Oz MLB Players

Somewhat unfounded rumour creation

2011-08-23T21:58:00.000+10:00

So, the ABL is right around the corner, just on the horizon, up around the bend, almost here, and I don't know about you, but I am getting excited.

I am super keen to see what sort of imports the ABL bring in this year, as I think that having solid imports should be one of the key pillars of their strategy. For this reason, I have been keeping a keen eye on possible rumours or news about likely appearances from non-Aussie players. There has already been some speculation that Jose Canseco could be appearing in some sort of capacity - I am not quite sure what I think about this yet...one plus would be that a bucketload of regular Aussies will know who he is, as he has been on The Simpsons...but at the same time, he is probably not someone you would say is blessed with character and integrity.

However, today I put together a few things that suggested there might be something better brewing. I am going to put it all out there - if I am wrong, I am wrong, and you can legitimately call me a crazy fanboy. But in the interests of making some sort of prediction, I offer the following:

We could see a few more high-level minor leaguers [possibly with Major League experience] from the Minnesota Twins organisation playing in the off season, possibly in Canberra.

What makes me say that?

Well, I have noticed a couple of things in recent days/weeks which I think indicate this could be a possibility, they are:

1. The Twins are having a pretty sucky year. They have been plagued by injuries to key players, and are generally performing poorly (team ERA 4.46, 26th in MLB; team Batting Average Against .274, 29th in MLB; on base percentage .307, 28th in MLB). This has been a good thing for some of the young guns in their organisation, including not just Luke Hughes, but guys like Ben Revere, Trevor Plouffe, Danny Valencia and others on the cusp, who have benefited from the injuries to others and have had significant playing time. It seems like Revere, Hughes and Plouffe, as well as Rene Tosoni, have potential to be regular big leaguers, but as John Shipley at TwinCities.com recently remarked, at least Hughes and Plouffe have not really cemented their place in the bigs just yet.

2. Because they have been filling out roster spots with inexperienced players, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire has been playing teacher. In particular, he has been working through some situational plays with the younger guys over the last week or two. In an article in the Star Tribune referencing special work Gardy has been putting in with Revere, Hughes and Plouffe, Gardenhire said he would be encouraging Trevor Plouffe to play Winter Ball to assist in his development. Perhaps he could join his colleague Luke Hughes on a trip down under?

3. Today, Ben Revere took what has been widely recognised as a rather awesome catch (if you love a good defensive play and haven't already seen it, check it out here). This was re-tweeted in a thousand different places, and put up on stacks of Facebook pages. One such page was the Canberra Cavalry page, which added the comment 'This is an amazing catch, maybe the catch of the year. Will there be plays like this at the Fort this summer'. Now, this could be entirely innocuous or coincidental, but when you also think that there has been some interaction between the Cavalry and the Twins in recent times (Twins international scout Howard Norsetter signed Cavalry pitcher Tim Atherton)....it becomes tempting to believe this could be a hint at something.

As I said above, I may be totally off track with this one, and I recognise it would be kind of a big deal for AAA/AAAA/MLB players to drop in to the ABL in the Winter, but maybe we could see it happen....My guess is we would be more likely to see a guy like Trevor Plouffe rather than Revere, but time will tell I guess.

Only 72 days til opening night!

A few updates heading into the All Star break

2011-07-04T20:42:00.000+10:00

There's a fair bit happening in the Oz MLB player scene at the moment, with a number of Aussies playing pretty much every day, and plenty of Aussies tearing it up in the minors as well. Here are a few tidbits from around the internet that you might find interesting:

Josh Spence made his major league debut recently with the San Diego Padres. On the day of his first appearance, the Southern Stars Baseball Development Tour was in attendance at Petco Park. It looks like they had a blast, and they were lucky enough to hang out with Josh for a while. You can view a bunch of pictures from the day on their facebook page

Ryan Rowland-Smith featured in a short article on the international players at the Oklahoma City Redhawks. Rowland-Smith is currently on the disabled list following a hand injury he picked up while attempting a bunt. In his last ten games he is 2-5 with a 6.14 ERA, 44 strikeouts and 22 walks.
Grant Balfour had been in some contention for picking up an All Star berth for the Oakland Athletics, however he ended up missing out. Gio Gonzalez got the gig for the A's, and Balfour remains on the disabled list with a strained oblique. Balfour did however recently speak with 'The Chief', and you can hear the short podcast here
Mitch Dening is starting to find some form in AA at Portland. He had struggled a little through the start of the season, however he is hitting .333 in his last ten games, with four doubles and a home run
A couple of other Sydney Blue Sox are off to flying starts at the Lowell Spinners. Boss Moanaroa is hitting .256 over the first 13 games, with two doubles, a triple and a home run. Brother Moko has not had as many chances, but has picked up a home run and two singles in his ten at-bats.
Pitching for the State College Spikes, South Australia's Mitch Fienemann has allowed just one earned run in 8.2 innings. He has a 0-2 record and two saves.
David Kandilas has been lighting it up in the Pioneer Rookie League. Just the other week he hit for the cycle, and again today he went 3-for-4 with two doubles, four runs scored and two RBI. On the season thus far, he is hitting .347, with three doubles, five triples, one homerun and 10 RBI. He recently talked with the Casper Ghosts pre-game show about hitting for the cycle - thanks to Adam Spolane from the Casper Ghosts, you can download the interview here.

Famous Aussie MLB debuts

2011-06-26T07:55:00.001+10:00

Another Australian baseballer has made it to the big show, after Josh Spence successfully debuted for the San Diego Padres yesterday.

It was an impressive start.

Spence faced three quality hitters in Jason Heyward, Chipper Jones and Brian MacCann, and retired them in order. It was an uplifting and energising event, and Spence clearly received a lot of support from the crowd - which included a contingent of travelling Aussies, the team, and of course his Yoda backpack.

Josh Spence's 'rookie backpack'

Spence's exciting appearance got me thinking. Out of the other 28 Aussie major leaguers, who had great first games, and who had not so great. I thought it might be interesting to take a stroll through the history books and find out.

Turns out there are quite a few success stories - including Luke Hughes, who famously homered in his first major league at bat, and Ryan Rowland-Smith, who struck out Ken Griffey Jr. Like anything though, there are also a few shockers...

The winners

Luke Hughes
Luke Hughes has probably the most famous major league debut among Aussies. He first appeared for the Twins on 28 April 2010 against the Detroit Tigers. In his first at bat - which was a split affair courtesy of Delmon Young being caught stealing third base in the second inning - he picked up a home run off Max Scherzer in the third inning. It was a fantastic start to a career that is showing some real promise, although on the day it was not enough, the Twins lost 11-6.

Craig Shipley

Shipley is the first Australian of the modern era to crack the big leagues. While he spent the majority of his career with the Padres, Shipley debuted with their NL West rivals, the Dodgers, on 22 June 1986. The Dodgers met the Padres in front of more than 42,000 fans at Dodger Stadium, with Shipley batting eighth and playing shortstop.

Shipley picked up an RBI in his first at bat in the second inning, when he drove home Alex Trevino from third base on a fielder's choice. In the third inning he picked up his first major league hit - a single. He ended the game 1-for-4, with one RBI, and the Dodgers lost 5-4.

The remainder of the 1986 season was a bit of a struggle for Shipley - he finished up after 12 games with just three hits from 27 at bats (.111), and it wasn't really until he signed with the Padres in 1991 that he really started to hit his straps.

Travis Blackley
Travis Blackley first pitched for the Seattle Mariners on 1 July 2004 against the Texas Rangers in front of a healthy crowd of 35,000 at Safeco Field.

Blackley struck out the first hitter he faced, and retired the first eight hitters in a row. On top of this, he got plenty of run support from Mariners hitters - who put on seven runs over the first three innings. Blackley did not allow a hit until the fourth inning, when Mike Young picked up a double. After a couple of walks, Mark Teixeira then drove Young in on a fielder's choice - taking the score to 7-1 Mariners.

Travis then got through the fifth inning without trouble, but couldn't stretch it through the sixth. He retired the first two hitters, but then hits to Teixeira and Hank Blalock set the table for Kevin Mench, he left the game with a 7-4 lead in place, and took the win, with the Mariners eventually winning 8-4. It was to be Blackley's best performance, and only win, of his rookie season, and he finished 2004 with an ERA over 10.

Dave Nilsson

Still Australia's most successful positional player, Dave Nilsson made his debut for the Milwaukee Brewers - with whom he spent his entire career - on 18 May 1992. While Craig Shipley had enjoyed a rousing 42,000 home crowd at Dodger Stadium, Nilsson met an away crowd of just 9680 at Tiger Stadium.

Nilsson had an impressive debut, hitting a three-run double in the eighth inning to cement the Brewers 9-1 victory. It took him almost a week to pick up his second hit, but he made it count, hitting two singles and a home run, with three RBI in a game against the Yankees.

Trent Oeltjen
Trent Oeltjen had a whopper of a debut for the Arizona Diamondbacks on 6 August 2009. They met the Pirates on the road, and came away with an 11-6 victory, and Trent racked up six at bats. He singled in his first major league at bat and promptly stole second base. Flash forward to the eighth inning, with the Diamondbacks trailing 6-5, and Trent led off with a home run to tie it at six a piece. On top of that, he picked up an outfield assist, throwing out Delwyn Young at second base.

The game eventually went 12 innings, with the Diamondbacks picking up five runs in the 12th to win it.

Trent kept his form hot, including going 4-for-4 on 11 August, just a homerun short of hitting the cycle. After five starts he was hitting .500, with two doubles, a triple and three home runs.

Ryan Rowland-Smith

Ryan Rowland-Smith had a somewhat interesting debut. He first pitched for the Mariners on 22 June 2007 against the Cincinatti Reds. He started in the bullpen, and was called on in the sixth inning. The Reds had just smacked two home runs, and plated a total of six runs, and the scoreboard was standing at 16-0. Standing at the plate awaiting the rookie was seasoned slugger, and ex-Seattle hero, Ken Griffey.

Not daunted by the occasion, Rowland-Smith went to work, and promptly struck out Griffey. He returned for the seventh inning, and allowed just one hit. He also struck out Josh Hamilton. While the game outcome was pretty deflating (a 16-1 loss), it was definitely a memorable introduction for Ryan.

Rich Thompson
Thompson faced off against the Texas Rangers on 1 September 2007, and worked very effectively. He struck out the first two hitters he faced, allowed a double to Ian Kinsler, and then retired Ramon Vazquez to end the inning.

Mark Hutton

The first Australian to play for the famous New York Yankees, Mark Hutton played his first game on 23 July 1993 at Yankee Stadium, in front of 25,000 fans. He started the game nervously, as he walked the first hitter he faced - Luis Polonia - and it continued to be a little shaky as Polonia stole second base, and then third base! Polonia went on to score on a Damion Easley sacrifice fly, but Hutton escaped the first inning allowing just the one run.

In the second inning he picked up his first major league strikeout, Chili Davis, and retired the side in order. The Yankees picked up a run in the second inning, and Hutton settled into his work with the game tied at one a piece. Hutton travelled well through the third, fourth and fifth innings, and he started the sixth inning by walking Gary DiSarcina. Di Sarcina then reached second base on a fielder's choice, before Luis Polonia singled, moving him to third. An error on a pickoff play then allowed DiSarcina to score, and after the top of the sixth, the Angels led the Yankees 2-1.

The Yankees' bats came alive in the bottom of the sixth, with Wade Boggs, Don Mattingly, Bernie Williams and Paul O'Neill all picking up hits, scoring three runs and taking a 4-2 lead. Hutton returned to the mound for the seventh and eighth innings, and got it done without any further trouble. He picked up the win, and his final line on the day was an impressive 8IP, 3H, 2R, 1ER, 5SO, 4BB.

It was easily Hutton's best outing of the year. In the remaining six games he played in 1993 he was unable to go as deep into games as he did on debut. Later in the year he also spent some time in the bullpen too. He finished the year with 22 innings pitched over seven appearances, an ERA of 5.73, 12 strikeouts and 17 walks.

Micheal Nakamura

Nakamura is the only Australian major leaguer to pick up a save in his first major league appearance. Debuting on 7 June 2003 pitching for the Minnesota Twins against the San Diego Padres, Nakamura struck out the first hitter he faced, and pitched a clean 1.1 innings, allowing one hit, and picking up the save, as the Twins won 6-2.

Grant Balfour
Balfour made his first major league appearance on 22 July 2001 for the Twins, as they hosted the Seattle Mariners in front of more than 44,000 people at the Metrodome. Balfour relieved Kyle Lohse in the fifth inning with one out and runners at the corners. He struck out the first hitter he faced - Mike Cameron - and then escaped the inning with no damage. He returned for the sixth inning, and allowed one run, after walking Stan Javier, and giving up a single to Ichiro Suzuki. His final line for the day was 1.2 innings pitched, 1 hit, 1 run, two walks, two strikeouts. The Twins lost 6-3.

Peter Moylan
Crafty side-armer Peter Moylan began tormenting hitters on 12 April 2006, and who better to start his career against than divisional rivals the Phillies. Moylan pitched the eighth inning, when the Phillies had a 7-3 lead. His first opponent was Ryan Howard, who was fresh off a Rookie of the Year season, and who would go on to be 2006 MVP. Moylan retired him, and then allowed a double to David Bell before retiring the next two hitters. The Braves staged an eighth inning fightback, but were unable to get up, and lost 7-5, but it was a successful entry for Moylan.

Mark Ettles

Western Australia's Mark Ettles was similar to Josh Spence in some ways. He enjoyed a number of years of minor league success - largely as a reliever in the Padres organisation - and he made his debut courtesy of a June call up (5 June 1993). And, like Spence, Ettles struck out the first hitter he faced the Marlins outfielder Jeff Conine. He went on to have a 1-2-3 inning, and ended his major league career after 14 appearances through 1993.

The shockers
Brad Thomas
Current major leaguer, Brad Thomas, began his career with the Minnesota Twins on 26 May 2001, facing off against the Oakland Athletics at the Metrodome. Thomas got through the first inning without much fanfare - he allowed two walks, but no runs or hits. He did run into trouble in the second inning though.

Thomas allowed a single to Eric Chavez, who then scored on a double from Omeldo Saenz. Thomas gave up another two walks, before a wild pitch allowed another run. A single to Jason Giambi then allowed a fourth run to cross the plate. After 1.2 innings, three hits, four walks and four runs, Thomas was done for the day. He was relieved by none other than Johan Santana, and the Twins went on to win the game 7-6 in the 10th inning courtesy of a walk-off single to Torii Hunter.

Damian Moss
Damian Moss, big left handed reliever, made his debut with the Atlanta Braves on 26 April 2001. The Braves faced off against the Diamondbacks in Arizona, and got off to a good start, plating three runs in the first. However, Arizona hit back quickly, and took a 4-3 lead in the second. The Braves fought back again though, scoring two runs in the fifth and one in the sixth inning, to lead 6-4. Braves' starter Greg Maddux was chased out of the game in the sixth inning by the D-Backs hitters, who plated four runs, taking an 8-6 lead.

Matt Whiteside opened the eighth inning on the mound for the Braves, and promptly gave up back to back homeruns to the first two Diamondbacks hitters. He then gave up a single to Steve Finley, and walked Jay Bell before being replaced by Moss. At the plate stood Luis Gonzalez, who then slugged a three-run homerun to welcome Moss to the big leagues. Moss went on to retire the next two hitters, but the Braves lost 13-6.

John Stephens
John Stephens is a right hander from NSW, who played 12 games for the Baltimore Orioles in 2002. It was a somewhat rude welcome that met him when he took the mound against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on 30 July 2002. The Devil Rays were a terrible team that year - losing 106 games, however they were on song at Tropicana Field on 30 July.

The Orioles were retired in order in the top of the first, and Stephens took the mound to face the Rays in his first appearance. By the end of that inning, he had allowed three singles, two doubles, a grand slam home run, and six earned runs. Mercifully the inning ended when Carl Crawford was caught stealing second base. Stephens gave up home runs again in the second and third inning, and left the game after three innings staring down a 9-0 deficit.

Chris Oxspring

On 2 September 2005, the Milwaukee Brewers smashed the San Diego Padres 12-2. After the Padres' starter Brian Lawrence was hit for three runs in the first two innings, and was unable to close out the second, they called on Chris Oxspring to make his debut. Oxspring entered the game with two outs and runners on first and second. He walked the first hitter he faced - Carlos Lee - and then allowed a grand slam homerun to Geoff Jenkins, taking the score to 7-0. He allowed another home run, this time a two-run shot to Lee, in the fourth inning, and allowed another two runs in the fifth, taking the score to 11-0 to the Brewers.

Oxspring then found his groove, and retired the last six hitters he faced in order, however it was too little too late. The Padres lost 12-2, and Oxspring had the unflattering figures of 5.1 innings pitched, six hits, six runs, and three walks - although he also picked up seven strikeouts.

The first game in the big leagues can certainly be a tough one - but that's baseball. With seven Aussies already in Major League Baseball this year, we are sure to see at least a few great performances. Who will be the next Aussie to make their debut, and how will they go? We look forward to finding out...

Rich Thompson talks with OzMLBplayers.com

2011-06-19T00:56:00.000+10:00

Rich Thompson has been climbing his way through the Angels' ranks for a number of years now. He first reached the bigs in 2007, but it has not been until this year that he has really cemented a spot in the big leagues.

I've been following Rich's progress since 2008 and have been excited to see him crack a spot in the major league squad. I was fortunate enough to get a short interview with the very busy Thompson last week.

Rich was one of the few Aussie players with Major League experience who played in the inaugural Australian Baseball League. He pitched in three games for the Blue Sox, and picked up a record of 1-0, striking out four over three innings pitched. The support of major league players is a critical success factor for the ABL, and I was interested to hear Thompson's thoughts on the league.

Rich Thompson pitching for the Blue Sox in the inaugural ABL season

'It was exciting to see professional baseball back in Australia and hopefully we can continue to draw more and more attention to it,' he said. 'It's always good when you go home and spend some time with your mates while preparing for the season. The media during spring training was really interested in hearing about the new league which I think is a great platform for more exposure'.

Following some outstanding performances through spring training in 2011, and a bit of luck through some opportunities arising through injury, Thompson scored a spot in the Angels' bullpen, and he hasn't disappointed. Through his first 20 appearances this year, he has pitched 27 innings, striking out 30, and allowing just three earned runs.

Since he has put quite a number of years into the Angels' minor league system, and is now starting to reap the rewards, I asked Rich how he felt to be in the majors and what he felt was the key to his success. 'I have had time in the big leagues over the last five seasons so it's been easy to become accustomed to how it all works. The Angels are the only organization I have played with, so I can only speak from my experience, but they do a great job preparing their Minor leaguers for the pressures of the Majors'. In terms of his successes this year, Rich said 'I've made a lot of strides in the past few years with more strikes and better pitch command which has given me the opportunity to put up numbers to help establish myself and show more consistency'. He said that for the rest of the season he hopes to pitch later in games and to prove he is 'a reliable go-to guy'.

Off the field, Thompson has also been very much a part of the Angels club, and has been involved in promoting the development of the game. He was recently involved in a coaching clinic at Angel stadium with a few of his teammates and 250 kids.

Image from OCregister.com

'The organization does several clinics throughout the year and I was approached about helping out. I was happy to volunteer my time. It's run similar to Training With the Pros in Sydney each January so I was familiar with the format and these kids were so eager to learn'.

Also off the field, Thompson has joined many other MLB stars by embracing social media. The LA Angels are one of the most prolific Tweeting teams in the majors, with Thompson being joined in the twitter-verse by Torii Hunter, Vernon Wells and Peter Bourjos among others. While he is not quite as hardcore a tweeter as his compatriot and fellow reliever Peter Moylan, Thompson boasts more than 4500 followers, and has embraced the interactive qualities of twitter. 'Twitter has changed everything...it's a fun way to interact,' he said. 'A lot of the support I get is from fellow Aussies, and social media opens up a new avenue for fans to gain access to athletes regardless of where they're playing'. [If you didn't check it out at the time, check Thompson's tweet stream for the very cool and original Easter Egg hunt he ran at Angel Stadium].

One thing that differentiates Thompson from some of the other Aussies in the majors at the moment is his extensive array of baseball cards - there are at least ten different cards out there. I asked him how this all came about. 'When I made the Futures Game in 2007, about five or six cards came out. Within the last few years I've come across most of my cards and have gathered at least one of each. The limited edition ones are harder to come by, but I don't really go out of my way to collect them'. For any autograph hunters out there, it seems Rich is happy to help. 'It's always interesting to open up fan mail and sign a new card that I haven't seen before,' he said.

