch, and the crowd were happy to sing along. It was clear that all were very happy to be back at a pro ball game.
On the field, it was a dominant defensive display from both sides. Chris Oxspring threw a strike for the first pitch - and it was the first of many. Oxspring struck out 8 hitters over 6 innings and showed plenty of zip - regularly hitting 90mph - as well as good command and some very useful offspeed pitches. Oxspring was replaced by David Welch, who continued the dominance; striking out 2 of the 4 hitters he faced and continuing the shutout. Wayne Lundgren, Matt Williams and Dae-Sung Koo carried on the good work and closed out the game without giving up a hit.
On the other side of the ledger, Steve Kent went out very well, facing only 7 hitters over 2 innings of work. Presumably he was on a pitch count - as he was replaced by Michael Lennox after 2 digs. Following Lennox were two of the Korean imports: Jun-Hyeok Heo and Jung-Min Lee, who were also very effective.
Credit for the first hit of the new league went to Sydney's Tim Auty, who smacked a line drive to center in the first inning. But it was not until the fourth inning until we saw another hit. Canberra's thirdbaseman Kyu-Hyun Moon reached on a one-out single to right field. Things looked a little dangerous for the Blue Sox when Nick Kimpton backed this up immediately by slapping another shot to right field. However, Moon ambitiously tried to go from first to third, and tested out young David Kandilas' arm. Kandilas showed why the Rockies were keen to sign him when he threw a laser to Trent D'Antonio at third to easily catch out Moon.
The next real opportunity came in the bottom of the sixth. Again it was Kandilas and D'Antonio working together to fire up the Blue Sox. Kandilas led off with a walk, and D'Antonio stepped in to drive a single to left, moving Kandilas to second. Tim Auty then stepped in and laid down a textbook sacrifice bunt down the third baseline that was very nearly an infield single. This moved the runners across to second and third with one out. The Cavalry chose to walk Mitch Dening to get to Blue Sox designated hitter Pat Maat, who was unable to come through with the goods. He was followed by Andrew Graham, who grounded out weakly to end the inning with no score.
The game remained locked at nil all until the bottom of the eighth. The first two hitters were retired, before Tim Auty stepped up for his second hit of the night - a single to left. He then picked up a stolen base on a 3-1 pitch to Mitch Dening. This left Dening staring down a 3-2 count, and he handled the situation well - driving the ball to centerfield and bringing in Auty from second.
The Blue Sox then went to their closing staff, with Matt Williams and Dae-Sung Koo coming in to shut down the Cavalry in the 9th and end the game 1-0.
While the starting pitching from Oxspring laid the foundation for the Blue Sox, Tim Auty was the obvious selection for most valuable player. He picked up the first hit of the new league, and went 2-for-3 on the night, also picking up a perfectly executed sac bunt. In the field he took a very nice catch and looked generally solid. Other stars for the Sox included Michael Lysaught, who was silky smooth at short stop; Mitch Dening
who clutched up big time to drive in the run; David Kandilas who took two nice catches and picked up a nice outfield assist for shooting down Moon. Boss Moanaroa was also quite solid- he made some nice defensive plays and had some good at bats.
For the Cavalry, pitching was a strength, and all the Korean imports impressed. Great defensive efforts from Moon and Kimpton punctuated a solid all round display.
The game ended with a decent fireworks display and with the Blue Sox taking time to say hello to fans and sign autographs. After ten long years, professional baseball is back in Australia, and the fans loved every minute of it.
It has been a decade since we have had a professional baseball league in Australia, and the eyes of all local baseball enthusiasts were on Blacktown Olympic Park to see how the ABL would turn it on tonight. All in all, it has to be said that professionalism was the order of the day. Apart from some minor technical difficulties with a microphone, it was a very professional operation. Major League Baseball USA has thrown a fair bit of money behind this competition, and there seemed to be a good number of officials on hand to make sure a quality product was delivered.
There was plenty of ceremony about the occasion - in what could be seen as a somewhat self indulgent exercise, a helicopter flew in current ABL Baseball Operations Manager, Ben Foster, and a young lad to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. After the formalities , the general atmosphere was great. Off the field there was music, activities for kids, giveaways, mascots and a variety of food and merchandise stands. Many fans could be overheard reminiscing about the old Sydney Blues/Wave days, with games at Parramatta Stadium or Moore Park. In an obvious nod to another famous 'Sox' team, Sweet Caroline was played in the seventh inning stretch, and the crowd were happy to sing along. It was clear that all were very happy to be back at a pro ball game.