When asked what was the best advice he could give up and coming Aussie baseballers, Thompson reflected back to some words of wisdom imparted from a fellow Aussie many years ago. 'When I was 13 I attended a two-day camp with Mark Shipley,' said Thompson. Shipley's advice was 'Don't drink. Don't smoke. Always be clean shaven. And church on Sundays - That's always stuck with me'. Thompson said. 'Since I can't be bothered shaving and we play games on Sundays, I guess two out of four ain't bad'.

We wish Rich all the best for the remainder of the MLB season, and we look forward to seeing him back in Sydney for the ABL later in the year!

2011 Players to Watch - Part Two

2011-05-28T19:29:00.001+10:00

This is part two of a series focusing on the 2011 Oz MLB Players to watch. Today is a focus on some young up-and-comers in the lower levels of minor league ball.

MATT KENNELLY - C - PERTH HEAT/ATLANTA BRAVES

Matt Kennelly is coming off a red hot season for the Perth Heat. He appeared in all 40 regular season games and hit for an average of .306, with nine doubles, two homeruns and 24 RBIs. At the age of 22, Matt has played four seasons of minor league baseball with the Atlanta Braves organisation, culminating in a solid 2010 season for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, in which he hit seven home runs. He has been rewarded for his success over the past year, and started the season at the Double-A Mississippi Braves.

Bank in 2009, Baseball America rated Kennelly in the top 30 Braves prospects. His 2009 and 2010 seasons were solid, but not stellar. At just 22 years of age, he is still young enough to develop further. Expect him to hit the ground running at Double-A, and continue to improve his game. He has had a chance to play a couple of games in AAA already, and has not disgraced himself (.286 avg with a double and RBI), and will look to get some more time in AAA this year.

Matt Kennelly

JOSH SPENCE - LHP - MELBOURNE ACES/SAN DIEGO PADRES

In June 2010, Geelong-born Josh Spence was picked up as a 9th round draft pick by the San Diego Padres. He battled some issues with an inflamed nerve in his elbow through 2010, and while he didn't require surgery, he did spend some time away from the mound.

Spence has won quite a few accolades through the College system, after originally learning about the Arizone State University program on the internet and successfully trying out for the team. He started out playing ball in junior college, and he dominated. Through 2007 and 2008, Spence posted an ERA of 1.40, and struck out 327 hitters over 270 innings, with a remarkable WHIP of 0.88.

In 2009, Spence moved to Arizona State, and again put up some serious numbers - although not without overcoming a few obstacles. He was struck in the face by a line drive, and also suffered a finger injury. In the end he compiled a 10-1 record over 18 appearances, with an ERA of 2.37. He went on to pick up a win in the College World Series, striking out 16 hitters over 14 innings of work.

Spence earned a lot of respect in Arizona, with Arizona coach Pat Murphy remarking that 'the most important thing about Spence is that in my 22 years in Division 1 baseball, he's possibly the most special kid I've ever been around...he's delightful, sensitive, caring, an extraordinary teammate and he comes over and plays with my son. It just seems like sometimes this kid is too good to be true. He's the type of guy I'm going to get emotional about when he finally leaves campus'.

Josh Spence

After signing with the Padres in mid-2010, Spence appeared in 10 games through Rookie ball up to Class A. He compiled a record of 2-2, with an ERA of 3.00, and 42 strikeouts in 24 innings.

Spence proved himself good enough to kick off the season in double-A with the San Antonio Missions, and he is off to a solid start - he has given up two home runs, but has also picked up ten strikeouts over eight innings, allowing just three earned runs. Spence has shown that he has real quality stuff through his college career, and is well placed to have a big year.

STEFAN WELCH - 1B - ADELAIDE BITE/NEW YORK METS

Stefan Welch has played four seasons in the Mets minor league organisation, and played high-A ball through the end of 2009 and through 2010 at the St Lucie Mets.

Running off the back of a strong end to the ABL season - he went 4-for-11 (.363) in the ABL Championship series, with two doubles and a home run - Welch will be keen to carry some momentum into the US summer.

Welch has predominantly played first base in his time in the US, but showed some versatility in the ABL - spending most of his time at third base. He will be looking to expand his power hitting and earn a spot at the double-A Binghamton Mets.

Welch is off to a flyer through the first couple of weeks of the season - having started with the high-A St Lucie Mets. He has whacked six doubles, a triple and a home run through his first 20 games, and is hitting .284 with 13 RBIs.

RORY RHODES - 3B/1B - BRISBANE BANDITS/MINNESOTA TWINS

Rory Rhodes

He's a 19-year old kid from Narangba, Queensland, and he has one of the most American-sounding names going around, but Rory Rhodes is a fair dinkum Aussie prospect with the Minnesota Twins.

Signed at the age of 17 in 2008, Rhodes is yet another Aussie following the path to the bigs through the Twins organisation. In his first season of Rookie ball he found it a little tough, hitting just .198 with 28 strikeouts in 116 at bats, but he improved significantly in 2010. In his second year, Rhodes hit .319 and improved his strikeout numbers.

He is yet to hit a homerun, but at the age of 19 he has plenty of growing to do, and plenty of time to find some power - he did find some more power in the ABL - cracking five homeruns while hitting .279. A recent poll conducted by the Twinkie Town blog found Rhodes as Minnesota's number 50 prospect, and predicted a breakout year in 2011.

BOSS MOANAROA - 1B - SYDNEY BLUE SOX/BOSTON RED SOX

In 2008 Boss Moanaroa had seriously thought about quitting the game of baseball. 'I lost interest in playing baseball and wanted to focus on BMX racing. I was a state champion, national champion and went to the world titles' he said. He didn't quit though, he decided to continue working hard, and it paid dividends when he signed a contract with the Boston Red Sox.

Boss Moanaroa in 2008

At the time he was signed, Red Sox scout and Australian coach Jon Deeble noted that Boss was big and strong, but had 'never lifted a weight in his life'.

Nearly three years on, and Boss has two seasons of Rookie ball, and a strong half-season in the ABL, under his belt. And it seems Moanaroa is getting bigger and stronger.

Boss is an exciting hitter to watch - he has a strong plate presence and is the sort of hitter that always seems on the edge of making something happen. He was a strong performer for the Sydney Blue Sox early in the season, and they missed his bat later in the year.

In two years of Rookie ball, Boss is hitting .281/.367/.366, and he picked up a couple of homeruns in 2010. He will be looking to develop some stronger power numbers, both in terms of extra base hits and RBIs over the next year.

ESPN says Boss is 'essentially a raw athlete with a lottery-ticket chance of developing into an impact major leaguer'. While these are not exactly encouraging words, Boss is someone who shows a lot of potential. He is expected to start the season at the class A Lowell Spinners.

How are the ABL US imports doing this season?

2011-05-26T22:33:00.000+10:00

While technically not an 'Oz MLB players' story, I am interested to see how US-based players who played in the ABL perform back in the US leagues. With things starting to progress through the minor league season, I thought it might be worth checking in on some them to see how they are progressing. It is a bit of a mixed bag really, quite a few players have stepped up to AA for the first time, and are not quite hitting their straps - some others are doing real well.

Quincy Latimore has stepped up to AA this year for the Altoona Curve. Through 42 games he has posted an average of .219 (34-for-155) with just 9 doubles and 2 home runs. Probably a bit of a slower start than Latimore would have liked, and his strikeout rate continues to be a concern - he has struck out in 47 of 155 at bats (30%).

Latimore's teammate from the Bite, James McOwen, has also made the step up to AA this year, and is faring a little better. Playing for the Jackson Generals, McOwen has a .252 average (40-for-159) with 9 doubles and 4 home runs.

From the Heat, Ronnie Welty has also entered his first year of AA, with the Bowie Baysox. Like McOwen and Latimore, he is not yet putting up huge numbers, with an average of .212. He does though have seven home runs.

Alongside Welty is Robbie Widlansky - who is in his second year of AA with Bowie - and he is hitting .256 with 14 doubles, three home runs and 28 RBIs.

Also at Bowie is ex-Heat pitcher Cole McCurry. McCurry recently commented that he felt the ABL was a big help to him coming into the American summer, as his arm was in 'midseason form' at the start of the season. His numbers so far certainly support that. They speak for themselves really, and I think they are worth calling out:

11 appearances in relief
Record of three wins and zero losses
27 innings pitched
12 hits
One run
34 strikeouts

McCurry has not allowed a run in his last 24 innings of work, while picking up 32 strikeouts.

Wow.

Also on the pitching front, Brandon Maurer has had quite a solid start to the year. He started out in Class A with the Clinton LumberKings, where he struck out 44 hitters over 37 innings, mainly as a starter. He put up a record of 1-3, with a 3.41 ERA, and was promoted to Class A Advanced with the High Desert Mavericks (seriously, I can't get enough of these awesome names). He has pitched in two games for the Mavs, including one just yesterday in which he pitched an eight-inning, three-hit shutout. Remarkably he got a no decision, when the opposition (the Modesto Nuts!!!) put up five runs in the ninth inning. In his two starts for the Mavericks, he is 0-1, with 13 innings pitched. He has given up 10 hits, 2 runs, and has struck out 13 (with zero walks). So things are looking pretty good for him.

We might check in later in the year to see how things progress.

2011 Players to Watch - Part One

2011-05-22T23:02:00.001+10:00

Over the next few weeks, as the minor league baseball season gets fully up and running, I will be running a feature on the 2011 Oz MLB Players to watch. Today marks Part One, with a focus on some young up-and-comers in the lower levels of minor league ball.

JAMES BERESFORD - SS - MELBOURNE ACES/MINNESOTA TWINS

In 2010, a 21-year old James Beresford backed up and played a second year of class-A ball with the Minnesota Twins affiliate Beloit Snappers. Signed by the Twins at the age of 16, Beresford had played three years of minor league baseball, and also represented Australia in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. He entered 2010 looking to develop some power - having hit just 19 extra base hits in more than 200 at bats. Through the season he did not quite hit the level of power he might have liked, but he certainly improved.

Beresford cut his strikeouts from 70 in 2009 to 56 in 2010, and he picked up 25 extra base hits, including his first home run. He ended the year with a line of .297/.349/.363, and he was awarded the Beloit Snappers Player of the Year Award.

James Beresford at the World Baseball Classic

Beresford returned to Australia for the inaugural ABL season in 2010, and he performed well. He appeared in 12 games for the Melbourne Aces, where he struck out just four times in 52 at bats, and put up numbers of .404/.436/.519.

Like Joel Naughton for the Phillies, James Beresford played a few games with the Twins big league squad at Spring Training. Presumably he will spend a lot of time this year at high-A Fort Myers Miracle, and will look to continue to add some pop to his bat.

MITCHELL FIENEMANN - RHP - ADELAIDE BITE/PITTSBURGH PIRATES

Mitchell Fienemann has played two years in the Pirates minor league organisation, and was in Low-A ball in 2010. He has put up some respectable numbers - over two seasons he has struck out 51 hitters and walked just 10 over 77.2 innings.

Mitchell Fienemann

While Fienemann did not play in the ABL in 2010/2011, he has an affiliation in that he was signed to the Pirates by the Adelaide Bite manager Tony Harris in 2009.

Fienemann spent 2010 at the short season State College Spikes, and will this year be pushing to make the roster at West Virginia Power, in the class-A South Atlantic League.

Joel Naughton

JOEL NAUGHTON - C - BRISBANE BANDITS/PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES

Joel Naughton is a guy the Phillies must be taking pretty seriously. At the age of 24, he has accumulated six years in their organisation. He has shown good progression through Rookie Ball, low class A, A, and Advanced A-ball. This culminated in a strong 2010 at Clearwater Threshers, in which he hit a career high .308 while being hampered towards the end of the season by an arm injury.

Naughton underwent surgery before joining the Phillies in major league spring training this year. It is the second time he has joined the big league squad in the spring. He had a good run of it this time round, getting hits in two of his three at bats, including a walk off single against the Rays. Naughton should play AA ball this year, and he is definitely one to watch.

STEVE KENT - LHP - CANBERRA CAVALRY/ATLANTA BRAVES

Steve Kent

Steve Kent is a 21 year old from Canberra, who signed with the Braves at the age of sixteen. He spent a couple of reasonably successful years in Rookie ball, before a shoulder injury ended his campaign in early 2009.

Kent spent a year away from the game and returned to A-ball Rome Braves in 2010. He appeared in 19 games (three as a starter), and put together a record of 2-0 with one save.

Kent was a member of the inaugural Canberra Cavalry roster in the 2010/2011 ABL season. He started six games for the Cavalry, and was obviously on pitching restrictions - only pitching 12 innings over six starts. His numbers were nothing to write home about, although he did not have strong offense behind him. I would expect Kent will build on his performances from the ABL season and have a strong year for the Braves again - probably starting in class-A ball.

DAVID KANDILAS - OF - SYDNEY BLUE SOX/COLORADO ROCKIES

David Kandilas

I have written quite a bit about David Kandilas over the past few months. The 20-year old Sydney outfielder had a very impressive ABL season. His defensive skills are solid - and include a cannon of an arm - and his approach at the plate appears to be developing to a professional level.

When I spoke with Kandilas in December 2010, he said he was hoping to get some time at class-A in 2011. His form through the end of the ABL season certainly did not harm his chances of that happening.

Kandilas was one of the most reliable hitters in the Blue Sox lineup, and while he did not pick up a whole bunch of extra base hits, he hit consistently and executed well - picking up ten RBIs and a .274 average. He also swiped fives bases.

David has played two seasons of rookie ball with the Rockies, and seemed to make some improvements in 2010 - he took his average from .205 to .262, and picked up more extra base hits. He will be hoping that this progression, combined with his strong ABL season, will lead to some time with the class-A Tri-City Dust Devils.

Perth Heat to play in Asia Baseball Series - does anyone care?

2011-05-18T22:17:00.002+10:00

So the Perth Heat/ABL today announced some groundbreaking news - that the Heat, as ABL champions, will participate in the Asia Series baseball tournament in November. Until today, I had never heard of the Asia Series, so initially didn't really understand what this actually meant. Turns out it is a relatively small tournament, which is quite young. It seems that there has been very little media or other interest in the story today. So why bother? Well, after reading about it some more - I think that the main strategy here must be to increase the exposure of the ABL in Asia - there doesn't seem to any other benefit.

It turns out that the Asia Baseball series has been around since 2005 - according to Wikipedia. And when i say it has been around since 2005, I mean there were four tournaments held between 2005 and 2008, with no tournament since then because it lost financial backing. The tournaments have involved teams from the Korean and Japanese leagues as well as teams from China and Taiwan. Predictably, the Japanese teams have won each of the four previous tournaments.

The ABL touted that the Asia League is a 'prestigious' event which will attract 5 million TV viewers. Having absolutely no idea about the level of prestige held for the league in Asia, it's hard to say whether this is true or not. What you can say is that there was practically ZERO media interest in the story. A google news search shows just one article, this one from Taiwan. I imagine there may have been some more coverage in say Japan or Korea, but certainly looks like there was very little interest here. Even twitter was rather quiet. This suggests that there is not a great deal of interest at home, which is probably not much of a surprise. It was hard enough for the ABL to generate any mainstream media interest in the home league, so generating interest in a small, unheard of tournament many thousands of miles away is unlikely be simple.

However, lack of media attention or public interest does not necessarily mean this is a bad idea. It was apparent during the course of the ABL Season that there was plenty of Asian interest in our league. This came both from Asian players and fans. Getting the premier team from the ABL facing off against top Asian teams will potentially lead to even greater interest in the league from our Pacific neighbors, which could lead to more support - both financially and through the fan base.

I don't expect there will be much local interest in the tournament - although I would be happy to be wrong about this - but I think it is a smart, but maybe premature, strategy for developing our league.

What do you think?

Contrasting fortunes in the Tigers' den?

2011-05-03T20:45:00.002+10:00

There is an interesting movement going on in the Aussie ranks within the Detroit Tigers system. Brad Thomas, who has been reasonably consistent in recent seasons, is starting to find things difficult, and is starting to lose favor with some Tigers fans. Meanwhile, Brendan Wise is starting to attract attention for all the right reasons at the Tigers' triple-A affiliate, the Toledo Mud Hens. It is entirely possible the fates of Thomas and Wise could overlap in coming days or weeks.

Detroit have had some early-season bullpen struggles, and have faced challenges through injury. Brad Thomas has appeared in ten games for the Tigers, and has put up a rather unflattering ERA of 10.38 over eight innings. His opponents have put up a .417 batting average against him. This is a long way from the 3.89 ERA he put up last year, and it has a few Tigers fans up in arms. Check out some of these comments from Tigers fans baying for blood. The folks over at Detroit Tigers Scorecard are calling for him to be designated for assignment, and there is plenty of support from these other faceless critics.

Meanwhile, at AAA Toledo, Brendan Wise has been quietly putting up some solid numbers. Wise is yet to allow a run through eight games (10.1 innings pitched), and hasn't allowed a hit in his past three games. There are some other pitchers getting noticed at Toledo (mainly a bloke called Charlie Furbush), but people are starting to wise up to Brendan's efforts, and he is also getting noticed.

So, all in all, Thomas is a long way from the form he showed during Spring Training. Through Spring, I remarked that "Thomas is a guy who had probably surprised a few people with the quality of his season last year, and he is probably not quite assured of a place on the Tigers' Opening Day roster unless he can keep his form up". Unless something changes quite markedly very soon, it looks like Thomas could be headed to AAA. If he does end up in Toledo, Thomas may well pave the way for Wise to get a call up. Time will tell...

Feature Interview with Josh Spence - Part Two

2011-04-09T23:35:00.002+10:00

Following on from Part One of my chat with Josh Spence comes Part Two, in which he talks about the differences between minor league ball and college ball, and what he hopes to get out of season 2011.

OZMLBPLAYERS:

You have been through the Draft a couple of times - and it seems unusual for an Aussie baseballer to go through it, most get signed as free agents. Do you think this makes much difference?

JOSH SPENCE:

Players are only eligible for the draft if they're either American or play college baseball. The draft is a very exciting time when you get to see your hard work pay off – literally, for some players who make millions by signing one contract. But then there’s the other side of the story. The draft doesn't dictate what type of player you are or what type of player you're going to be (nor does what you sign for money-wise).

I will say this, Major League Baseball is a business and with every business there are investments which need to be looked after – the players. At the end of the day it doesn't matter if you're a Free Agent or picked in the draft, it comes down to performing on the field and the truth is you're going to make your money in big leagues. My perspective is not about making as much money as you can upfront (by chancing a big bonus) but being as ready as you could possibly be. Those players are the ones who have long successful careers.

OZMLBPLAYERS:

You obviously have a lot of fans in Arizona, which is shown by the fact coach Pat Murphy said you were 'possibly the most special kid [he's] ever been around'. That is a pretty big wrap from a guy who has been around the game more than 20 years. What do you put that down to? How would you describe your approach to the game and to people?

Coach Murphy has experienced many things in the baseball realm and without his guidance I wouldn't be the player I am today. He's a remarkable coach and you will not meet a man more relentless in the game as a player or a coach. He pushed me to be something I only dreamed about being and gave me the tools to push myself. I wish I could tell you [what this can be put down to] but maybe that’s something you'd have to ask him.

I wish there was a complex answer to my approach towards baseball and life in general, but I think the best way to describe it would be just to take things one pitch (/step) at a time. You can’t let things consume you, because the reality is you can do anything. As cheesy as that sounds, I do believe it. It’s all about setting small goals to reach a bigger picture.

OZMLBPLAYERS:

You had a few obstacles or challenges over the past year or two - being hit by a line drive, a finger injury, and issues with a nerve in your arm. Were there any times when you doubted your ability to develop your career? How did you cope in those times?

JOSH SPENCE:

The best way to describe these past two years would be that as ‘a humbling experience’. I've never doubted my ability to develop my career but obviously I sacrificed a lot by turning down the third round, and it was heart breaking to watch my last season of college baseball unfold in front of me and not be able to contribute to the team.

Coach Murphy had this quote; he would say "Its not about where you're going, but who you're bringing" and I know that got me through some tough times.

OZMLBPLAYERS:

After signing with the Padres in mid-2010, you appeared in a handful of minor league games, across a couple of levels - how did you find that? Was there much difference to your college experience? What did you learn?

JOSH SPENCE:

It was a great experience last year, I was very fortunate to get my feet wet in preparation for a full season this year. It all started while I was rehabbing my elbow in the Cape Cod league when I received a call from the Padres explaining that they had picked me in the 9th round. After further discussion, and several innings under my belt, I signed.