On the field, it was a dominant defensive display from both sides. Chris Oxspring threw a strike for the first pitch - and it was the first of many. Oxspring struck out 8 hitters over 6 innings and showed plenty of zip - regularly hitting 90mph - as well as good command and some very useful offspeed pitches. Oxspring was replaced by David Welch, who continued the dominance; striking out 2 of the 4 hitters he faced and continuing the shutout. Wayne Lundgren, Matt Williams and Dae-Sung Koo carried on the good work and closed out the game without giving up a hit.
On the other side of the ledger, Steve Kent went out very well, facing only 7 hitters over 2 innings of work. Presumably he was on a pitch count - as he was replaced by Michael Lennox after 2 digs. Following Lennox were two of the Korean imports: Jun-Hyeok Heo and Jung-Min Lee, who were also very effective.
Credit for the first hit of the new league went to Sydney's Tim Auty, who smacked a line drive to center in the first inning. But it was not until the fourth inning until we saw another hit. Canberra's thirdbaseman Kyu-Hyun Moon reached on a one-out single to right field. Things looked a little dangerous for the Blue Sox when Nick Kimpton backed this up immediately by slapping another shot to right field. However, Moon ambitiously tried to go from first to third, and tested out young David Kandilas' arm. Kandilas showed why the Rockies were keen to sign him when he threw a laser to Trent D'Antonio at third to easily catch out Moon.
The next real opportunity came in the bottom of the sixth. Again it was Kandilas and D'Antonio working together to fire up the Blue Sox. Kandilas led off with a walk, and D'Antonio stepped in to drive a single to left, moving Kandilas to second. Tim Auty then stepped in and laid down a textbook sacrifice bunt down the third baseline that was very nearly an infield single. This moved the runners across to second and third with one out. The Cavalry chose to walk Mitch Dening to get to Blue Sox designated hitter Pat Maat, who was unable to come through with the goods. He was followed by Andrew Graham, who grounded out weakly to end the inning with no score.
The game remained locked at nil all until the bottom of the eighth. The first two hitters were retired, before Tim Auty stepped up for his second hit of the night - a single to left. He then picked up a stolen base on a 3-1 pitch to Mitch Dening. This left Dening staring down a 3-2 count, and he handled the situation well - driving the ball to centerfield and bringing in Auty from second.
The Blue Sox then went to their closing staff, with Matt Williams and Dae-Sung Koo coming in to shut down the Cavalry in the 9th and end the game 1-0.
While the starting pitching from Oxspring laid the foundation for the Blue Sox, Tim Auty was the obvious selection for most valuable player. He picked up the first hit of the new league, and went 2-for-3 on the night, also picking up a perfectly executed sac bunt. In the field he took a very nice catch and looked generally solid. Other stars for the Sox included Michael Lysaught, who was silky smooth at short stop; Mitch Dening
who clutched up big time to drive in the run; David Kandilas who took two nice catches and picked up a nice outfield assist for shooting down Moon. Boss Moanaroa was also quite solid- he made some nice defensive plays and had some good at bats.
For the Cavalry, pitching was a strength, and all the Korean imports impressed. Great defensive efforts from Moon and Kimpton punctuated a solid all round display.
Nov 4, 2010
ABL players in the news
There are a few player features going around today, featuring a few players from ABL squads. The Newcastle Herald has a story on the Moanaroa brothers from the Blue Sox. Boss and Moko have returned from a season for the Red Sox in the Rookie League to play side by side for the Blue Sox.
There's also an interesting article in the Adelaide media about Todd Gossage - son of hall of famer Goose - who is in Adelaide apparently seeking a spot on the Bite roster.
The Canberra Times notes that Steve Kent has been selected to throw out the first pitch for the Cavalry, and also mentions the ABL has appointed a contractor to oversee the development of four of the six fields in the league.
And I was happy to read that Justin Huber is still keen on cracking MLB. He told the Knox Weekly that he believes he can still add value at the big league level.
All good stuff, and great to see a lot of coverage. Looks like the ABL media departments are working effectively!
There's also an interesting article in the Adelaide media about Todd Gossage - son of hall of famer Goose - who is in Adelaide apparently seeking a spot on the Bite roster.