My journey started in Rookie Ball in Peoria, Arizona. I threw one inning and then was called up to Short Season in Eugene, Oregon. After two starts I was called up to single A for my final stop in Fort Wayne, Indiana (the mid-West League). In 3 weeks I went from the East coast, down South, up North and finally the mid-West. Even though it was a little overwhelming, that’s what pro-baseball is about and something I will not have a problem getting used to.

The differences between pro-ball and college are very subtle. College ball you swing metal bats, have three to five games a week and - I hate to say it - the strike zone was a pinch bigger. Pro-ball the zone is smaller, you play every day and you better know how to communicate somewhat in Spanish. The biggest difference (and by no means am I trying to deter anyone) is that once you sign, baseball becomes your job.

When you sign, you need to be prepared for the obstacles you will face and honestly the players you will be facing are more than 22 years of age. Nobody tells you that 60% or more of the players who are playing pro-baseball came through college, and that these are young men not just boys, That’s one very important thing I’ve learnt about Minor League baseball that they just don't tell you in Australia.

OZMLBPLAYERS:

What are you focusing on during training at the moment? Any particular pitches you are working on?

JOSH SPENCE:

If I told you I would have to kill you...

All jokes aside there’s no particular area I’m focusing on. I’m really just trying to push the envelope and compete every day.

OZMLBPLAYERS:

What are your hopes for the season - are you expecting to start, or to work in the bullpen? What level are you hoping to reach?

JOSH SPENCE:

My biggest hope is the be healthy for the year. I think that’s a hope shared by everyone who plays sport at a high level.

I've been a starter not only my whole college career but essentially my whole life. Right now the Padres plan would have me relieving. As for what level I am hoping to reach, the truth is I’m just happy to have my name above a locker somewhere. But I would be lying if I said I wouldn't want to be moved up if I am succeeding.

OZMLBPLAYERS:

Did you follow the ABL? What did you think of it? Did you consider playing in it? Will you play in future?

JOSH SPENCE

I followed the ABL very closely and I think it’s awesome that we have a national league back up. I really hope it’s here to stay! I think it’s a great opportunity for the Aussie talent to be seen on a bigger stage and promoting baseball can only be a good thing for the country.

At the end of the day, Aussie athletes are going to play Australian sports but it’s something you do need to try!

I would love to play in the ABL, I remember watching it in the late 90's out at Altona where the Melbourne Monarchs used to play. But that being said, it falls in a time when I need to be resting and preparing for my long season ahead so unfortunately I don't see myself playing in it anytime soon.

OZMLBPLAYERS:

Finally, can you give us the inside scoop on some of your teammates in the Padres camp....who should we be watching this year?

JOSH SPENCE:

If i was to give you a handful of names of future big leaguers (2-3 years), I'd start with:

Jason Hagerty (switch hitting catcher)

Anthony Rizzo (1st Baseman)

Jedd Gyorko (3rd Baseman)

Matt Lollis (RHP)

Miles Mikolas (RHP)

Josh is obviously a very balanced, mature and dedicated bloke, and I found many of his insights to the College system, and his experiences to be very interesting. He is certainly a real up-and-comer in the Aussie baseball ranks and definitely someone we will be keeping a close watch on! We wish you all the best Josh!

You can follow Josh on twitter @joshspence and facebook.

Feature Interview with Aussie prospect Josh Spence - Part One

2011-04-02T13:42:00.003+11:00

In June 2010, Geelong born Josh Spence was picked up as a 9th round draft pick by the San Diego Padres. Spence has a lot of experience playing baseball in the College system, and went to the College World Series. He battled some issues with an inflamed nerve in his elbow last year, and while he didn’t require surgery, he did take some time off. Spence has won quite a few accolades through the College system. He found Arizona State University’s program on the internet and flew to the States to take part in a baseball camp - this led to him being put into a junior college, where he was dominant. Over 2007 and 2008 he pitched in 27 games in junior college (starting 33), with an ERA of 1.40. He struck out 327 hitters over 270 innings, and had a remarkable WHIP of 0.88.

In 2009 he moved to Arizona State and again put up some serious numbers, although had a few obstacles to overcome. He was struck in the face by a line drive, and also suffered a finger injury. In the end he compiled a 10-1 record over 18 appearances, with an ERA of 2.37. He went on to pick up a win in the College Word Series, striking out 16 hitters over 14 innings of work. He earned a lot of respect in Arizona, with Arizona State coach Pat Murphy noting ‘The most important thing about Spence is that in my 22 years in Division I baseball, he's possibly the most special kid I've ever been around’. ‘He's delightful, sensitive, caring, an extraordinary teammate and he comes over and plays with my son. It just seems like sometimes this kid is too good to be true. He's the type of guy I'm going to get emotional about when he finally leaves campus.’

After signing with the Padres in mid-2010, Spence appeared in 10 games through Rookie ball up to Class A. He compiled a record of 2-2, an ERA of 3.00 and struck out 42 hitters in 24 innings while walking just 7(!).

Josh is an avid user of both Twitter and Facebook, and actively takes the time to interact with fans over the internet. Recently he was kind enough to answer a few questions for OzMLBplayers.

OZMLBPLAYERS:

Josh, you have a lot of experience playing baseball in the College system, and you went to the College World Series. Most Aussie baseball fans probably don't know a whole lot about College baseball. How would you describe it?

JOSH SPENCE:

It’s very unfortunate that the baseball community in Australia is unaware of the world of college athletics, in particular baseball. It is a massive industry that has an incredible following not only by its alumni, but people who are passionate about their sport. I feel that people in Australia not only do not understand the jump from baseball back home (playing 2-3 times a week) to playing professionally (playing everyday); but also that what they're about to enter is a business. College baseball is the perfect stepping stone, not only to mature as an adult - both on and off the field - but to get used to being away from home and living in America.

I always thought that the best players just go ahead and play professionally as soon as they get their opportunity, but what I've come to realize is that’s not the case at all. In fact it’s the opposite; the player should go when they're ready. I feel people in Australia need to give college baseball a closer look. Now I understand not everyone has the luxury to enter professional baseball when they're ready because there isn't much of an audience – either scouts, or media coverage - in Australia. That’s the beautiful thing about college baseball, not only is your game under constant scrutiny, but you get a few more years to grow into the player you want to be. I could have signed as a young 17 year old who pitched once a week in his local state competition, but I signed as an experienced 22 year old who knew his strengths and weakness, had proven success against the same players who I will ultimately play through the ranks of professional baseball. And, I now have a college degree to fall back on in case baseball doesn't work out.

I’m very thankful that I took the college route and have been blessed to play at two very prestigious programs. I can’t help feel that college baseball is looked down upon in Australia, but its perception over here in the States couldn't be greater. After I turned down the draft for the first time, a scout came up to me and said ‘you can’t make the majors in a [Arizona State University] Sun Devil uniform’. What he forgot to mention is that only 1% of people who sign professional contracts actually make it to the major leagues.

I’m not trying to talk anyone out of signing [directly] but you need to be prepared when you enter pro-ball. So the best way to describe College is that it’s a place that will allow you to grow. For me it was more than getting my degree and playing baseball at a very high level; I learnt time management, how to budget and what I need to do to play baseball every day. I made contacts all over America and have talked baseball with people who I never thought I’d meet. I've seen a lot of America and have been very fortunate to play on some big stages in my collegiate career. I wouldn't have had these opportunities if I didn't take the leap of faith and go to college.

OZMLBPLAYERS:

Tell us about the season in a college program. How long is the season? Do you spend a lot of time on the road?

JOSH SPENCE:

The season is around 56 games and depending on where you're geographically located this could mean 15-20 games on the road or 30+ games away from home.

Being in Arizona (around the nice weather) we didn't need to travel much. I played two years at Central Arizona Community College (CAC) and two years at Arizona State (although my last year i didn't pitch due to injury). At CAC it is a state wide conference but we did play teams outside Arizona - but they would come to us to play. At Arizona State we played in the PAC10 (PAC meaning Pacific) and we played teams all up the West coast from California, Washington and even Oregon. At ASU we would fly to all our away games stay in big hotels and get treated like superstars, only to wind up back in class on Monday feeling like a regular Joe. We would pull more than 3,000 people every game and when playoffs came around those home crowds would get to around 5,000.

When you're playing bad it feels like a long season but when you're on fire it couldn't be going any quicker. At CAC you're playing in a smaller conference with very little following, however I wouldn't have had an opportunity to play at ASU if I didn't go there first.

OZMLBPLAYERS:

Do college players build much a profile or fanbase?

JOSH SPENCE:

Most players are busy with school and honestly don't feel the necessity to be public figures in the community, but in my case I wanted to keep all my windows open and was highly involved in little league baseball camps. I was also involved in a few other things, including Sparky's Tour - Sparky is ASU's mascot and his tour involved talking with high school students about going to college

Tune in to OzMLBplayers.com for the second instalment in Josh's interview

Aussies on Opening Day MLB Rosters 2011

2011-03-31T22:27:00.005+11:00

So here we are. The night before Opening Day 2011.

Finally!

We started the Spring with no less than 13 Aussies involved in Spring
Training. For some, Spring was a time to really showcase their wares.
Luke Hughes and Trent Oeltjen put their best foot forward and went
close to earning a spot in the big league squads for Opening Day. For
others, Spring proved to be disappointing, and one by one the initial
13 players slowly diminished until today both Trent Oeltjen and Ryan
Rowland-Smith were confirmed as missing out.

So, that leaves four Aussie guys - all relief pitchers - who have made
it all the way to The Show for Opening Day. Peter Moylan at the
Atlanta Braves was always a reasonably safe bet for making it, and he
further cemented his position with some impressive Spring
performances. Similarly, Brad Thomas at the Detroit Tigers was
entitled to feel some job security coming into the season after a
strong 2010. Grant Balfour changed clubs this year, moving from the
Tampa Bay Rays to the Oakland Athletics, and he found it hard to find
his rhythm early in the Spring. However, he has come on well in the
last week or so, and is now in a position where he may find some
chances as the closer for the A's.

The biggest achievement this year so far goes to Sydney's Rich
Thompson, who has made the squad for the Los Angeles Angels. Thompson
has played a handful of games in the big league (35 games for the
Angels over the past 4 years) while also putting in the hard yards at
AAA. He gave up just one run in 8 innings through spring training and
is a deserved holder of a roster spot at the Angels. It could be a
really big year for Rich.

It is shaping up to be a really huge year for Aussie MLB players. Be
sure to stay tuned to Oz MLB Players for all the action.

Spring Training 2011: Week Three Review - Luke(ing) good

2011-03-20T11:20:00.006+11:00

Week Three of Spring Training action wraps up today, and as far as the Aussies go, it was a week of cuts. Aside from this, there were some other positive performances particularly from Rich Thompson, Peter Moylan and Ryan Rowland-Smith, and Luke Hughes and Brad Thomas continued to have strong preparations. With less than two weeks to go until Opening Day, there are now eight Aussies in Major League camps, and it looks like we will end up having five - or possibly six - filling 25-man roster spots on Opening Day.

Through week two of spring training, it was really the Aussie pitchers who stood out in their performances. This week they have been good - not great - whereas the hitters were all strong.

Highlights of Week Three

If any US-based Aussie players had any doubts about the value of spending the offseason in the ABL, they need only look to the experience of Luke Hughes to be convinced it is incredibly useful. After winning the ABL with the Perth Heat, Hughes hit the ground running at Spring Training, and he hasn't looked back. This week he went 5-for-14 (.357) with a double, two homeruns and four RBIs. Over the entire spring, he is now 15-for-44 (.341) with three doubles, five homeruns and 14 RBIs. He now leads the Twins in at-bats, runs, homeruns and RBIs. He does though also lead them in strikouts - with 13.

Hughes is essentially fighting for a spot as the Twins utility bench player. At the start of spring he was up against three guys - Matt Tolbert, Trevor Plouffe, and Chase Lambin. Today the Twins sent Plouffe to minor league camp, leaving Tolbert and Lambin to fight it out with Hughes. So far this spring, Tolbert has hit for contact - with an average of .281 but just one extra base hit (a homerun) and two RBIs. Lambin has a slightly better average than Tolbert, with .313, but also has little power. The main difference between both Tolbert/Lambin and Hughes, is that they are recognised shortstops.

Luke Hughes

Ron Gardenhire has been heaping praise on Hughes over spring, and has indicated that he may well make his decision based on offense rather than defense. If this is the case, Hughes will be the clear winner. At this point, given the consistency and strength of his performances, it would be surprising if Hughes did not make the Opening Day squad.

Ryan Rowland-Smith

Ryan Rowland-Smith finally managed to put up some solid numbers in Week Three. He pitched three innings this week in a start against the Detroit Tigers. He allowed three hits and one run - which was a first inning homerun to Magglio Ordonez. He seemed to settle in nicely, and picked up two strikes, while issuing two walks. This was a positive outing following on from his early games, in which he gave out too many walks.

Rowland-Smith is battling [at least] four guys to earn the fifth spot in the Astros' rotation - Nelson Figueroa, Jordan Lyles, Lance Pendleton and Aneury Rodriguez.

Figueroa is 2-0 record from three starts and has an ERA of 5.00. He has four strikeouts and four walks.
Lyles is 1-2, with an ERA of 1.80, but he has only started one game. He has struck out five and walked two.
Pendleton has also spent most of the time coming in from the pen, but has one start, and a record of 1-0. His ERA is 6.43 with three strikeouts and seven walks.
Rodriguez has two starts, and no decisions, an ERA of 4.00, three strikouts and four walks.

Without having seen these guys in action, it is hard to say where things are heading for Rowland-Smith, but it is clear that he is certainly in contention. The one thing he has that none of the others have is that he is a lefty.

Astros' Manager Brad Mills is giving him as good a chance as anyone to show his stuff, and the other guys he is up against are not setting the world on fire. He would be due for another start over the next day or two - perhaps against the Braves, the Pirates or the Tigers - and he will be looking to go deeper in the game and lock in another solid performance.

Trent Oeltjen

ESPN has rated him a 10% chance of making the Dodgers Opening Day roster, but Trent Oeltjen isn't letting that get in the way of putting up solid numbers. Trent played in 5 games for the Dodgers this week and went 4-for-7 (.571), with one double and three runs.

Rich Thompson also had a good Week Three. He pitched two innings in the Angels' win over the Padres. He allowed his first run of the spring - however it came off just one hit to the lead off man, who swiped a base and then scored on subsequent groundouts. With an injury to fellow reliever Scott Downs this week, Thompson's chances of scoring a spot on Opening Day have increased. He looked calm, strong and determined in the game against the Padres, and looks ready for a full season in the Bigs.

As he did last week, Peter Moylan put up some strong numbers for the Braves. In two innings of work, he gave up no hits or walks, and struck out one. There's really not much more you can say about Moylan at the moment, he is going about his business as consistently as the day is long.

Not-so-highlights

A few Aussies were cut from Major League squads this week. Justin Huber went from the Twins to Rochester, while Brendan Wise and Chris Oxspring were sent from the Tigers to the Toledo Mud Hens.

Some of the gloss started to rub off Shane Lindsay this week. He made just one appearance for the White Sox, and gave up three hits and three runs (one unearned) in one inning of work. Lindsay is among a bunch of players competing for a final bullpen spot. At this stage his chances of making the cut don't seem as strong as some of the others.

Grant Balfour has continued his ordinary spring. This week he pitched two innings, for two hits and two runs, taking his ERA to 12.00 on the campaign so far. Spring has not been kind to Balfour over the past couple of years. In 2009 he went 0-1 with a 5.63 ERA, and in 2010 he went 0-2 with a 7.20 ERA. Maybe the lack of intensity of spring training games is something that makes it difficult for Balf to fire up. Regardless, he will start the season as a senior member of the A's bullpen.

Some new faces in Spring Training

A couple of young Aussie prospects had a chance to hit out with the big league squads over the past week or so through some split squad games. Both James Beresford and Tim Kennelly have seen some time for the Twins and Phillies respectively. Beresford went 0-for-2 with a strikeout in one appearance for the Twins, while Tim Kennelly smacked an RBI double [which was very nearly a homerun] against the Rays.

Tim Kennelly

Stats for Week Three

In a new feature this week, OzMLBplayers is entering the realm of statistical data provision. We have pulled together the stats for each of the Aussies involved in Spring Training this week into the following tables. Click them to see in full size.

Hitting

Pitching

Next week's ones to watch
We will be paying close attention to Ryan Rowland-Smith's next appearance (or two), and hoping he can continue to rebound. We'll also be crossing our fingers that Trent Oeltjen and Shane Lindsay can somehow find a way onto Opening Day rosters. And of course, we will be keeping check on the performances of guys who seem to have locked in their spot, including Rich Thompson, Pete Moylan, Grant Balfour and Luke Hughes.

For all the latest Oz MLB player action, follow me on twitter.

Where in the world is Brad Harman?

2011-03-15T23:17:00.002+11:00

As I have been flicking through the MLB rosters and checking out what is going on in the minor league camps, there is one name that I keep expecting to see but don't.

Brad Harman.

Way back in April 2008 Harman got the call up to the Bigs from Double-A Philadelphia affiliate Reading. He had a handful of appearances and picked up a few hits. He had some 'ok' years in the Minors over the rest of 2008 and through 2009, but then he seems to have disappeared.

Turns out he was suspended by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority! The Herald Sun reported back in May 2010 that Harman failed to lodge details of his whereabouts with drug officials on three occasions over an 18-month period. He was suspended for 14 months, and is free to resume competition from 26 May 2011.

What a shame.

I wonder if he is still out there slogging it out...

UPDATED - List of Aussie Baseballers in Major League Spring Training Camps

2011-03-15T20:42:00.004+11:00

UPDATE - 17 MARCH - Brendan Wise has also been sent to minor league camp

U~~PDATE - 16 MARCH - Chris Oxspring has also been sent to minor league camp~~

More cuts are happening across the board now, and thanks to the good folks at the Australian Baseball Digest for picking up on the latest two Aussies to head back down to minor league camp. Justin Huber and Drew Naylor have joined Joel Naughton back in the minor league ranks.

Huber was never really in contention for a spot on the 25-man roster, but having been out of the States for a couple of years, the Twins would have been keen to see how he came back. As for Naylor, he did quite well in his limited opportunities - but I think he is more of a long-term investment for the Phillies. He will definitely be someone to watch through the minors this year.

This takes the number of Aussies involved in Spring training back to ten, four non-roster invitees and six who are on the 40-man roster for their clubs.

List of Non-Roster Invitees
Shane Lindsay, Chicago White Sox
~~Chris Oxspring, Detroit Tigers~~
~~Brendan Wise, Detroit Tigers~~
~~Justin Huber, Minnesota Twins~~
~~Joel Naughton, Phildelphia Phillies~~
Trent Oeltjen, LA Dodgers

List of players on the 40-man roster
Ryan Rowland-Smith, Houston Astros
~~Drew Naylor, Philadelphia Phillies~~
Peter Moylan, Atlanta Braves
Grant Balfour, Oakland Athletics
Rich Thompson, LA Angels
Luke Hughes, Minnesota Twins
Brad Thomas, Detroit Tigers

I will update this list through Spring Training as things change

Spring Training 2011: Week Two Review - Moylan Hot

2011-03-13T22:14:00.002+11:00

Week Two of Major League Baseball Spring Training wrapped up today, with many Australian baseballers producing very solid results. There are now 18 days to go until Opening Day, and there are still 12 Australians in contention for a place on the Opening Day roster for their respective clubs. There are at least four who look to be certainties for starting the season on the 25-man roster (Peter Moylan, Grant Balfour, Brad Thomas, and Rich Thompson), and at least another five who can stake a genuine claim to a position (Brendan Wise, Chris Oxspring, Shane Lindsay, Ryan Rowland-Smith and Luke Hughes).

The story of the week for Week Two has to be Peter Moylan, who was at his unhittable best in a few outings for the Atlanta Braves. Other notable achievements included solid pitching from Rich Thompson, Brad Thomas, Drew Naylor and Shane Lindsay, and some good hitting from Luke Hughes and Trent Oeltjen.

The usual process at Spring Training is to start with a really large squad and then progressively cut it down as the weeks go by. So far, most teams have had at least one cut. At this point in time, only one Aussie - Joel Naughton, the 24-year-old catcher in the Phillies' organisation - has been cut from the 13 who started on day one.

A week for the pitchers

While last week it was one of the Aussie hitters who led the way, in Luke Hughes, this week our pitchers made quite the resurgence. They were led by veteran sidearmer Peter Moylan, who was nothing short of dominant in his two appearances.

Peter Moylan

In an excellent feature posted on MLB.com this week, Mark Bowman wrote about Moylan's rise to Major League Baseball. He noted that in the four-plus years since making his debut in April 2006, Moylan has posted a 2.58 ERA and made 274 appearances, which is 112 more than any other Atlanta pitcher over that period.

He showed that strength this week - pitching two innings over two appearances and five of the six outs he registered were strikeouts. He was not exactly facing the best talent in baseball this week. Moylan pitched to a bunch of youngish hitters from the Yankees and the Mets. However, Moylan did what he is paid to do, he gave up just one hit, did not walk a batter and made short work of both teams.

Brad Thomas

Brad Thomas is another veteran relief pitcher who had a good week. For the second week in a row he appeared in three games, although this week he gave up just one hit. Thomas is a guy who had probably surprised a few people with the quality of his season last year, and he is probably not quite assured of a place on the Tigers' Opening Day roster unless he can keep his form up. Tigers' Manager Jim Leyland has noticed the quality of Thomas' spring camp though, and he puts it down to improvements in Thomas' curveball. 'His breaking ball is better,' Leyland told The Detroit News. 'He's more apt to handle a lefty than he was last year'. Apparently Thomas has been working on a new grip to give his curve some more bite.

Two other Aussie relief pitchers have been getting noticed this week too. In particular, Shane Lindsay has surged into contention for a spot in the Chicago White Sox bullpen. Lindsay has been kicking around the minors for about eight years, previously with the Colorado Rockies. However a couple of very strong performances this spring, including a three-up three-down performance in his debut game for the White Sox. Lindsay has quite a variety of pitches according to The Chicago Sun-Times. He is said to throw a fastball, curve and changeup and is adding a slider-cutter. 'I like it here and what they are preaching. They are keeping it simple, not trying to over-coach me, and they're willing to work with what has worked for me. It's really good...' he told the Sun-Times.

Rich Thompson

Alongside Lindsay, and quietly going about his business has been Rich Thompson at the Los Angeles Angels. Thompson pitched two scoreless innings over two appearances this week, allowing just three hits while striking out four. Like Moylan above, Thompson didn't face off against the cream of the crop, but he did face (and strikeout) some genuine big leaguers like Justin Upton and Russell Branyan. Thompson is in an interesting spot - he is out of minor league options. This means that if the Angels decide they want to cut him from the big league 25-man roster, he must go through the waivers process on the way down to the minors, meaning that he could be picked up by another club. Angels' skipper Mike Scioscia has been considering taking a 12 man pitching roster - which would be good for Thompson, however the Los Angeles Times has reported that Scioscia might toy with the idea of an 11 man option, which could make things interesting. All Rich can do at this point is keep putting the numbers up.

Also solid this week were Chris Oxspring (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 SO) and Drew NaylorAstros number five starter. Perhaps working in his favour is the fact that the Astros are not looking very strong all round at the moment, so management may be willing to take a gamble.

Aussies with the bat

Luke Hughes

With Joel Naughton dropping out of the big league squad for the Phillies there are just three Aussie hitters left in contention - Luke Hughes and Justin Huber at the Twins, and Trent Oeltjen at the Dodgers. This week all three had a pretty solid week. The highlights were a three-run homerun to Oeltjen as the Dodgers got shellacked by the Royals, and Luke Hughes' amazing consistency. This week Hughes hit two doubles, a home run and five RBIs. His average for the spring is now .333. Of the hitters, Hughes still looks the most likely to find a home on an Opening Day roster. The Twins have been experimenting with him in a number of positions in the infield and the outfield. Justin Huber has not been as consistent or as powerful as the Twins would like, and Trent Oeltjen is likely to fall victim to the fact that the Dodgers have approximately three hundred and forty two outfielders, and just not enough room for them all.

What will we be watching next week?
1. What is going to happen with Shane Lindsay? Will he get more opportunities to shine, and will he seize them?
2. Can Rich Thompson keep putting up good numbers, and will it be enough to earn him a spot on Opening Day?
3. Can Luke Hughes learn how to play shortstop or find some other way to make it onto the Twins roster?
4. When will Grant Balfour settle into some rhythm?
5. Can Ryan Rowland-Smith take some positives out of last week's game and build a strong performance?

As always, do what the pros do (including Ryan Rowland-Smith, Rich Thompson and Peter Moylan) and follow me on twitter for all the latest Oz MLB Player updates.

UPDATED - List of Aussie Baseballers in Major League Spring Training Camps

2011-03-12T15:02:00.003+11:00

THIS POST HAS BEEN UPDATED AS AT 15 MARCH 2011

First cuts have taken place in most squads now. The good news is that most Aussies have avoided them!. Unfortunately, Joel Naughton has not though, and was sent to the minor league camp.

Naughton would have to be reasonably pleased with his spring though - and he may get a look in with the Phillies at some time during the year. His line for his time with the big leaguers was 3 games, 3 at bats for 2 hits and 1 RBI.

This takes the number of Aussies involved in Spring training back to twelve, five non-roster invitees and seven who are on the 40-man roster for their clubs.

List of Non-Roster Invitees
Shane Lindsay, Chicago White Sox
Chris Oxspring, Detroit Tigers
Brendan Wise, Detroit Tigers
Justin Huber, Minnesota Twins
~~Joel Naughton, Phildelphia Phillies~~
Trent Oeltjen, LA Dodgers

List of players on the 40-man roster
Ryan Rowland-Smith, Houston Astros
Drew Naylor, Philadelphia Phillies
Peter Moylan, Atlanta Braves
Grant Balfour, Oakland Athletics
Rich Thompson, LA Angels
Luke Hughes, Minnesota Twins
Brad Thomas, Detroit Tigers

I will update this list through Spring Training as things change

Channel Nine coverage of Grant Balfour contract

2011-03-06T23:14:00.002+11:00

So, I am sitting up, half listening to the TV as I go about a little bit of work before hitting the office tomorrow morning, and I hear on the Channel Nine News break 'Australian man signs eight million dollar contract to play baseball'....

Hmmm. 'What the hell?' is the first thing that comes to mind. I looked up and caught some footage of Grant Balfour throwing in some postseason action from a couple of years ago.

So, I open up the web and hit the NineMSN website, where I find this:

The sidebar shows that Balfour has signed a huge deal with the Angels!!!! What the hell? I better watch this story.

WARNING ----> RANT COMMENCES BELOW

I clicked on play, and you can too here, and got quite a few laughs out of it. Firstly, they report that Balfour has 'just signed a deal'.

ARE YOU KIDDING CHANNEL NINE!!!!

It happened on the 15th of January!

Secondly, as is the way with all the modern 'news' programs, they have emblazoned across the top one of their watermarks, so everyone is clear who broke the 'news' 'first'. Anyways, this one says 'First on 9'. HA!!!!

ARE YOU KIDDING CHANNEL NINE!!!!!

The story was ALL OVER the internet for days before it even broke. It was reasonably big news at the time, as the hot stove had cooled a little bit. It was widely reported online, both overseas and at home.

In fact, that great institution of journalistic integrity, professionalism and award-winning writing - the Daily Telegraph - broke the story on the 17th of January. That's 48 days ago! And, yours truly broke it on Twitter on 15th January.

'First on 9' obviously means 'first time they have featured a baseball story this month'. Silly me for thinking otherwise.

Oh and finally, they featured Balf in all his Oakland gear, and mentioned in the article a number of times that he played for the Athletics, yet their online team got it wrong and wrote Angels.

COME ON!!!! GET A CLUE!!!

RANT OVER

Ok, so I feel better now. It is great to see some mainstream media coverage, and great to see Channel Nine send their LA correspondent to visit Balfour during Spring Training camp. But a little more research and attention to detail, and a little less patting-yourself-on-the-back-for-something-you-don't-even-deserve, would have earned Channel Nine a lot more cred.

Spring Training 2011: Week One Review - Hughes the Man

2011-03-06T21:21:00.002+11:00

One week of Spring Training is in the books. The countdown to Opening Day has begun, and there have been no less than 11 Aussie baseballers in action in Major League camps. Of the 13 participating in Major League Spring Training, only Shane Lindsay (CWS) and Drew Naylor (PHI) have yet to appear in official action.

It has been a bit of a mixed bag really. There have been some strong performances, and some slow starts. Some of the Aussies who will be a part of Opening Day rosters have been a bit rusty. And the guys battling for a roster spot have had mixed results.

High points for the week

So far the stand out has been Luke Hughes for the Minnesota Twins.

Luke Hughes of the Minnesota Twins warming up for the Perth Heat in the Australian Baseball League

Hughes has had a hot bat to start the year, with a 1.064 OPS in the ABL, and he has followed this good form into Spring Training. In five games so far, Hughes has gone 5-for-13, with two home runs and five RBIs, as well as a stolen base.

It has been enough to generate a lot of attention from Twins fans, and from management. Hughes' challenge has always been finding a spot in the Minnesota infield that contains seasoned pros like Justin Morneau, Michael Cuddyer. He has long been recognised as having the bat for the majors, but maybe lacking a little in defense. Things might be starting to line up nicely for him this year though. There is some doubt over Justin Morneau, Hughes has had a great (and long) pre-season, and he is attracting praise from Twins' manager Ron Gardenhire, who told the Miami Herald:

"If he can stay healthy he can be a force. He's got some pretty good tools. He can play third, he can play second, he can probably play first. I think he can go in the outfield too. He's got enough bat that he can play every day. He's got a lot of upside, as far as I am concerned."

So far so good. This week the Twins have a few games against the Cardinals, the Red Sox and the Blue Jays, among others. We'll be keeping a close eye on Hughes, as well as some of the other Twins infielders, to see how things shape up.

Chris Oxspring

Other notable performances this week have come from the Tigers Trio - Brad Thomas, Chris Oxspring and Brendan Wise.

Oxspring has been good, giving up no earned runs, although he did take the loss in one of his appearances.

Brendan Wise has also been strong, only allowing two hits and one earned run in his 3.1 innings of work. And predictably, Brad Thomas has been sound, giving up only one run over 4 innings pitched.

Brad Thomas is a dead cert to start the season on the roster, and so far both Oxspring and Wise won't have done their chances any harm, although it still seems likely that they will start the year in AAA.

Rich Thompson also had a good week - giving up just one hit, and striking out two, in two innings of work for the Angels.

Not quite so high points for the week

Elsewhere it has been a bit of a battle for the Aussies. Some of our pitchers have been roughed up a bit, and a few hitters have been struggling to get bat on ball.

Trent Oeltjen

Trent Oeltjen has been plying his trade for the Dodgers, trying to make a bench spot for the Opening Day roster. He has not had a great deal of game time so far - usually coming in off the bench in the later innings, and he has only managed to scrape together one hit, an RBI single today. His line for the week is 1-for-6 with two strikeouts.

Trent must have been wondering what he was in for late in the week when he came up against Reds firebrand Aroldis Chapman, who has been known to clock 105mph on the radar. The first pitch Trent faced was over the plate but at about head height. "If that had been at my face, I probably wouldn't have had time to move...when you're coming off the bench and that's the first pitch you see, it wakes you up. He is one of the hardest throwers in the game, and he's a left-hander" he said. Trent - perhaps not surprisingly - ended up striking out.

Grant Balfour

While his team mate Luke Hughes has been on fire, Justin Huber has not had it so easy over at the Twins. Much like Oeltjen, Huber has had a lot of time coming in off the bench and has had to scrub together whatever he can. It took a few days to get going, and he has struck out in four of eight at bats, but Huber finished the week with a double.

In the pitching side of things, Ryan Rowland-Smith, Peter Moylan and Grant Balfour all got roughed up in at least one appearance this week. Balfour was probably the worst of the lot. Against the Reds early in the week he started strong - getting two outs without too much damage. But he then gave up three hits, allowing three runs. While this was not a great start to the week, he bounced back on Friday, throwing one inning with one hit and a strikeout against the Rangers.

What we will be watching next week
There are a few storylines we will be following closely next week:
1. Can Luke Hughes keep up his hot form? And will it be enough to land him a spot on Opening Day?
Astros rotation?
3. Will some of the fringe guys like Oeltjen, Huber, Naughton and Naylor get a chance to showcase their wares?

Remember, for all the latest Oz MLB updates, follow me on twitter!

List of Aussie Baseballers in Major League Spring Training camps

2011-02-26T00:13:00.005+11:00

THIS LIST HAS BEEN UPDATED AS AT 15 MARCH 2011.

Spring Training is about to kick off, so what better time than to put together a summary of all the Aussies involved.

There are two groups of players involved in Spring Training, those who are on the 40-man roster, meaning they have a major league contract, and those who are 'non-roster invitees'. The non-roster invitees are usually minor league players who are staking their claim for major league contracts and/or the highest level of minor league ball.

By my count, there are thirteen Aussies involved in Spring training, six non-roster invitees and seven who are on the 40-man roster for their clubs.

List of Non-Roster Invitees
Shane Lindsay, Chicago White Sox
Chris Oxspring, Detroit Tigers
Brendan Wise, Detroit Tigers
Justin Huber, Minnesota Twins
Joel Naughton, Phildelphia Phillies
Trent Oeltjen, LA Dodgers

List of players on the 40-man roster
Ryan Rowland-Smith, Houston Astros
Drew Naylor, Philadelphia Phillies
Peter Moylan, Atlanta Braves
Grant Balfour, Oakland Athletics
Rich Thompson, LA Angels
Luke Hughes, Minnesota Twins
Brad Thomas, Detroit Tigers

I will update this list through Spring Training as things change

A gift for Blue Sox fans

2011-02-19T23:35:00.002+11:00

I have put together this YouTube playlist (with many thanks due to the all round nice guy Tyler Maun) for any BlueSox fans who are feeling a bit homesick and missing the Blue Town action. It is most if not all of the walk up
songs played for Sox hitters this year, and some other tunes too. Hope you like it:

Let me know if you think of any other songs that should be here!

ABL on TV - Foxtel coverage of ABL final series: Initial thoughts

2011-02-11T21:15:00.002+11:00

So, here we are, some ten odd years since the demise of the last Australian Baseball League. Ten odd years since a local professional baseball league had any sort of decent TV coverage. Ten (or more) odd years since channel ten (I think) used to show a short Australian Baseball League highlights show on Sunday mornings. Ten odd years since Warren Smith was last the voice of Australian baseball.

Presumably the League worked hard this year to encourage Foxtel that it was worthwhile covering the game. One would expect there would be quite a cost to put on coverage of the series, and there doesn't seem to be an immediate revenue generator for Foxtel. So, I was somewhat unsure of how they would go about things. The Defensive Specialist wrote an excellent post over at Deep in the Hole, in which he talked about the challenges for the broadcast of this game - should the ABL go for a 'showcase' or should they go for educating the masses. This is one of the great questions in terms of sport coverage, and I think that often Australian broadcasters get it wrong by going too much on the ''education" side of things. So, I was a little apprehensive - but super excited - to sit down to see how the game would be covered tonight.

While I missed the very start, I did catch the introduction of the teams and umpires and so on. The presentation looked great straight away. Whoever made the decision to recruit John Deeble for the commentary is a genius! There are not too many Aussies with as much experience, knowledge and credibility as Deebs. The man knows bucketloads about the game, and is close to so many of the players through his scouting work and coaching the National team...and it seems he is doing a great job of breaking down some of the more complex aspects of the game into simple language.

So, some observations on the presentation so far (we are now about five innings in):

Looks like the ABL has sent over some of the ground announcers from the East Coast, Tyler Maun - who did the Blue Sox announcing is announcing the game tonight, and I am sure I heard the Canberra announcer, or some other familiar voice there too. It was funny to hear Tyler announcing the Heat and Bite lineups with more pomp and respect than they got at Blue Town. Definitely no Cakebread teasing tonight and no Mexican music for de San Miguel. I wonder what the players think....
They have the umpire wearing a microphone - which is interesting...not something I have seen before. Could be an interesting perspective on the game - particularly if they picked up some of the banter between the catcher and the ump and/or hitter
The direction/choice of camera angles is pretty good. They seem to be following the standard, Broadcasting Baseball 101 textbook and getting it right by and large.
Warren Smith is not a perfect baseball commentator, there are a few little things that he says that are not quite right, but it is clear that he has done a stack of research, and he is able to keep things moving along nicely. He has made a few call backs to earlier series (at least the finals) and referenced David Welch's no hitter. He has also got some decent information on the players who have played minor league baseball. He has been breaking down some of the game into 'non-baseball' speak: relating to cricket for example, but he is not overdoing it.
Deeble has added a nice touch of class for baseball enthusiasts - not afraid to shy away from baseball jargon: 'platooning', 'two seam fastball', Latimore's running time to first base, being a ''five-tool" guy etc
Smith has a lot of optimism about the number of guys who 'we might see in the major leagues' - not sure how accurate his predictions will be.

Overall, it is fantastic to have the game back on TV!

OzMLBPlayers 2010 ABL All Star Team: Part Two - Bullpen

2011-02-08T22:42:00.002+11:00

With two of the OzMLBPlayers All Star starters set to meet in the ABL Final Series this weekend, its time to pick the best of the bullpen for the relief spots.

Bullpen
1. Dae-Sung Koo

I felt a little cynical back on Opening Day of the inaugural ABL season. The Blue Sox and the Cavalry ground out a real pitcher's duel, before the Blue Sox took a 1-0 lead in the eigth inning courtesy of hits to Tim Auty and Mitch Dening. The Blue Sox pitching had been 'lights out' all night. Between them, Chris Oxspring, David Welch, and Wayne Lundgren had retired eleven hitters in a row. Once the Sox took the 1-0 lead, Matt Williams came in to wind things up, and promptly retired the first two Cavalry hitters. One hitter left to go, and out trots Koo to finish things off. At the time, with a noticeable Korean media presence, I thought this was nothing more than a PR stunt. Nevertheles, Koo stepped out and made history, earning the first save of the ABL by striking out Nick Kimpton.

After this relatively simple appearance, one might have expected Koo would looking to wind down his career. But that seemed to be the furthest thing from his mind. As the season wore on, he became an absolute juggernaut for the Blue Sox.

Koo led the league in saves, with 12. Daylight was second. A whole bunch of others sat in third place with three.

He put together a record of 2-1 in the regular season, striking out 30 hitters over 27 innings, while issuing only 8 walks. And, he showed himself to be a complete iron man. Multi-inning appearances were regular, and on 22 January he pitched in both games of the season-ending double-header against Canberra; after a significant rain delay in the second game. He has a no fuss, no waste approach to the game, and was one of the most consistent and reliable performers in the league.

While Koo didn't get much opportunity to shine in the post season, he cemented his place as a legend of the first ABL season with a 6.2 inning relief performance in the epic 15-inning showdown between the Bite and the Blue Sox. While he ultimately took the loss in that performance - the fact that he was prepared, and able, to get through so much work, at this stage of the season, in such a critical game for the Blue Sox, is nothing short of outstanding.

For these reasons, Koo would be the first man picked in the ABL All Star team.

2. Brendan Wise

Perth local Brendan Wise had a pretty decent year in the 2010 minor league season. He spent time at both AA and AAA levels in the Detroit Tigers organisation, and has earned himself an invitation to Spring Training with the Tigers. He only made a handful of appearances for the Heat through the ABL season, but he was very effective.

Wise appeared in four regular season games through January 2011, and picked up three saves. While he did walk four hitters, he did not give up a hit, and struck out two. Further to this, he made two very important appearances in the first week of the finals series against the Blue Sox. He pitched in both games, going 1.2 innings, one hit, one walk, and picking up one save. He will be looking for a big 2011.

3. Chris Mowday
Big Brisbane righty Chris Mowday first drew my attention in late November, when he dominated against the Blue Sox. He has racked up a lot of experience in the minor leagues, and has played recently in the Netherlands.

In one outing, Mowday retired 14 of the 15 Blue Sox hitters that he faced. All he gave up was a walk to David Kandilas. At the time, in five games against the Blue Sox, Mowday had pitched 7.1 innings, allowing 5 hits and 0 runs.

He continued his strength throughout the season. In the end he finished up with 20 appearances, a 6-3 record, and one save. He struck out 26 over 42 innings, and compiled an impressive ERA of 2.74.

4. Adam Bright
One of the brighter spots on the Aces season, was the performance of Adam Bright - one of the few Melbourne pitchers able to put together some consistent performances. Bright made 14 appearances, for a record of 2-3, with two saves. He struck out 27 over 26 innings, and drew the attention of Japanese scouts - being rewarded with an opportunity at the Yomiuri Giants.