The Canberra Times notes that Steve Kent has been selected to throw out the first pitch for the Cavalry, and also mentions the ABL has appointed a contractor to oversee the development of four of the six fields in the league.
And I was happy to read that Justin Huber is still keen on cracking MLB. He told the Knox Weekly that he believes he can still add value at the big league level.
All good stuff, and great to see a lot of coverage. Looks like the ABL media departments are working effectively!
The Arrival
I was a pleasantly surprised to arrive home tonight and find (somewhat unceremoniously stuffed into the mailbox) my Blue Sox cap and a few added extras.
Included with the hat was a white Blue Sox sticker, a bumper sticker with the slogan 'HONK IF YOU THINK I'M SOXY' and a business card (reverse side shown in the photo) for the Blue Sox Assistant GM.
The hat is, as you would expect from New Era, very good quality and the embroidered Blue Sox logo really jumps off the hat. They really should give that little guy a name if they haven't done so already - Billy? Bobby? Syd?
I'm also impressed with the freebies, although I'm not a huge fan of the bumper sticker, but its a bit of fun I suppose.
The package also had a note that other products are not yet available (altough I didn't order any, I guess they are just shoving them in with every order), and will be shipped as soon as possible,
Things are getting exciting! Only 2 days til the season launch, and the game is sold out! Bring it on.
The hat is, as you would expect from New Era, very good quality and the embroidered Blue Sox logo really jumps off the hat. They really should give that little guy a name if they haven't done so already - Billy? Bobby? Syd?
I'm also impressed with the freebies, although I'm not a huge fan of the bumper sticker, but its a bit of fun I suppose.
The package also had a note that other products are not yet available (altough I didn't order any, I guess they are just shoving them in with every order), and will be shipped as soon as possible,
Things are getting exciting! Only 2 days til the season launch, and the game is sold out! Bring it on.
Nov 1, 2010
ABL secures TV coverage on One HD and Foxtel?
There has been a little bit of talk on the ABL Fan Forums and Facebook page about the possibility of the ABL being covered on TV. There has been nothing formally announced at this point, and I for one have not heard anything being advertised.
However, a tidy little article over at Marketing Magazine says that:
Also at Marketing Mag blog, Max Wakefield, Marketing Co-Ordinator at the Melbourne Aces hints that the League hopes to get to a point where each team expands beyond playing 4 games a week, to the typical US model of playing 'nearly every day'. It's early days yet and while things will surely do reasonably well in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, there are plenty of obstacles to overcome before the League can become an everyday proposition I reckon. Here's hoping though!
UPDATE - 8 DECEMBER 2010
So, we are well into the season now, and it seems that there is not going to be any TV coverage.
That said, a number of teams have been organising live broadcasts over the internet - both audio and video. Follow @ozmlbplayers on twitter for all the details as they come to hand.
However, a tidy little article over at Marketing Magazine says that:
The league has had some good early signs, with television coverage locked in with One HD and Fox Sports, and likely showings on the MLB network in the US. The five teams [Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Perth and Sydney] will play out a forty game season over summer and some of the teams have got an excellent response.That seems pretty decisive to me, and would be quite a good pickup for the ABL - assuming of course that James Packer doesn't decide to dump it from One HD.
Also at Marketing Mag blog, Max Wakefield, Marketing Co-Ordinator at the Melbourne Aces hints that the League hopes to get to a point where each team expands beyond playing 4 games a week, to the typical US model of playing 'nearly every day'. It's early days yet and while things will surely do reasonably well in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, there are plenty of obstacles to overcome before the League can become an everyday proposition I reckon. Here's hoping though!
UPDATE - 8 DECEMBER 2010
So, we are well into the season now, and it seems that there is not going to be any TV coverage.
That said, a number of teams have been organising live broadcasts over the internet - both audio and video. Follow @ozmlbplayers on twitter for all the details as they come to hand.
Oct 29, 2010
The ABL: Season launch and local media roundup
We are now a week out from the season launch of the ABL, and starting to see a bit of coverage in the local media. All six teams have now released their rosters, which has revealed quite a few marquee players and a few interesting imports.
Yesterday was the official season launch, and you can check out details of the launch at the ABL website, it included some promo photos from representatives from each of the teams.
I particularly liked this mean looking shot of Chris Oxspring:
The official season launch has also generated a bit of press coverage, with articles appearing in the Sydney Morning Herald, the Herald Sun, Courier Mail and ABC among others.