5. Ben Grice
Ben Grice is a tall right hander with a long sidearm delivery, who has quietly racked up some very solid numbers for the Heat this year.

Grice has been almost perfect this season, allowing just one run in his twelve appearances. He threw 17.2 innings, giving up just 12 hits and 5 walks, while striking out 16. His ERA of 0.51 leads the League for relievers who made 10 or more appearances.

6. Phil Stockman
Like Ben Grice, Phil Stockman is a big right hander. Unlike Grice, Stockman has significant minor league and major league experience. Apart from one bad outing against the Aces on 21 December, Stockman didn't give up a run all season. He made ten appearances, striking out 15 over 14.2 innings, and giving up just three hits and four runs. His control was an issue, as he walked fifteen, but he was still able to put up noughts in nine out of ten games.

Series Review: Adelaide Bite vs Sydney Blue Sox

2011-02-06T23:38:00.004+11:00

So, what a series hey.

The Blue Sox certainly know how to do things the hard way. Despite having no less than FIVE chances to score the winning runs in today's epic 15 inning game against the Bite, the Blue Sox just could not get it done. Dae Sung Koo pitched an amazing 6.2 innings in relief, which for someone at the age of 41, whose role is to come in as a closer, is nothing short of legendary. What a man!

And David Welch throwing a no-hitter! Unbelievable.

All up I was lucky enough to watch all 33 innings of baseball this weekend, and it was all high quality. In the end, the Bite were able to execute better when it counted. The Blue Sox failed to successfully lay down bunts a couple of times, whereas the Bite got it done. It was definitely a "pitchers' series", with runs generally hard to come by.

It will be interesting to see how the Final Series between the Heat and the Bite pans out. I think that Perth will be the favourite, and deserve to be, but Adelaide have a lot of momentum now, having won two series in a row, and having been able to turn things around after the enormity of Friday's no hitter. Interestingly the Heat and Bite have a 50/50 split record, with each team taking 2 games from the other in the home series. It would be an incredible effort for the Bite to travel all the way from the East Coast over to the West, and come away with the title. I reckon it is a good bet though, they will be riding high after their last two series.

Some interesting managerial decisions were made by Glenn Williams during the series. He made some changes to the Blue Sox lineup on Friday night in what seemed to be an attempt to get some more pop in the offense. He moved D'Antonio to second base - which has been a bit of an offensive vacuum for the Sox - and brought in Josh Dean at third. He also moved Kandilas up the order. These changes seemed to work, as the Sox piled on the hits. This was of course behind Welch's dominant performance.

It was a little disappointing to see the Williams didn't stick with the same lineup on Saturday night. I am not sure why he didn't. The Sox were facing another righty in Brandon Maurer, and they had been successful on Friday night. Anyways, they couldn't get the bats going and went down.

And today, well what a game. The Sox could have won it a number of times. Perhaps the most heartbreaking occasion was the unbelievable diving catch taken by Brandon Pett to rob Josh Dean of a certain two run, game ending double in the bottom of the 14th.

Reviewing the hitting stats out of the series allows a few interesting conclusions to be drawn:

1. The middle of the Blue Sox order did not get the job done
Between Brendan Kingman, Alex Johnson, Josh Dean and Moko Moanaroa, the Sox only managed to pull together 5 hits from 34 at bats (.147) and one RBI. It is always going to be tough to get the job done when the heart of the order is struggling. This has been a challenge for the Sox for a while now - having Andy Graham and Boss Moanaroa, and with Alex Johnson and Josh Dean being very streaky, it has been hard to have stability in the middle of the lineup. Brendan Kingman was able to be effective in his early games, but as the stakes have risen he was not as reliable, and Moko Moanaroa did not show the same level as comfort as his brother Boss.

Hitting in the three-spot, Mitch Dening had a great series against the Heat, and started well against the Bite. Coming in to today's game he looked ok at 3-for-8 with a double. But his 0-for-7 today hurt, especially when there were runners in scoring position a lot of the time.

Conclusion - Glenn Williams will have 'power hitter(s)' as his number one wish item for next season.

2. The bottom of the Sox order (and Trent D'Antonio at the top) is still reliable
Throughout the regular season, David Kandilas developed into a very strong nine-hitter. Through this series against the Bite, he was joined by Michael Lysaught and Trent D'Antonio as the chief run production area of the Sox lineup. The three went 18-for-39 (.461) and drove in six of the Sox twelve runs for the series.

Conclusion - Kandilas and Lysaught to move up the order next year (assuming they both return to the Sox roster)

3. Errors hurt the Blue Sox
The Blue Sox had 9 errors to the Bite's 1 over the series. The Blue Sox had generally sloppy pre-game routines over this series, and it carried over onto the field. While Lysaught had a sharp bat, he was not at his best in the field. The Bite, and for that matter the Heat last week, appeared to have a tighter defensive unit.

Conclusion - Blue Sox to tighten up their fielding practice for next year.

4. In most hitting categories, the Sox did better
In terms of most hitting categories, the Blue Sox had the Bite covered. Runs, Hits, Average. But, the Bite came away with two victories to one.

Conclusion - timing is everything. The Sox just weren't able to string together their hits at the right time.

Anyways, its all done now. The Bite will take on the Heat for the finals, and the Blue Sox players with either wind down back to club baseball, or head on overseas to their other clubs. Best of luck to the Bite in their series against the Heat. We will be watching keenly.

Micro review of Game One - Blue Sox versus Heat

2011-01-27T22:46:00.003+11:00

So, I headed out to BOP tonight to watch the Blue Sox vs Heat in the first game of the ABL playoffs. Here are my thoughts in no particular order:

the crowd was disappointingly small and quiet (only 1000), probably due to the Thursday night thing. I expect they will be better tomorrow
it was a game for the pitchers. They burned through the innings faster than Novak Djokovic loses his temper - the game time was a tick under two and a half hours
the Blue Sox did not show a lot of discipline in the batting box tonight. They swung at way too many first pitches, and that allowed Schmidt to get ahead and get through a number of innings very quickly
Welch was unlucky (again). The first runs from Perth were a direct result of an amateurish collision in right field between Mitch Dening and David Kandilas (in which Kandilas was lucky not to end up hurt). After that, Robbie Widlansky should have been caught stealing, but a slow throw from Kingman meant that Lysaught put it down and Widlansky was safe at second. He then went on to score.
In looking at the box score - I am amazed that the Blue Sox were only charged with one error. The error they were charged with was a dropped foul by Pat Maat. It was a catch that should have been taken, and Maat made a meal of it. But....there were two other (in my mind) clear errors. David Kandilas gloves the ball, Dening runs into him, he drops it - de San Miguel gets to third. That is NOT a triple. Secondly, Mark Holland got his glove to a difficult, heavy spinning and high bouncing grounder, I think from Mitch Graham. I can't believe these weren't scored as errors (not that it really matters, just feeling negative I suppose)
Matt Kennelly had a good night for the Heat. He made an absolute pearler of a play to end the sixth inning; diving full length to cut off a hard hit ball from Trent D'Antonio. He then hit a Chris Oxspring pitch in the ninth inning over the left field wall to take the game away from the Blue Sox.
The Blue Sox didn't seem to show a lot of passion or motivation - they were flat, whereas the Heat were fired up and keen.
As a Blue Sox fan, I can console myself by thanking my lucky stars I am not a Melbourne Aces fan.

Oh well, looking at it optimistically - we should hopefully get a third game in Sydney this weekend. But the Sydney side are going to need to pull their [Blue] Sox up a bit I reckon

OzMLBPlayers 2010 ABL All Star Team: Part One - Starting Pitchers

2011-01-27T15:43:00.002+11:00

Now that the regular season of the inaugural ABL season has been completed, its time to look back and pick the All Star team. Over the next week or two, I will be picking what I think represents the best team that could be picked across the ABL. Today, we start with pitchers.

Starting pitchers

1. David Welch
From day one of the ABL, it was clear that the Sydney Blue Sox had a particularly strong pitching rotation. The rotation was spearheaded by Chris Oxspring, who was the obvious leader and number one starter. While Oxspring won the early recognition and started the season with a bang (he went 2-0 through the first month, including a seven inning one-hitter against Brisbane ), David Welch quietly put together very solid numbers. He led the league in ERA (1.44) and WHIP (0.93), was second to Oxspring in strikeouts (59 to Oxspring's 71), and had the very solid record of 5-0, which included two complete games. Also quite remarkable is the fact that he walked just nine hitters, which gives him a strikeout-walk ratio of 6.55.

Welch is a good pitcher to watch, he works quickly and throws with plenty of power and aggression, but also works some great offspeed pitches. He had some reasonable success through 2008 and 2009 playing in the Milwaukee Brewers minor league system. In 2010 he played a short AAA season in Mexico, and then moved to a AA Independent League with the Sioux City Explorers. He had 17 starts with the Explorers, and went 8-6, with a 3.59 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, 94 strikeouts and 31 walks. At the age of 27, and playing in an independent league, it is probably unlikely that Welch will find himself on a major league roster any time soon, but if he is able to continue his ABL form into his time in the States this year, he may find some opportunities arise for him. Until then, he is sure to make a solid contribution for the Blue Sox in the finals series.

2. Chris Oxspring

It would not be understating things to say that Chris Oxspring personifies the success of the inaugural ABL season. He represents all the good things about the League and the opportunities it presents. He is an Aussie who has tasted some success at the major league level, but probably didn't quite make it as far as he would have liked. He is returning from a serious injury, and still has some legitimate potential to pitch at the top level. The League has given him the opportunity to fine tune his arm and get some genuine game time. And on top of all that, taking on the role of pitching coach enabled Oxspring to give back to the game by passing on his knowledge and experience to some of the young Sox pitchers.

Oxspring's overall numbers on the season are not quite as dominant as Welch's, but they are still strong. He went 4-2 for the season, with an ERA of 2.23. He struck out 71 and walked 14. Oxspring appears to have recovered well from his elbow surgery, and has demonstrated very effective command and control throughout the season. Undoubtedly, the opportunities provided through the ABL have enabled Oxspring to showcase his abilities, and with nearly all the MLB teams sending scouts to Australia, doors were opened for Oxspring at the Detroit Tigers.

3. Brandon Maurer
Brandon Maurer is a 20 year old US import from Costa Mesa, CA who once pitched a perfect game in a Little League All Star game. Maurer has played a few seasons in the Seattle Mariners system and has improved his numbers over time. Like a few other MLB clubs, the Mariners chose to send some players to the ABL, and Maurer was sent him to the Adelaide Bite, where he has pitched well. He has pitched in nine games, with a 5-1 record, and an ERA of 3.00, with 51 strikeouts and 12 walks. At the age of just 20, he already clocks more than 90mph on his fastball, and presumably he still has a bit of improving in him. Maurer has been an important asset in the Bite bullpen, and his season concluded with an important shutout win over the Brisbane Bandits last week, in which he allowed just one hit over seven innings, while striking out 8. It will be interesting to see how Maurer develops over the next season, and to see whether he can become a genuine major league prospect.

4. Daniel Schmidt
The Perth Heat have not boasted a particularly strong starting pitching rotation this year, and they have relied on some of their relievers to get the job done. One pitcher who has been consistently good is Daniel Schmidt, who went 6-3 over 10 starts. He struck out 47, while walking 11.

5. Myung-Ho Jin
At first glance, Myung-Ho Jin's numbers do not jump out as an outstanding season. In his nine games for the Canberra Cavalry, he posted a record of 0-2. But, take a deeper look at the numbers, and you see that Jin was a strong pitcher - undoubtedly the weak offense of Canberra did him no favours. Through 31 innings, he held opposing hitters to an average of .189, while compiling an ERA of just 1.74. He struck out 29 hitters and walked 16. Taking a look at his two losses - on 20 November, the Cavalry lost 3-1 to the Aces, and on 9 December he gave up three runs to the Heat in a 7-0 loss. With a little more run support, he could easily have racked up a few more Wins.

Thoughts from the Blue Sox vs Cavalry game

2011-01-22T09:49:00.004+11:00

The Blue Sox played the Cavalry in the second game of four last night and it was my first trip to an ABL game outside of Blacktown Olympic Park. The Cavalry have a bit of a reputation for putting on a really good show, so I was keen to see it first hand. On the field, the Blue Sox have the chance to secure a home final if they notch up a few wins. The Cavalry don't have as much at stake, but are looking to add some annoyance value to things and to put on a good show for their final homestand. With all that in mind, your intrepid correspondent made the trek to the Nation's capital to report on the action.

Firstly, some thoughts on the Fort Narrabundah experience. The playing surface and overall feel of the park is great, and although the stadium is not as big as Blacktown, there are plenty of bleachers and viewing areas on both first and third base lines. Sitting on the bench seating was a less comfortable way to watch the game, and the layout of the stands could improve with some more entry points and more user-friendly steps on the bleachers. But overall it was a good place to watch a game.

The Canberra crowd was vocal (some might say rabid) and they were ripping into the Blue Sox from the get go. Chris Oxspring, whom the Cavalry managed to beat on Thursday, and Alex Johnson, the Sox DH, were fave targets. The best line of the night goes to the Canberra fan who labelled Johnson 'the worst number 23 since Michael Clarke'. That was about as witty as it got though. A traveling contingent from the
Sox Draw made sure the Sydney team got plenty of support.

The ground announcing and between inning activities were comparable to Sydney's. Best walk up music goes to Canberra catcher Michael Collins; daggy-turned-retro-cool Phil Collins' 'In the Air Tonight'. The crowd participated well in the game, really chanting in unison 'HWA!!!' and 'WOO!!!' when the Cavs' Korean imports came up. There seemed to be quite a few 'new to baseball' spectators. I heard a few people discussing the rules and the usual questions - 'are they called referees or umpires', 'what is an error' - and so on. This is surely a good sign for the League. Last home series of the season, nothing really for the home team to play for, but they still drew a crowd of 1400.

On the field, the Blue Sox turned to David Welch to steer the team to victory, while the Cavalry tossed the ball to Chris Morgan. Both pitchers were pretty effective through five innings. The Sox picked up their two two runs through a double smacked down the third base line from the increasingly reliable Trent Schmutter. In the bottom of the 5th, the Cavalry hit back with three runs of their own.

Welch, who i have really enjoyed watching (and who I think shows a lot of promise) was a little unlucky as the Cavalry picked up their runs through some good fortune. Didi Gregorious drove in a run through what should have been a regulation grounder to 1B, but which became a double to right field due to a NASTY hop that nearly took Josh Dean's head off. Further to this, Gregorious reached second and was met with a tag from Michael Lysaught that should have been the second out. However, much to the chagrin of Lysaught, Welch, and Sox manager Glenn Williams, the ump called him safe. Later in the inning with two out and two on, Welch got deep in the count against Michael Wells. Wells then hit a deep fly ball to right centre, which Mitch Dening put down, allowing two runs to score. Welch eventually got out of the inning by drawing a fly out from Tom Vincent.

It didn't look good for the Sox from that point, as they struggled to compile any sustained offensive pressure. However, in the 8th and 9th innings they managed to pile on some rallies and get runs on the board. Hits by Josh Dean and Michael Lysaught in the 8th inning brought in two runs. Then in the ninth, a timely loaded bases double to Pat Maat brought in two more runs, before a Josh Dean single and a Michael Lysaught homer brought in another four runs. By this time the Cavalry were flat on the canvas. Koo came back and mercifully stopped proceedings without fuss.

All up, it was a good night at the ballpark and a much needed win for the Sox. The Perth Heat also won last night, so Sydney is still in second place in the standings. They will look to pick up another two
wins tonight.

Wrap up of Weekend Series - some standout performances

2011-01-03T21:38:00.003+11:00

So with seven rounds/series of ABL action in the books, we are starting to see the standings shape up.
Each of the three series that took place over the weekend were of great importance to the overall jostling for position.

Adelaide v Canberra: Someone call the Cavalry, Adelaide have put the Bite on Canberra

In front of some very decent crowds (around 1300 to three of the five games), the Adelaide Bite put the Canberra Cavalry to the sword over the weekend, and surged back into strong contention in the ABL. After losing 7 of their 11 games in December, the Bite brought dominant pitching and strong hitting to the series and claimed the it 4-1 (they played one catch-up game).

The highlights for the Bite were solid hitting from imports James McOwen (.412 AVG, 4 RBIs, one double) and Quincy Latimore (.375 AVG, 6 RBIs, one double, one triple), which was backed up by Adelaide local Scott Gladstone (0.385 AVG, 1 RBI, one double). In addition to some strong offence, the Bite were impressive on the mound. Over the five games, their team ERA was 1.23. They struck out 48 Canberra hitters and walked only ten. Excellent outings were turned in by Mildren (nine strikeouts, no walks, in an eight-inning shutout), Maurer (seven strikeouts, one walk, in a six-inning shutout). Fidge and Ruzic also chipped in with solid outings.

On the other side of the ledger, there weren't too many highlights. The Cavalry managed to scrape together just 20 hits for the series (eight of which were in the first game, which they won), with a team average of .137. From a defensive perspective, they gave up five home runs, while walking 37. One bright spot was Korean import Jun Hyeok Heo, who pitched six scoreless innings, giving up just three hits.

Following the demolition, Adelaide moves to second behind the Blue Sox by 1.5 games. They now hit the road to play series against the Aces and the Blue Sox, before returning home to close out the season against the Bandits - with whom they are due to play two washed out games. How will they fare in these games?

Well, they smashed the Aces in the opening series of the ABL. But things have changed since then. Firstly, the Aces have come a long way with their offence. Secondly, this series is at Melbourne, and the Aces have learned how to hit homeruns down there. My tip: Drawn Series (2-2).

Then on the road to Sydney, against whom they split their series last time round. Given that the Blue Sox have been particularly strong at home, one would think that the best the Bite could hope for would be a split series. This could change if for instance Chris Oxspring sits out a game. All things being equal, my tip is this would be two games to Adelaide, two games to Sydney.

Then, the return to Norwood for a (potentially six game) series against the Bandits. The Bite would have to be confident of taking the at least 4 out of 6 against against Brisbane.

This would see the Bite go to 23-17.

The mauling by the Bite pretty much spells the end of any chance the Cavalry have of making the playoffs. They face eight games against the Bandits, four in Canberra, and then four in Brisbane, before returning home again to close out the season against the Blue Sox. A few things could go in their favour - they have a pretty good home record, and they have eight games against the Bandits, who have also struggled. It is entirely possible that they clean up the home series against Brisbane 4-0, and then take another couple of games in Brisbane, and even a couple off Sydney. If they did manage those results their record would end up 18-22.

Brisbane v Melbourne: Melbourne hold all the Aces, but the Bandits hold their own.

The Aces and Bandits have faced off for the last eight games, but it was the Melbourne side who came out on top - winning six of the eight games. However, in the series just passed, Brisbane picked up two vital wins. It was a pretty level series, with no real standout performances.

Melbourne's record now stands at 15-12. They now host Adelaide for a four game series - in which they should take at least two games, before facing the Heat for eight games - four home and then four away. It is really anyone's guess as to how the series against Perth will go. You would expect the Aces to take all four games at home, but who knows what will happen in Perth. If the Aces come away with two games there, their record would end up 23-16.

For the Bandits, they have eight games against Canberra, and then four (plus two catchups) at Adelaide. It looks likely that the Bandits will take somewhere between two and five games against Canberra, and probably no more than 2 against the Bite. This would take their record to 17-21.

Perth v Sydney: Heat can't take the Blue Sox hot hitting and pitching

There were some remarkable statistics coming out of the Heat vs BlueSox series.

Coming in to the weekend, the standings looked were headed up by Sydney and Perth in equal first with a record of 14-10, Melbourne was in third with 13-10 and Adelaide fourth with 11-11. Then came Canberra with 10-14, and Brisbane brought up the rear with 8-14.

Following the games on the weekend, there has been a lot of change. Sydney and Adelaide have surged, both going 4-0 in the series, Melbourne and Brisbane shared their series 2-2 and both consolidated the ladder positions.

ABL TV coverage on Foxtel

2011-01-01T23:01:00.002+11:00

Hello Aussie Baseball fans, and welcome to 2011.

As I kick back this evening watching the excellent online coverage of the Perth Heat vs the Sydney Blue Sox, I was pleased to hear the announcers mention that Foxtel will be covering the three game final series in the ABL (!!!). The ABL has made some good strides this year in establishing some media coverage, and there has been plenty of interest from fans wanting to see TV coverage, either on Foxtel or One HD. Getting some coverage - even if it is only on pay TV, and even if it is only the final series - is another great step towards cementing baseball in the Australian sporting landscape.

At this point, there does not seem to be any indication on the Foxtel website to confirm this, however the deal was attributed to an interview with ABL CEO Peter Wermuth a few weeks ago. We will keep an eye out for any further news and will bring more details as they come to hand.

Weekend news

2010-12-18T17:10:00.002+11:00

There's been a few pieces of Aussie baseball news about the place this weekend. There's been a few interesting performances in the ABL - with Canberra getting up over the Heat, and Sydney and Adelaide playing out a close series so far. Elswhere:

Travis Blackley has reportedly been released from his minor league contract with the Oakland A's to play in the Korean League
The Sydney Morning Herald has a good feature on Chris Oxspring, who talks about his major league debut back in 2005, in which he gave up a grand slam, recovering from his injury, and what it will be like to return to the US as an older player. It is nice to see a decent sized, informed and well written piece by the mainstream media!
Still no word on where Grant Balfour will end up in 2011. Many other right handed relievers are getting three year deals on good money (Jesse Crain: White Sox, $12 million, Scott Downs: Angels, $15 million, Matt Guerrier: Dodgers, $12 million). There is some talk around that the Rockies could be interested in him. Jeff Passan from Yahoo Sports has penned quite a scathing article criticising GMs for offering up such generous deals to relief pitchers. It's worth a read. As for Balfour, it's hard to know what is likely to happen. It definitely seems to be a seller's market at the moment, and there is a bit of cash flying around, so at this point it seems Balfour's decision to decline arbitration with the Rays could pay dividends.

Chris Oxspring talks about success with the Blue Sox, his coaching role, and his contract with the Detroit Tigers

2010-12-14T17:54:00.002+11:00

Last week, Sydney Blue Sox starting pitcher Chris Oxspring secured a minor league contract with the Detroit Tigers, with a chance to make the big league squad at Spring Training. This follows some superb form in the Australian Baseball League, with Oxspring leading the league in most measures, including ERA (0.67) and strikeouts (44). With the Blue Sox still licking their wounds after Sunday's mauling by the Aces, Oxspring was kind enough to talk with OzMLBPlayers.com about his journey back to the States, the success of the Blue Sox, and the Blue Sox plans to bounce back from the weekend's series.

Signing with the Tigers comes as a bit of a second wind for Oxspring. He played a handful of games for the Padres in 2005, before his contract was sold to a Japanese team, the Hanshin Tigers. Since then, he spent a little more time in the States with a Brewers affiliate, and a couple of years in Korea. Oxspring said that he was 'extremely happy playing in Korea', but noted that for him - like most baseballers - the dream is really to play in America. 'Growing up you always want to play at the top level, and that's it,' he said.

Following his time in the Korean league, Oxspring suffered a severe arm injury, requiring Tommy John surgery. This is a significant injury for any pitcher to overcome, and it is always a risk that they will not return to pre-injury performance levels. However, Oxspring's form in the ABL so far suggests that his arm is doing alright. Oxpsring admitted that he was not sure how he was going to go after the surgery, and that his form 'has been a bit of a surprise'. He said 'you never know how it will go after Tommy John surgery, and you don't really know how successful it [the operation] has been until you start throwing'.

Oxspring certainly has started throwing, and has seen some great success, putting up a number of dominant performances for the Blue Sox so far. 'It feels as good as, if not better, than it did before the injury' he said

The Detroit Tigers interest and acquisition of Oxspring is a bit of a coup for the ABL. It demonstrates that Australian baseball can [still] provide a legitimate pathway to the majors. Oxspring said that the work he has been doing, and his performances on the field 'definitely' matter to US teams. He said his contract offer can be attributed a lot to the numbers he has put up in the ABL and that having some of his fellow Blue Sox hold links to the Tigers organisation has also helped. Andy Graham, who regularly forms the other half of the battery with Oxspring, has served the Tigers in the minor leagues for a number of years, and recently signed up to coach their short season A-ball affiliate. Also, Blue Sox manager Glenn Williams has been helping the Tigers scout the ABL on the east coast.

When asked about the reasons for the Sox success this season, Oxspring naturally talks pitching. 'We've been throwing the ball really well and good pitching always beats good hitting,' he said. 'We've had to pitch well, because we are not a side that is gonna score a boatload of runs, usually its only three or four a game. But so far all our pitchers have generally been going great'.

While they started the season very strong, the Blue Sox have just been knocked down a few pegs at the hands of a Melbourne side who has - so far - been starved of runs. The Aces piled on 30 runs in two shortened games on Sunday. Young Sydney pitchers Aaron Sookee and Todd Van Steensel bore the brunt of Melbourne's relentless attack. Sookee gave up 7 runs off 7 hits in 0.2 innings of work on Sunday, which followed up Friday night, when he gave up 4 runs off 4 hits in 0.2 innings. Van Steensel also gave up 3 runs in his one inning of work. 'We were inconsistent with our pitching,' said Oxspring when asked of the reasons for the heavy loss. 'We did make some quality pitches, but we made too many mistakes and [Melbourne] were good enough to get to us'.

As one of the veteran pitchers in the Blue Sox lineup, Oxspring has also taken on the role of pitching coach. It seems to be something that he has enjoyed. 'I am learning a lot about myself, both handling it all on the field, and off the field, and trying to get the balance right' he said. He now has the tough gig of helping the young arms pick themselves up off the canvas and get dusted off for the upcoming series. He says that while you can always find little things that went wrong in games like these, for the youngsters it is more important that they just focus on trying to learn from the experience. 'You've just got to try and learn something. You get given your medicine, you have to take it, and you have to become better for it. Some days you are gonna get beaten. They [Sookee, Van Steensel and co] just have to keep their chin up and keep working'.

The Blue Sox are heading out to Adelaide to take on the Bite this weekend. They will be looking to bounce back from last weekend's debacle. They meet a side who started the ABLOxspring of the Blue Sox plans for the series. 'We will go in like every week, do some preparation, and talk about what to expect'.

One of the danger-men awaiting Oxspring and his fellow Sydney pitchers is Quincy Latimore. Oxspring is aware of the threat he poses. 'If you look at the year he's had, right back to the Florida State League, he has had an outstanding season, and he has continued it over here', Oxspring observed. In terms of how the Sox will approach the Bite, Oxspring said that they want to make sure they don't make mistakes to guys like Latimore, and try to get after some of the hitters who aren't doing so well.

Regarding his plans for the rest of the season, Oxspring said he plans to keep on pitching through the rest of the schedule, but he is also keen to ensure he is right for Spring Training. 'If I get tired, I might tone it down a bit', he said. Entirely understandable!

The trip to the majors is always a long one for Aussie baseballers, and Oxspring's journey has involved a taste of the Show back in 2005, followed by some detours through Asia, and AAA-ball, before an injury setback. Heading back at 33, he will be one of the older guys trying to make a roster spot. His tenacity and perseverance are admirable, as is his realistic outlook and approach. 'It will be very tough battle [to earn a spot on the Tigers' major league roster', he said. 'It will take a lot of luck, and some good performances on the field'. While he would love to make the roster as a starting pitcher, Oxspring said that 'more than anything I think they'd look at me as a long reliever or a spot starter'. he says that either way, he would be happy to get the chance.

'You can't bank on anything in baseball', Oxspring opines. 'There are always injuries and challenges and guys who don't perform as well as expected, so there are lots of chances to make it. I just need to take them'.

Chris Oxspring is heading back to the US for the start of Spring Training in mid-February. Stay tuned to OZMLBPLAYERS.COM for all the latest ABL and Aussie baseball news. We wish Chris all the best for his trip, and will be following his progress closely.

A few articles, Rowland-Smith, Oxspring, Balfour

2010-12-14T08:12:00.002+11:00

Some Tuesday morning reading for you:

Roy Shelton at Net Dugout brings some analysis to the Astros decision to sign Ryan Rowland-Smith, in an interesting piece he sees quite a lot of value in the acquisition by the Astros
The Queensland Times has a chat with Chris Oxspring about his deal with the Tigers. Good to see a regional newspaper showing the big players how to do it and going beyond the standard newswire fare being peddled elsewhere. [Check back later today for details of my discussion with Oxspring yesterday]
Still no word on a Grant Balfour deal, but MLB Trade Rumours has some more contextual information.

Sunday Reading: Rowland-Smith, Oxspring deals; Trent Oeltjen, Liam Hendriks, Grant Balfour news

2010-12-11T22:25:00.007+11:00

There was plenty of news coming out of the US this week regarding Aussie baseballers. Both Ryan Rowland-Smith and Chris Oxspring secured contracts, Trent Oeltjen signed again with the Dodgers, and Grant Balfour remains without a club. Here is a round-up of some of the reports:

After parting ways with the Seattle Mariners, Ryan-Rowland Smith has signed a one-year, $725,000 deal with the Houston Astros. This generated a little media interest in Australia, including this article from Fox Sports. They must have trawled deep in the archives for that photo.
It looks like Rowland-Smith will be vying for the 5th position in the Astros' rotation. Houston has a strong first three: Roy Oswalt, Wandy Rodriguez and recently-signed Brett Myers. There are a few young guys battling it out for the 4th and 5th spot. For more info, check out Astros County.
Some Astros fans are feeling cyncial about the acquisition, checkout Crawfish Boxes to see their views.
Chris Oxspring has signed with the Detroit Tigers, with a minor league contract but with an invite to Spring Training. This story was picked up by SBS, as well as NineMSN. Oxspring was quoted as saying "I go over with a Major League invite so I will be at spring training with the Major League team and if I throw the ball well enough then I will stay longer and they will take a longer look...If I don't then I will start in Triple A (minor leagues) and give it all I've got".
Like Oxspring, Trent Oeltjen has signed a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training with the Dodgers.
In some other news this week, Perth Heat pitcher, Liam Hendriks has been getting some attention as one of the Minnesota Twins top pitching prospects. Baseball America has rated Hendriks as having the 'Best Control' in the Twins' minor league system, and has predicted that he will crack the Twins' big league squad in 2014 as their third starting pitcher [I don't quite know how they can be so precise about their predictions, but there you go]. Twins Blog Twinkie Town has named Hendriks as the Twins' number two prospect.
Grant Balfour has not yet signed a contract, following his decision to decline arbitration at the Rays. So far it seems the Orioles are the best chance of picking him up, or he could well end up staying in Tampa. While you wait to hear more, check out this interview courtesy of ESPN back in early 2010:

Q&A with Ryan Rowland-Smith

2010-12-09T22:16:00.003+11:00

2010 was a tough season for Aussie pitcher Ryan Rowland-Smith. The big left-hander came off a very strong 2009 season in which he demonstrated genuine potential to be a consistent performer and solid number 4 or 5 starter at the Major League level. He began the 2010 season as a part of the Mariners' starting rotation, but just couldn't get to the same levels as he did in 2009 and finished with a 1-10 record. He has now parted ways with the Mariners and is looking for a fresh start in 2011. He is associated with the Sydney Blue Sox in the Australian Baseball League and is back in Australia for a few weeks. Ryan recently discovered OzMLBplayers.com, and has kindly taken some time to answer a few questions about what he learned last year, and his hopes for the next season.

You have recently parted ways with the Mariners, who have played a massive role in your MLB career over the past ten years. What do you remember as being the highlights of time with the Mariners, and what are you going to miss about the club and the city?
Seattle will always be very close to me - the city and the people. There are so many good people in that organization from top to bottom that I formed great relationships with. The things I'll remember most are things like my debut at Safeco Field, and getting a standing ovation after my last start in '09.

Also the fans are amazing, even through my struggles last year they were so positive and stuck by me. I am going to miss the M fans a lot.

Which player did you learn most from, or most look up to during your time at the Mariners and why?

The one guy that stands out as being a mentor and probably the best team mate I'll ever have would have to be [ex-Mariners first baseman] Mike Sweeney. He is such an amazing human being inside the dugout and in the clubhouse. The guy makes every situation better, he would be the first guy I would go to when times got tough. When I am a veteran guy I really hope I can take on his leadership qualities.

Have you been following the ABL much? Who do you rate as young up and coming Aussie pitchers?

I have been trying to, now that I can follow your website it will be easier [nice plug Ryan - thanks!]. I have looked up the rosters and done some research on the young guys who I look forward to meet. There are a lot of new names which seem to grab some hype so I want to see what they're all about.

2010 was obviously a bit of a contrast to 2009, you seemed to get stronger and stronger as 2009 went on, and fought back well from a couple of set backs. What is your plan to try and reach the same success you did in 2009? If 2011 shapes up the same way 2010 did, would you do anything different, and if so, what?

Sure was a contrast! It's amazing how an experience like the 2010 season can really make you work on changing physiologically. In 2009 I really had trust in myself as far as trusting in my mechanics and trusting that my fastball, change up, whatever the pitch I was throwing would beat the hitter, I had a mind set of going after guys, attacking the strike zone and backing my plan.

In 2010 I lost confidence, I tried to be perfect on every pitch, I listened to way too many opinions and lost what got me to the big leagues and gave me success, [that is] competing and having a screw you attitude.

As for 2011 being the same as 2010, I already know that it won't [happen]. Whoever gets me in 2011 gets the real me and not the imposter that went out every 5th day last year. That is number one on my goal list: to prove a point, and that's what I plan on doing.

You have chosen to do a lot of training with some MMA gyms, is there any chance of you stepping into the octagon? Are you a fan of the UFC or other MMA? Who do you follow? What attracted you to MMA?

HAHA, no Octagon for me. Maybe in a few years. [I will] try baseball out first.

I have tried all different types of training, baseball movement's hitting or pitching is an explosive movement, MMA provides that. I got introduced to the group I am training with last year when I met Randy Couture. Randy told me about a program him and his partner Jay Glazer put together for athletes called MMATHLETICS. So this off season after struggling, I wanted to put myself around some of the most mentally tough people I could, and that was it. Jay Glazer has been putting me through tough workouts four times a week.

As well as being some of the toughest workouts physically I have ever done, which leave you laying on a ground in sweat with your guts spinning, it is a huge physiological boost - which I was in desperate need of. Those guys can't be scared or unsure of themselves in their sport.

I have never felt so in control of my mind when it comes to competing, which through my experience will be huge for me in 2011.

As far as watching the UFC, I am a lot more into after [now] being around MMA. I posted a pic on twitter a few nights ago of Cooper Gibson, who also trains me. [He's] a 20 year old who works his ass off and hopefully we will see him on a UFC card soon.

What are your plans for the rest of 2010? When are you heading back to the States?
I am spending Christmas with my family, my girlfriend Amanda and her parents probably up on the Gold Coast. I will be working out, throwing, and hopfully checking out a few Blue Sox games. [I will] return to LA to continue workouts there on the 10th of January .

Thanks to Ryan for being generous with his time and for offering some insights into his plans for 2011. I look forward to seeing how things pan out over the next few months. It would be great to see him in a Blue Sox uniform throwing down some nasty stuff at the Perth lineup in a few weeks time - I suppose we will have to wait and see what happens.

Chris Oxspring signs with the Tigers

2010-12-09T21:27:00.002+11:00

Sydney Blue Sox starting pitcher, 33-year old Chris Oxspring has signed a minor-league deal with the Detroit Tigers. Oxspring, who was born in Ipswich, has previously played a handful of games with the Padres back in 2005. He has also spent a lot of time pitching in the Korean and Japanese leagues at the LG Twins and the Hanshin Tigers. He is currently the pitching coach and number one starter for the Sydney Blue Sox in the new Australian Baseball League, and has had a dominant start to the season.

His stat line in the season so far is nothing short of impressive. He has 5 starts, with a record of 3-0, his ERA is only 0.79 over 34 innings, and he has struck out 36. Admittedly, he is a very experienced guy pitching against a lot of younger, less experienced players, but having watched him live, it is clear his command and control has been very sharp.

Commenting on the acquisition, the Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski [somewhat amusingly] said:

“We grew our operation [in the South Pacific] over the last few years...We added (international operations director) Tom Moore and added the right people. We are definitely signing more players from the Far East".

I don't know that we are quite in the Far East! Leaving that aside, it is a great achievement by Oxspring and perhaps an endorsement that the ABL is a valid US-winter league that can generate interest and attention in Major League Baseball.

We will be sure to follow Chris's journey to the States and his performance at Spring Training and keep you informed here!

More interesting news - RRS and Mariners part ways

2010-12-06T20:01:00.005+11:00

Hot on the heels of Grant Balfour's decision to decline arbitration with the Rays comes news that Ryan Rowland-Smith and the Seattle Mariners have parted ways.

Like Balfour, Rowland-Smith was eligible for arbitration this year. However the deadline for tendering contracts to arbitration-eligible players passed late last week. Geoff Baker from The Seattle Times reports that the Mariners made him a contract offer, but did not guarantee it - meaning that RRS would have to make the team out of Spring Training. Rowland-Smith turned down the offer, as it did not meet his terms. This means that he is now a free agent. It is not clear exactly what terms it was that were not satisfactory, but it could be related to money or to this 'non-guaranteed' element.

According to Baker, the way the system usually works is that performance does not really factor into offers like the one made to Rowland-Smith, so even though he did not perform well last year, someone in his situation would ordinarily expect a pay increase. It seems the Mariners may not have offered an increase that met his expectations.

Baker reports that Rowland-Smith said 'I felt that despite the rough year I had, being 27 and being healthy, and taking steps to prevent what happened from happening again, I felt like the contract they were offering me didn't match my expectations'. Rowland-Smith also told Baker that he has no hard feelings about leaving Seattle, but is excited about his future prospects.

There appears to be no word yet about potential clubs for Rowland-Smith to join. He is currently doing a lot of training in the LA area, so perhaps a move to a Californian team could be on the cards?

Interview with Blue Sox outfielders Mitch Dening and David Kandilas

2010-12-05T21:19:00.008+11:00

Before the rain fell down on Blacktown Olympic Park on Saturday, drowning any hope of the Aces and Blue Sox taking the field, I had a chance to sit down with Blue Sox up-and-comers Mitch Dening and David Kandilas to talk about their progress this year, life on the road, playing every day in the States, and their hopes for 2011. Both Kandilas and Dening have had solid starts to the ABL season - both in offense and defense, and both will be looking to have a productive and positive season in 2011.

As at Saturday, David Kandilas was leading the way for Sydney with a .333 average and four RBIs. He was second in the league in on base percentage, with .463 - having picked up six walks in addition to his hits, with only one strikeout. He has also swiped three bases. Kandilas was signed by the Rockies as a teenager and, now 20, he has played two seasons of Rookie Ball.

Mitch Dening has a couple of years on Kandilas, and has four years of minor league experience in the Red Sox organisation. So far this season he has gone 13 for 46 (.250) with two doubles, one home run and six RBIs.

The Blue Sox warm up before the Aces doubleheader

Since Dening and Kandilas have had a couple of years overseas, I asked them what it was like to be back playing baseball in Australia. They are both enjoying the league here, and they commented that playing in the ABL is a lot more relaxed than overseas - there is less pressure, less travel and a more relaxed, positive feeling about the league. However, even though they have a respite from some of the day to day rigours of the US summer, neither Dening nor Kandilas is treating their time at home as a holiday. Dening is working hard towards improving his strength and power for next season, and Kandilas is working on strength and fitness.

One of the big differences between the ABL and US minor league baseball is that US leagues play every day. Kandilas played about 30 regular season games last year, and Dening played about 120. Plus each played around 20 games in Spring Training. Both players agree that it is fantastic to play every day, but they also know it is a tough slog. Dening talked about the fact that so much time is spent traveling and training, and it is difficult to eat well and stay fresh. Kandilas also lamented at the 'ten hour bus drives' and talked about how he had improvised a small mattress to catch some sleep on the long bus trips.

The hard work is worthwhile though, as there are plenty more opportunities to get noticed. Although they are playing in the lower levels of professional baseball, both Dening and Kandilas found there were big fan bases and crowds at their US games. 'Being in the Red Sox organisation, you get big crowds. There are Red Sox fans everywhere', said Dening, whose team the Salem Red Sox regularly had crowds of around 5,000 last year. Kandilas said that the Rockies were not quite as popular, but there were definitely big fan bases.

Dening did some work with the Boston Red Sox Major League squad during spring training last year, and his progression through four levels of minor league baseball in four seasons confirms that his performance and growth is being recognised. He said it is really beneficial having Australian connections in the Red Sox organisations. 'It's great having guys like Jon Deeble [Australian coach] and Craig Shipley [Australian former Major Leaguer] involved with the Red Sox. They help out us Aussies and can mention our names in meetings and help us get noticed'.