Most of the focus is on the calibre of players that are involved in the league, with plenty of current and ex-Major Leaguers dotting the rosters, as well as a lot of up and coming players. There is also a lot of optimism being expressed that the ABL can survive in the long term, particularly since it has the backing of Major League Baseball - which you would have to think is critical to financing the league, but at the same time a great endorsement from the US. It seems that the players certainly have the right idea. Luke Hughes speaks about being an ambassador, and making sure it succeeds so that 10 years down the track kids will have something to aim for.
Things are getting pretty positive. The Blue Sox GM is quoted as reporting that the Blue Sox have sold out a number of games already, in addition to the 500 season tickets they've sold out. All the media coverage looks great. Hopefully this will continue - and pick up - when the season fires up and the sport can get the profile it deserves.
Stay tuned for more info and season previews soon!
Yesterday was the official season launch, and you can check out details of the launch at the ABL website, it included some promo photos from representatives from each of the teams.
 |
| Chris Oxspring [Sydney], Justin Huber [Melbourne], Paul Mildren [Adelaide], Phil Stockman [Brisbane], Luke Hughes [Perth] and Nick Kimpton [Canberra] Image from http://www.theabl.com.au/ |
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| Image from www.theabl.com.au |
The official season launch has also generated a bit of press coverage, with articles appearing in the Sydney Morning Herald, the Herald Sun, Courier Mail and ABC among others.
Most of the focus is on the calibre of players that are involved in the league, with plenty of current and ex-Major Leaguers dotting the rosters, as well as a lot of up and coming players. There is also a lot of optimism being expressed that the ABL can survive in the long term, particularly since it has the backing of Major League Baseball - which you would have to think is critical to financing the league, but at the same time a great endorsement from the US. It seems that the players certainly have the right idea. Luke Hughes speaks about being an ambassador, and making sure it succeeds so that 10 years down the track kids will have something to aim for.
Things are getting pretty positive. The Blue Sox GM is quoted as reporting that the Blue Sox have sold out a number of games already, in addition to the 500 season tickets they've sold out. All the media coverage looks great. Hopefully this will continue - and pick up - when the season fires up and the sport can get the profile it deserves.
Stay tuned for more info and season previews soon!
Oct 24, 2010
The ABL has been given new life
Hello world.
This little old blog has not been updated in quite a while, and there's been a heck of a lot happening on the Oz MLB Player scene: we have had two Aussies go to Divisional Series for Major League teams; there has been some increased game time given to a number of other Aussie players - Brad Thomas, Trent Oeltjen, Rich Thompson; Ryan Rowland-Smith had a bit of a bastard of a year (as did the Mariners fullstop) but has kept fighting hard.
And...we have a new local professional league. The ABL is back baby.
This little old blog has not been updated in quite a while, and there's been a heck of a lot happening on the Oz MLB Player scene: we have had two Aussies go to Divisional Series for Major League teams; there has been some increased game time given to a number of other Aussie players - Brad Thomas, Trent Oeltjen, Rich Thompson; Ryan Rowland-Smith had a bit of a bastard of a year (as did the Mariners fullstop) but has kept fighting hard.
And...we have a new local professional league. The ABL is back baby.
Now I will admit it, I was a little skeptical about whether the ABL would be successful. While Major League Baseball threw its support behind it, I was thinking there were too many factors suggesting it would not work. Crowds at the Claxton Shield over the past couple of years have been pretty poor. There is increasing competition through T20 cricket and the A-League, and most top class Aussie players play winter ball in South America.
However, so far I have been pleasantly surprised.
The ABL has relaunched and appears to be doing a pretty good job promoting itself using some (reasonably) decent websites and social media.
The Sydney Blue Sox season memberships sold out.
The roster for the Blue Sox contains a number of Major League players, including RRS and Trent Oeltjen, as well as ex-MLB and Japanese journeyman Chris Oxspring.
The ABL have announced official sponsorship from Rawlings, and has launched a merchandise range through New Era, including official 5950 caps.
They seem to have attracted quite a bit of sponsorship (albeit it is somewhat 'second tier sponsorship').
So now, I am feeling a little optimistic and have something to write about. Huzzah!
A few people manage to stumble across this page through google searches for Aussies in the MLB, so I figure I might do my thing for promotion and coverage of the ABL.
So come back soon, expect some player profiles and background information soon, with some live coverage and game reviews available in the near future.
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