Mitch Dening on Blacktown Olympic Park

Both Kandilas and Dening are looking to demonstrate their commitment and work ethic in their time in Australia, and expect their US-based teams to notice. Dening said he is looking to improve his strength. 'I need to start to drive the ball harder and hit some more home runs rather than hitting for average', he said. 'Obviously the higher you climb in the leagues, the harder it gets', said Dening, and for this reason it is more important to hit with power. Dening was modest when asked about his chances for promotion again this year, saying that he doesn't 'expect' it, but that he hopes that the Red Sox will see the hard work he has put in during the off-season and look to reward him. He said that there can be a lot of pressure as 'once you have shown you can perform at one level, they expect it then, you have to keep improving', he said.

For his part, Kandilas is taking it one step at a time. He is hoping to get some greater exposure next year, and to step up to the Class A full season league.

When asked about the quality of the competition in the ABL, Dening remarked that it is close to the standard experienced in the US. Both Dening and Kandilas noted that some of the pitching they have faced has been strong. 'There are quite a few pitchers who throw hard,' Dening said. 'Adam Blackley throws hard, Ryan Searle throws hard, the Brisbane bullpen is pretty good, and some of the Japanese pitchers we've faced have been tough too'.

Thanks to Mitch and David for taking time out to chat with me, and thanks also to the Blue Sox for arranging it all. I also had a quick chat to Blue Sox GM Eddie Bray, who was working hard to get things ready pre-game, however was kind enough to introduce himself. It sounds like things are going well with the Blue Sox, and Eddie has been gathering some ideas for making improvements in 2011.

All up, both guys presented as very focused and driven and it will be exciting to see what they can produce in 2011. It is clear that Dening knows what he wants - to play big league baseball - and he is prepared to put his head down and work hard to get there. Kandilas was quiet and pretty unassuming young guy, who obviously enjoys his baseball and is happy to take it as it comes at the moment. These two guys represent some of Australia's top prospects, and we will be sure to keep an eye on them through the 2011 season.

Postscript - I asked Dening about about the Bowman baseball card which is printed with his name and stats, but with Chris Snelling's picture:

Bowman 2009 error card

It is standard fare for Topps to print error cards - either through 'strategy' or ineptitude. Either way, Dening was not all that impressed by this effort. He said that he has seen the card and have had a few people ask him to sign it. He was pleased that Bowman have brought out another card which has got his photo on it, as he was pretty annoyed when he first learned of the card. In saying that, he was also quick to mention that Snelling was 'a great guy' and he had a great time hanging out with his fellow Central Coaster at the World Baseball Classic.

Some interesting Grant Balfour news

2010-12-01T23:29:00.003+11:00

Interesting news coming out of the US today suggests that Grant Balfour - who has pitched the last few seasons at Tampa Bay - has declined arbitration of his contract. In short, he is looking to get a better deal.

The whole Major League Baseball players collective bargaining agreement is a complicated affair (you can learn more here at Cot's Baseball Contracts). Basically - if you have earned enough service in the big leagues, you are entitled to have your contract 'arbitrated' if you are not able to negotiate a new deal at the end of your term. At aribitration, each side puts forward figures for the contract value. They negotiate the contract in front of a 3-man panel who then awards the player a one-year, non-guaranteed contract at one salary or the other.

Balfour's contract is expiring, so the Rays recently offered him arbitration. However, he has declined the offer.

What does this mean for Balfour?

The Rays have quite a number of well-credentialed relievers on the books. They face quite a challenge trying to hold on to them all. Balfour has had a couple of good years, and is [rightfully] looking to cash in on his success. Balfour has expressed some disappointment that Tampa Bay have not been forthcoming with an offer already. According to the St Petersburg Times, he said he would be happy to continue at the Rays, but would have hoped to have heard some sort of offer by now.

His solid numbers over the past few seasons rank him highly among the current market of relievers. This puts him in a strong bargaining position. For these reasons, it seems he could expect to do better than he would through arbitration.

One risk that he is taking is the fact that he is a 'Type A' Free Agent. This means that any team who signs him will have to give up a draft pick. This might be something that would stop a smaller market team signing him. However there are plenty of big-market teams on the lookout for relievers like Balf, including the Yankees, and you would think that loss of a draft pick might not be such a big deal for them.

What happens now?

Balfour will probably begin shopping around to see what sort of deal he can get. This may be at the Rays, or it may be elsewhere. The St Petersburg Times reports he said "I'll take my chances on what I've done the past few years, I believe there's a multi-year deal out there for me.''

It will be interesting to see how it goes, and hopefully Grant can secure himself a long term deal. Stay tuned!

Thoughts on Blue Sox vs Bandits doubleheader

2010-11-28T21:20:00.009+11:00

Last night the Brisbane Bandits met the Sydney Blue Sox at the Blacktown Olympic Park for a doubleheader. There was a lot of really good baseball played, and both games were very close - despite the scoreline in the second game.

As we drove in to the park, hoping that it was not going to rain, I noticed two things that were different from the last game I attended. Firstly, the 'Standing Room Only' signs were up, which was great. And secondly, they have started giving out these neat little parking tickets:

The crowd at the game was really good, probably due to the fact there were a heap of kids there. The ground announcer and the team mascot got a lot stronger responses than they had previously. The second game got really close late in the game and the crowd was cheering and clapping as each pitch was delivered. A few 'rally sox' were also seen circulating wildly. This is all great to see, it seems a real pity when you get into a real close situation in the game and the crowd just sits there. Hopefully as the season goes on, this will continue to improve.

Off the field, it continues to be a well-run operation. Like the other games I have been to, the Sox continued to have the batting tunnels and other kids activities available, as well as a pretty good range of food. The Blue Sox have taken on board some fan feedback, and they now have a wider range of beer available - nice one!

The CEO of the ABL, Peter Wermuth was seen among the crowd at the game. At one stage he was leading around a delegation of US visitors, showing the facilities and talking about some of the work they are doing to bring the game to life. Later in the night he was sitting among the fans behind home plate watching the action unfold.

Now, to the on field action.

Friday night's game had seen the Bandits give the Blue Sox quite a resounding 6-1 loss. Game One of the doubleheader last night saw a very close affair, with neither side able to assert themselves offensively. For the Blue Sox, David Welch was dominant - striking out eight over six innings of work. Ryan Searle was pretty good for the Bandits, and I am a little surprised his record is now 3-0. He kept the Sox pretty quiet, and their first run came off a balk in the third inning. Some good situational hitting from Tim Auty plated another in the third, and the Sox also scored in the sixth inning courtesy of a Boss Moanaroa double which was followed up by a single to Michael Lysaught.

Predictably, Koo came on to close things out for the Blue Sox in the seventh. While he allowed one run, there was never much doubt, and he punched out Ryan Battaglia to end the game - Sox won 3-1.

The second game was interesting. Chris Oxspring started out very strongly, with six strikeouts over the first five innings. By the sixth inning, the Sox had picked up three runs and were sailing quite comfortably. The Bandits then picked up a few runs in the sixth, thanks mainly to a big double from David Sutherland.

I didn't pick up on this during the game, but reviewing the box score now I see that Chris Mowday retired 14 of the 15 Blue Sox hitters that he faced. All he gave up was a walk to David Kandilas. In five games against the Blue Sox, Mowday has pitched 7.1 innings, allowing 5 hits and 0 runs. He has struck out six, and that walk to Kandilas was his first walk of the season.

Wow.

The game was decided in the top of the eleventh, when some plucky hitting from Wade Dutton and Shuhei Fukuda led to the Bandits having runners on two and three and none out. The Blue Sox then intentionally walked Brad Dutton. Akira Nakamura stepped in and slotted a neat sac fly to Mitch Dening in centre field, allowing Wade Dutton to score. Josh Roberts then popped out, and there was 2 out, with the Blue Sox looking at a 4-3 deficit going into the bottom of the inning. Sox reliever Matt Williams - who had managed to avoid any major dramas, despite finding it hard to find the zone early - then composed himself and struck out Mitch Nilsson.

However, Pat Maat spilled the ball, and by the time he regathered it, rose to his feet and started moving, the fleet footed young Nilsson had zipped up the line and made it safe to first.

Disappointing, but surely just a bump in the road....

David Sutherland steps in, and hits a hard - although regulation - grounder to Michael Lysaught at short. Lysaught had not had a great night, grounding into two double plays. He bobbled the ball and was unable to make the short throw to second to secure the force out and end the inning. Shuhei Fukuda scored, taking it to 5-3 Bandits.

This was the beginning of the end for the Blue Sox. Rory Rhodes singled, plating two. Andrew Campbell hit a towering double to left field, plating another two, and Wade Dutton and Shuhei Fukuda picked up singles, scoring more. Brad Dutton then hit a double to right field to score another two. By the end of the massacre, it was 12-3 to the Bandits.

Funnily enough we went from a tied game to a potential mercy rule situation in the space of half an inning. It just does to show that errors lose baseball games. All up, both teams scored three earned runs. The difference was Brisbane's nine unearned runs.

While the scoreline didn't flatter the Blue Sox, the game was pretty good quality.

The Bandits seem to have a reasonably good pitching side. The Bandits currently lead the league in ERA with 2.56. Their bullpen is pretty solid, with Mowday, Morriss, Veitch and Stockman pitching very well. Mowday was just outstanding. I was desperately waiting for him to stuff something up, or go for a big hit, so I could call out and tell him to get a haircut - but it just didn't happen. He had a strong impact on the game, and really took the wind out of the Blue Sox hitters. As long as their hitters can fire - like they did in game two tonight - the Bandits pitching will keep them in the game.

Elsewhere, it was great to see the Melbourne Aces finally get their home opener in the book after some washouts earlier this weekend. They did it in style, beating the Cavalry twice today. I look forward to next weekend when the Blue Sox take them on at BOP.

For more pictures from Saturday's games, check out this album.

Blue Sox vs Bandits: Craig Anderson to take the mound

2010-11-21T13:13:00.004+11:00

The Blue Sox give the ball to Craig Anderson today as they try to tie the series against the Bandits. Read more about Craig here.

6 Ways to Get the Most Out of a Trip to the Ball Game

2010-11-21T11:50:00.036+11:00

Now that the Australian Baseball League is back, a whole new generation of Aussie sports fans is getting the opportunity to enjoy high quality professional baseball. Since baseball is not one of the more widely known sports in Australia, there is a lack of general understanding of how to enjoy a baseball game. Going to the cricket or the footy is a staple of any young Aussie sports fan's diet. However, baseball is a little different and new. With that in mind, here are 6 Ways to Get the Most Out of a Trip to the Ball Game.

1. Take the kids and spend some time trying to souvenir a foul ball

Any kid who has spent time at a professional baseball game will tell you one of the best parts is trying to get your hands on a foul ball. At most Australian sports, such as any code of football, or cricket, spectators are required to return any balls that have left the field of play. This is not so at a game of baseball, and in any game, many dozens of balls are hit out of the field of play. Every time a hitter hits a foul ball out of play, it's fair game for anyone nearby.

I look back very fondly on the old Australian Baseball League, where games were played at Parramatta Stadium, back before the stadium was fully developed as it is now. Many a foul ball was hit onto the hill, and it was always a mad scramble to be the first kid to take the catch [or to come out of the ensuing scrum with the ball in hand]. What better way to improve a young whippersnapper's agility, catching ability and speed than by encouraging him (or her!) to try and snare a souvenir at the game.

2. Get to the game early and watch batting practice

Many teams warm up their hitters on the ground about an hour or so before game time. This can be a great way for you to appreciate the skill and power of the players. It is also a good way to kick back, and to see the players in a more relaxed setting. Usually at this time the crowd has not built up, so you have plenty of room to move around and find somewhere comfortable. The players too will be feeling relaxed. It can be interesting to watch them go through certain drills - trying to hit the ball to a certain side of the field, or simply hitting for power. Watching batting practice is a great way to develop an understanding of the strengths of your team's offense.

3. Focus on one aspect of the game and watch it closely

Baseball is a multi-dimensional game. At any time there are at least two things going on: a hitter trying to successfully reach base, and a defense trying to stop him. Once runners reach base, different elements of the game come in to play as well. The pitcher and catcher concentrate on keeping baserunners honest. Position players adjust their alignment depending on the situation, and coaches put on different plays. Different situations have different tactics and strategies, and complex signalling is used to communicate with the players

If you are learning about the game, pick one aspect of the game and watch it closely. You could focus on hitting - look at where the hitter hits the ball, was it a deliberate ploy to hit it there? Did he produce anything from his effort, even if he got out himself? Can you figure out what sort of pitch he prefers to hit?

Or, you could focus on defense. Where do the infielders stand at certain times? How does it change as the game progresses?

One of the reasons I love baseball is that EVERY player has a role to play EVERY time the ball is put in play. When the hitter smashes the ball to deep center field - the centerfielder clearly has a job to do, but so does the first baseman, the pitcher, and the players on the infield. Similarly, even on a ground ball to third base, the outfielders should be moving.

Don't feel you have to watch the ball all the time. You can also pick out a position and watch it every play. This will help show all the defensive assignments each position undertakes during the game. This can also be interesting as it will highlight which players work hard during the game, and which players get lazy.
4. Enjoy the cuisine

They say 'when in Rome, do as the Romans do'. Well, when you're at a baseball game, you should do as the Americans do - have a hot dog and a beer. You could grab a dog and a cold one to watch batting practice or the opening pitch. Or, you could take a minute to run to the food stand during a slow point in the game (yes, they do happen). Or, you could do both!!!

Hot dog.

Beer.

Baseball.

A marriage of three great American pastimes.

5. Learn how to keep score

A baseball game usually takes more than two or three hours, and by its very nature is going to see each hitter get at least three shots at the plate. Most fields have reasonable quality scoreboards and ground announcers, however trying to remember what happened to each hitter each time they appeared will take a superhuman effort. To get the best information about the game, there is no better option than to score it yourself.

There are a wide range of scoring methods - ranging from very simple to very complex. A simple approach might track only the outcome of each at-bat, whereas a complex system will capture details of every pitch thrown.

The advantage of scoring yourself is that you get a great understanding of exactly what each hitter did each time they appeared. This can add to your experience late in the game when you can recall what happened last time the hitter appeared, and assess how the defense might approach the situation.

Often when I have gone to the game and have not kept score myself, I find myself in the later innings asking 'what did he do last time?' or 'has he got a hit?'. Taking along a scorecard means this is never a problem, and it can be a conversation starter for those around you - as you can bet that they will have the same questions.

You can learn how to score a baseball game at About.com, or at BaseballScorecard.com, which also provides a range of free scorecards to download.

6. Get close to the action

Perhaps the best thing to do at the game is to wander around to different vantage points and get up close to the action. The power, control and speed shown by professional baseballers is impressive. To get the best sense of the athleticism, see if you can get a good spot close behind the catcher. Alternatively get close to the bullpen and watch the pitchers warming up. At most grounds in Australia it is possible to get within metres of the pitchers, so you can really get an appreciation of just how hard and effectively they throw the ball. You can also get in nice and close for a good sledge if you are that way inclined.

Most teams in the ABL will also spend some time after the game chatting with fans and giving autographs. If you have picked up a program, or managed to snare a foul ball, drop by the dugout after the game and pick up a few autographs - you never know, some of the guys running round the ABL might crack the big time down the track, and you will be able to say you were there when they were roughing it!

Got any other suggestions on how to enjoy a baseball game? Leave a comment below or let me know on twitter @ozmlbplayers

Who is Quincy Latimore?

2010-11-20T23:42:00.002+11:00

Two weeks into the Australian Baseball League competition, one player who has consistently excelled offensively has been the Adelaide Bite's Quincy Latimore. Through seven games, he is 12-for-29 (.414 average) with 4 home runs and 10 RBIs, and 2 stolen bases. As I am writing this, he has started off proceedings against the Heat by slapping an RBI double! So who is this kid?

The 21-year-old hails from Raleigh, North Carolina and was a 4th round draft pick for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2007 draft. Since then, he has played four years in the Pirates' minor league system and in 2010 he had a bit of a breakout year. Playing for the Bradenton Marauders in the high-A Florida State League, Latimore led the league in RBIs, with 100, and was second in the league in homers, with 19. He was also successful in 11 of 12 stolen base attempts. He was nominated for the high-A Best Hitter award.

Baseball Prospectus ranks him in the top 20 Pirates Prospects, but says that his 'horrible approach' holds him back. PiratesProspects.com also commented that Latimore's strikeout figures need improving - but recognised that he has power.

Since mid-2009 Bucs fans have debated whether or not he is a legitimate prospect for making it to the big leagues. His detractors focus on poor plate disicipline and walk rates - that is, he strikes out too much. They also emphasised his fielding and baserunning as weaknesses. As he started to hit his straps during the 2010 season, some suggested that a helpful hitting home field could have contributed to his improved numbers.

You can read an interview with Quincy at Envision Sports Media. He talks about his focus on improving his hitting, his aspirations to progress through the minor leagues, and his commitment to religion.

Regardless of whether he is a legitimate prospect or not, Latimore is certainly an exciting player to watch, and a great feature of the ABL. His time in Australia will hopefully give him some good experience and the opportunity to face a few high-calibre pitchers, and one would think he would be aiming to get some time in Double-A ball next year. So get out to an Adelaide game and check him out.

Blue Sox Game 3: Call the Cavalry, Blue Sox bats, Canberra errors invoke mercy rule

2010-11-14T01:48:00.003+11:00

The third game of the Blue Sox-Cavalry series was played out tonight, with the Blue Sox getting the job done 13-3 in humid conditions at Blacktown Olympic Park. The game was very different from the first two games in the series. Perhaps it was the hot, wet air that had descended on the Park, but there were quite a few unorthodox plays and situations. Sydney showed that their lineup has some depth, with 8 of their hitters picking up hits. For Canberra, there were some positives offensively, but a few defensive lapses and some inconsistent pitching was enough to take the game away.

The teams took the field for the national anthem

The Blue Sox showed that they are a team who can get the ball in play and capitalise on the opportunities given to them. The scoreboard suggests that they really gave the Cavalry a flogging, but this was not really the case. They put the ball in play and ran hard. They were patient in the box when the Cavalry pitchers were struggling. All in all, they played smart baseball. Lundgren's outing was very solid, giving up only 3 hits and 2 walks over 5 innings, and striking out 4. Also impressive were Alex Johnson, who looked strong in the batting box; Mark Holland, who picked up three RBIs courtesy of his sixth inning double, and; David Kandilas, who continued to impress in all aspects - solid as a rock in right field, and a reliable and pesky nine hitter.

It wasn't all bad for the Cavalry. Steve Kent showed strong form again, it is just a shame he is not going longer into the game. While he struggled in the field, Michael Collins was handy with the bat, picking up three hits. Donald Lutz and Tom Vincent also showed some promise with the bat. The game might have ended differently if it wasn't for a few unfortunate defensive lapses in the sixth.

It looks like Glenn Williams is pretty settled on his lineup, but tonight he gave Boss Moanaroa a rest, giving Alex Johnson the start at first base. The Cavalry lineup was a little different to the lineup from the opener last week, with Michael Collins joining the team behind the dish, and a few other positional shifts coming in as a result.

Since this was not the season opener, much of the pomp and ceremony was missing tonight, although it was still a reasonably slick presentation. The crowd was officially shown as just under a thousand, but it seemed pretty full and vocal from where I sat. There were no fireworks today, and no ex-Australian Idol contestant to sing the national anthem - although this was probably a good thing, at least we got all the words. The ground announcing and the music was good, but some special effects were playing up. One thing that is a negative is the beer. Not good Blue Sox. Not good at all. This 'Rocks Brewing Company' or whatever it is is not going to pick up any market share by force feeding the stuff to the patrons at Blue Sox games - sorry!

The crowd during the early innings of tonight's game

Wayne Lundgren took the mound for the Blue Sox, and started positively, retiring the side in order in the first. He showed plenty of control and power and threw only about half a dozen pitches in the first. Trent D'Antonio then stepped up to lead off the bottom of the inning with standing double to deep center. Things looked positive when this was backed up by a walk to Tim Auty. At this stage, Cavalry Ace Steve Kent looked a bit shaky and was having trouble finding the zone. With runners on one and two with none out, Mitch Dening then hit a deep fly ball to center, which allowed D'Antonio to progress to third. The old coach's adage of trying to score one run per inning looked a sure bet, until Pat 'Kwik-E' Maat stepped in and promptly grounded into an inning ending double play.

The top of the second came up, and I was excited to see Michael Collins play, as I have loosely followed his minor league travels over the past couple of years. And of course, any Aussie who features on a baseball card is a winner in my books [I am easily pleased], and Mikey happens to grace quite a few:

He left a good impression in the top of the second [though later in the game he had some defensive difficulties, more on that later] - hitting a crisp single to left field. He the crossed the plate, following a hit to Tom Vincent and a couple of ground outs. Kent then came out and retired the Blue Sox without much trouble, and the Cavalry led 1-0 after two innings.

The third inning saw Lundgren maintain his effectiveness, retiring the Cavalry without score despite a couple of walks. Like in the first game of the series, Steve Kent was then pulled from the game, to be replaced with veteran knuckleballer Phil Brassington.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the introduction of the knuckleballer was when things started to get a bit strange. Brassington had a little trouble finding the zone against the first hitter he faced - Dave Kandilas - and eventually hit him with a 2-2 fastball. Collins was having a little of trouble behind the dish, and bobbled quite a few of Brassington's knucklers. The walk to Kandilas brought up the top of the order, with D'Antonio stepping in. His patient approach drew him a walk, which moved Kandilas over to second. Brassington reverted to a few more fastballs [although 'straightball' would probably be closer to the mark], but still couldn't hit the zone with Tim Auty. He managed to throw one that got away from Collins, which moved the runners over. Auty then proceeded to smack single to left field, scoring both Kandilas and D'Antonio, and advancing to second on the throw.

Brassington then started to hit his straps some more, and struck out both Mitch Dening and Pat 'Kwik-E' Maat - but not before throwing another wild pitch, which allowed Auty to progress to third. Andy Graham then drove a single to left field, bringing in Auty, and taking it to 3-1 Blue Sox.

Another passed ball saw Graham move over to two. Then it was time for the Blue Sox to show that it was not just the Cavalry who could play some strange ball. Alex Johnson hit a strong shot out to right field, which brought Andy Graham home. Johnson though tried to make it to second, but was caught out by a strong throw from Collins to Didi Gregorius standing on second base.

The fourth and fifth innings passed without much to write home about. The top of the Canberra lineup really failed to get firing. In the bottom of the fifth, the Cavalry replaced Brassington with the younger, faster, Michael Lennox. With one out, Pat Maat earned a walk, and Andy Graham then hit a regulation double play ball straight to second baseman Andrew Schmidt. Schmidt tried to be a bit clever by passing the ball with his glove hand to Gregorius to turn the double. This was definitely one of those 'it seemed like a great idea at the time' moments for Schmidt, but it failed dismally, leaving Gregorius to be cleaned up royally by the rampaging Pat Maat, who came bustling into second. Alex Johnson then loaded the bases with a single to center, but Lennox was able to strike out Lysaught and Holland to end the inning.

The sixth inning was where this game was won and lost. The top of the inning was an exciting affair. The Blue Sox handed the ball to Shane Benson, and the Cavalry looked to Michael Collins again to lead things off. He did so, with a well hit single out to right field. Tom Vincent then stepped in and hit what should have been a routine double play ball. However, a deflection off Benson's glove meant second baseman Mark Holland was not able to get his balance, and he bobbled the ball, allowing Collins to progress to two, while Vincent reached first. Donald Lutz then stepped in and hit a booming fly ball to right field. If ever there was a play that highlighted why it would be great to have video screens available for replays at the BOP, it was this one. Collins and Vincent took off, both looking to score on the play, and Vincent showed real speed - both he and Collins came tumbling around third at the same time - Vincent literally in Collins' back pocket. Meanwhile, young David Kandilas, who has been really impressive in the field, snared the ball quickly and fired it in to Pat Maat at the plate. Maat turned to see not one, but two runners bearing down on him. Somehow Collins managed to avoid the tag and score safely, but Vincent barrelled straight into him and was given out, as Maat managed to hold on to the ball.

In the bottom of the sixth - no doubt as a reflection on his troubles handling things behind the dish - Michael Collins was moved to first base, with Kyle Perkins coming in to catch. However, Collins was not able to avoid the action - on the first play Dave Kandilas smacked a hard hit ball to third. Cavalry third baseman Kyu-Hyun Moon did a great job of picking up the ball, but he threw it in the dirt to Collins at one. It was not an easy scoop, but one that most first basemen would get, but it was not Collins' night and he dropped it. Lucky for him the error was scored against Moon.

D'Antonio then struck out looking at a high fastball [hard luck after a 9-pitch at bat]. Tim Auty stepped in, and began striking some nails into the Cavalry coffin. Auty reached on a fielder's choice when Moon tried [and failed] to get Kandilas out at home. Dening was then out on an amazing catch to left fielder Seung-Hwa Lee to prevent him reaching base. So, with two outs Pat Maat stepped up and got a hit to center, moving Auty to second. Pinch hitter Josh Dean then drew a walk to load the bases. Another wild pitch scored Auty and moved the other runners around, and Alex Johnson then walked to load the bases. Michael Lysaught then walked too, and this was enough for Canberra manager Steve Schrenk, who replaced Lennox with Luke Wilkins.

Wilkins did no favours for Lennox, serving up a fat pitch which Blue Sox second baseman Mark Holland feasted on - sending it screaming out to the left field warning track and clearing the bases. If that wasn't bad enough, David Kandilas then reached base for the second time in the inning, this time on a missed catch to right fielder Tom Vincent. D'Antonio then slapped a hit to center, and Auty reached base again when Moon booted a grounder. Eventually they managed to retire the side when Dening hit a weak grounder to short, which put Auty out at two. In the end, the Blue Sox came away with 8 runs, off 3 hits, 3 walks, 2 errors and a wild pitch.

The sixth inning for the Blue Sox was punctuated by a lot of little blue boxes - with eight runs coming in all up

Benson then closed out the Cavalry in the top of the seventh, and although Schmidt managed to score on a Michael Collins single, it wasn't enough, and the mercy rule was invoked. I was a little surprised when the announcer came on to say the game was over. There was a large Korean contingent present in the crowd, and like them I was looking forward to seeing Koo make a mess of the lefty-heavy Canberra lineup. But it wasn't to be tonight.

All in all it has been a dominant performance from the Blue Sox. They will face off against the Cavalry in the series finale Sunday at 1.30pm.

Bandits blitz heat while the Bite hold all the Aces

2010-11-12T16:40:00.003+11:00

Week Two of the ABL teed off last night, with Adelaide beating a disappointing Melbourne 9-1 and the Bandits beating the Heat 8-3.

It seems that the crowds came out in fair numbers like the did for the Sydney opener last week. There were more than 1500 at both games. It seems there was a fair bit of feedback given from those in attendance at Brisbane, with the temporary benches and the PA system drawing some criticism.

Like the Blue Sox/Cavalry game last week, strong pitching was a key element of last nights games, with the exception of Melbourne. Paul Mildren dominated for the Bite, holding the Aces scoreless for seven innings while striking out five. For the Bandits, James Albury went 5 innings, allowing 4 walks but only 4 hits and 2 unearned runs.

Bite beat disappointing Melbourne, strong performance from brisbane.

crowd sizes - feedback re brisbane game

player performances
who was good

more than 1500 in brisbane

The Bandits christened their campaign with Lloyd, a relief pitcher with the New York Yankees in their 1996 and 1998 World Series wins, throwing the first ceremonial pitch to Bandits manager and Australian great Dave Nilsson.

brisbane management happy:

Bandits’ general manager Paul Gonzalez said he was nervous before the start of the game, but happy with the result.

“The energy in the RNA and the ballpark was fantastic,” he said. “We sell good baseball…and Australia has been starving for good baseball.”

ABL Chief Executive Officer Paul Wermuth was pleased with the size of the opening night crowd.

“Given the game was on a Thursday night, and that we announced the venue a very short time ago, we’re very pleased with the crowd,” he said.

“It’s only going to build from here and it was a great night, and RNA is such a great place…and it was a great level of baseball.”

ABL takes second steps

2010-11-11T19:40:00.004+11:00

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.

ABL Game 1: Blue Sox open up the season with a win

2010-11-07T01:57:00.003+11:00

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.

ABL players in the news

2010-11-04T21:49:00.002+11:00

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!

The Arrival

2010-11-04T21:15:00.002+11:00

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.

ABL secures TV coverage on One HD and Foxtel?

2010-11-01T21:07:00.003+11:00

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:

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.

The ABL: Season launch and local media roundup

2010-10-29T21:41:00.002+11:00

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.

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/

I particularly liked this mean looking shot of Chris Oxspring:

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!

The ABL has been given new life

2010-10-24T23:56:00.002+11:00

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.

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.

Update on Aussies at MLB Spring Training

2010-03-17T21:08:00.009+11:00

Time sure flies.

The 2010 Major League Baseball season is just around the corner, and this year there are 11 Aussies participating in Spring Training camps. Many of these players would be considered close to certain in terms of making Opening Day rosters, but there are quite a few who are trying to bust into a slot.

This time last year there were 10 Aussies in Spring Training. With Justin Huber moving on to Japanese baseball, and Phil Stockman being released, there are some changes to the mix of players vying for spots.

We've got it all covered here at OzMLBplayers! Here is your update on how things are shaping up for Aussies this year.

Grant Balfour RHP at the Rays,who signed a US$2.05m 1 year deal in December, will be expecting to start the 2010 season as a strong member of the Rays' bullpen . Balfour's 2009 season was probably not as strong as his 2008 breakout year. With the Rays signing Rafael Soriano from the Braves, chances are Balf will have less opportunities for saves, and more late inning setup work. His spring is off to a bit of a rough start, giving up 6 earned runs in 3.2 innings. I'm not sure if he is working on some new pitches or something that might affect these numbers, but time will tell.

Ryan Rowland-Smith LHP at the Mariners, finished 2009 reasonably strongly, after having an injury setback early in the year. He will be vying for a spot as either the 4th or 5th starter in the Mariners' rotation.

Peter Moylan RHP at the Braves had a solid year in 2009, becoming the only pitcher in Major League history to make 87 consecutive appearances to start a season without allowing a home run. He's made a hot start to spring training, striking out 4, while allowing only 3 hits in his first 4 appearances. As noted above, the Braves lost one of their main closer prospects in Rafael Soriano, but they signed veteran closer Billy Wagner from the Mets. Wagner has suffered some injuries in recent seasons, so there may be some chances for Moylan to step up throughout the year.

In addition to these seasoned players, there is a group of less experienced Aussies staking their claim too:

Luke Hughes 3B with the Twins organisation still has not quite burst onto the scene as it seemed he would. He is having a pretty quiet spring so far, and is probably likely to start the year in AAA.

Trent Oeltjen OF with the Brewers had a pretty short but very sweet entry into the big leagues last year with the Diamondbacks. The Brewers signed him to a minor league deal in the offseason, and it was likely he would be fighting it out for a backup outfielder position on the squad. He was hit on the hand early in spring training and missed a few games. Hotstove.com reckons that Jim Edmonds and Joe Inglett have shut the door on Oeltjen's chances. However he remains in the major league camp.

Brad Thomas LHP has played the last two seasons in the Korean league, and the Tigers picked him up in December 2009. He has pitched in the Majors before; for the Twins in 2004. It looks like he will be used from the Tigers bullpen through spring, and could possibly find himself on the roster come Opening Day.

Rich Thompson RHP has seen some action in the Majors, playing in the LA Angels organisation, but has not quite cemented his spot in their bullpen. He has joined the team for another spring training camp

There were also a few guys who started out with Spring Training in Major League camps, but have now been reassigned. Travis Blackley has been reassigned by the Mets to the minor league camp. Michael Collins was featured in an MLB.com story about spring training. However, the 25-year old catcher has now been reassigned to the Padres' minor league camp is in camp with the Padres. He hit well in his five appearances, picking up 3 hits, 3 RBIs 3 runs in 6 at bats. Possible chance of a mid-season call up for him I reckon. Shane Lindsay RHP at the Rockies pitched a couple of innings in spring training, but has now been reassigned to the minors. Rototimes.com is tipping that he will get a chance to make the Rockies squad at some point in the future, as long as he stays healthy. Drew Naylor RHP with the Phillies pitched one game in spring training, going 2 innings and striking out 2, and has now been reassigned to the minor league camp

Stay tuned for more updates as they happen

RRS solid, Oeltjen hits again

2009-08-15T21:00:00.004+10:00

Ryan Rowland-Smith made his 6th start of the season today, against the Yankees at Seattle. Facing up against veteran lefty Andy Pettitte was a tough matchup for the Mariners, and a challenge for RRS against the AL-East leading lineup. However, he was solid - going 7 innings and giving up only 3 hits and 2 earned runs. He struck out 5 while walking 2. Unfortunately, the Yankees staff was equally effective, and the Mariners could not get enough runs to win the game. The Yanks scored a couple off the Mariners' bullpen, and eventually New York went on to win 4-2, with RRS getting a no-decision.

With the Mariners trading away Jarrod Washburn, and with Erik Bedard suffering ANOTHER injury, Ryan is now effectively the third member of the Seattle rotation. It is great to see him finding some form again after being on the DL for so long. His next start is on Thursday (Friday in Oz) at Detroit, where he will matchup against Washburn. Should be a good battle!

Meanwhile, in Arizona, Trent Oeltjen got another hit (he was 1-for-4 on the day). This time against the Dodgers. The D-Backs won the game 4-1. Trent will line up for the D-Backs again tomorrow, as Arizona face off against Hiroki Kuroda. You can watch the game live on One HD.

Also, here is a bit of linkage for some articles about Trent - there are plenty of them at the moment:

Sydney's Daily Telegraph features the Wizard of Oz
The Phoenix New Times profiles Trent and has some good photos
Ninemsn details Trent's call up to the Bigs
Trent made it to the SMH's Fitz Files
He will feature on This Week in Baseball this week (on air at 7pm Monday AEST)

Trent Oeltjen: hottest rookie in years?

2009-08-12T21:14:00.007+10:00

So, Trent Oeltjen did it again today, going 4-for-4, and falling a homerun short of hitting the cycle. He had 2 singles, a double, and a triple, and also had a sac bunt, and a real solid catch.

After five starts, he is now hitting .500 (12-for-24) with 2 doubles, a triple and 3 home runs.

Wow! That is amazing.

Looking back at the start from recent Rookie of the Year winners, Oeltjen stacks up well. After 5 games he seems to be well ahead of the pack when it comes to the well renowned rookies of recent years.

For comparison purposes, lets compare how Oeltjen is doing against how some recent ROY winners did after 5 games:

This speaks for itself and is completely full of awesome. The issue of course will be how long Oeltjen can keep up his run, and whether he can balance out to post any sort of decent numbers in the long term.

Also worth noting is the fact that Oeltjen has hardly faced top of the league pitching. In his five games he has faced off against two widely recognised terrible teams in the Pirates and the Nationals, and another team rapidly descending into farce: the Mets. Now, I have nothing against Kevin Hart, Collin Balester, JD Martin, Mike Pelfrey and Livan Hernandez, but this is not exactly an allstar lineup. This weekend the D-Backs face LA before heading to Philadelphia next week; so Trent is likely to face some better pitching. These games are likely to give a fairer insight in to his abilities.

That said, someone like Oeltjen seems to be just what Arizona needs right now. For that matter, he could be just what Australian baseball needs right now too. It has been a pretty forgettable season for Arizona, they are well under .500, have been hit with some key injuries and dismissed their manager. But they have seemed to turn a corner of late; they have won 7 of their last 10 games, and have one 14 out of 25 games since the All Star break (.560). Realistically they have barely the slightest of chances of making the playoffs this year. All this explains perhaps why Oeltjen has been received so well.

And why wouldn't he be received well. He plays hard, can hit for contact and smack homeruns, can throw and catch, is quick as lightning, and plays the game with a smile on his face. Twitter is all a fluster with Arizonan women swooning over him. He has all the makings for being a superstar if he can keep the numbers game going.

And for Australian baseball, this would be another great shot in the arm. The Aussie team, which Oeltjen played a key part in, had some moderate success at the World Baseball Classic this year; there is talk of a new national league in Australia; and Major League Baseball finally has a home on free to air TV. With other sports like NRL constantly under criticism and bad press; and with the Aussie cricket team losing some of its aura, the time is ripe for baseball to grow into a power house sport again. Oeltjen could just be the man to head up this charge.

So, it remains to be seen whether he will live up to the early hype, but it is clear that this is a heck of an opportunity for Oeltjen, and for Australian baseball.

Trent Oeltjen making waves for the D-Backs

2009-08-11T21:08:00.005+10:00

Trent Oeltjen has burst onto the MLB scene with a bang!

After being called up last week when the Diamondbacks placed regular outfielder Justin Upton on the DL, he has gone an amazing 8-for-20 with 3 homeruns, a double, and two stolen bags. Plus he picked up an outfield assist in his first game, throwing out Delwyn Young at second base.

It's a pretty hot start! And well deserved. Oeltjen has slogged it out in the minors for 9 years, in recent times having some pretty solid seasons at AAA for both the D-Backs affiliate Tucson Sidewinders/Reno Aces.

It is fantastic to have an Aussie positional player in MLB again. It has been more than a year since an Aussie position player had a game at MLB level; the last being Justin Huber for the Padres on 15 June 08. While it is nice and all to have a few pitchers doing the rounds, its great to see someone getting a start close to every day. And with Upton injured, and Chris Young dropped to AAA, this looks like a sweet opportunity for Oeltjen to make a good impression and land a spot for the future. It is clear that he has worked hard over the past few years, and you can tell from the smile on his face that he is happy to be in the big show.

"The last couple of days, I have to wake up and pinch myself," Oeltjen said. "They are getting to see highlights back home. I'm getting a lot of phone calls and messages. Everyone here has made me feel comfortable. I'm glad I can go out and help the team win a few games."

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Oeltjen's parents are looking to head over to the States to join in the fun. I'm not sure if this is true or not, but SMH reported that Oeltjen's dad John said that his debut was statistically the best debut since 1954.

You can watch an interview with him after today's win against the Mets, during which he smacked his third homer here. Funnily enough, he chose the classic Down Under by Men at Work to be his welcome music. Nice one.

With a bit of luck and more hard work, hopefully Oeltjen can cement a spot on the D-Backs roster.

To keep up with all the latest Aussie MLB news, it is well worth subscribing to Baseball Australia's The Pitch. You can do so by emailing majorleaguebaseball AT bigpond DOT com.

International Dave Nilsson Day

2009-05-18T06:52:00.003+10:00

Three Aussies make opening day rosters, Balfour picks up first save

2009-04-11T00:09:00.004+10:00

After all the challenges and preparation of spring, three Aussies made it onto opening day rosters in the Bigs - and all three are pitchers:

Balf picked up a save already, going 1.1 innings and striking out one against the Red Sox. Rowland-Smith is due to start tomorrow (just a few hours away) against the A's.

Eight Aussies in action today; Snelling, Moylan solid

2009-03-16T21:21:00.004+11:00

A whopping eight Aussies appeared in spring training games today! Big effort.
It was a bit of a mixed bag though. Chris Snelling was good, hitting a three-run double and scoring a run for his new team the Padres. Also, Peter Moylan picked up a win, after not giving up any hits in one inning of work. Also appearing were Trent Oeltjen, Rich Thompson, Luke Hughes, Brad Harman, Grant Balfour and Scott Campbell. You can find links to the relevant box scores at the right of this page!

Interestingly Luke Hughes, who has usually played third base for the Twins, had a game a second base today. This could be a promising sign for him, as the Twins recently signed Joe Crede to play third, perhaps they are checking out whether Hughes can cut it at second? He is getting the job done with the bat though - he went 2-for-3 today and is batting .444 through spring training.

And yes, I have said nothing about the Aussies' loss to the Mexicans the other day. I'm hanging out for the 2013 Classic!

Ryan Rowland-Smith snaps M's losing streak, picks up two hits

2009-03-15T12:20:00.005+11:00

Ryan Rowland-Smith pitched a solid 4 innings, giving up 5 hits and 2 runs, while striking out 3 and walking none, as the Mariners beat the Rockies 10-5. What's more, taking his first at bats in nearly ten years, Rowland-Smith went 2-for-2!

Fantastic.

Check out his second hit in the video below, and for more info check out the Seattle Times blog, which includes some commentary and an interview with Ryan.

Chris Snelling signs with the Padres

2009-03-15T12:08:00.006+11:00

After a pretty solid WBC performance, Chris Snelling has signed a minor league deal with the Padres. Its a similar move to the one the Friars made last year with Justin Huber. The Padres are looking pretty woeful this year. Apparently Snelling will be given a chance to make the MLB roster. Their outfield is crowded, but you wouldn't say it is filled with stars. Fingers crossed he can replicate some of the pop he had at the WBC and at the Phillies last year.