MLB COMES TO SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

These flags went up all over  Sydney, advertising the MLB Opening Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Arizona Diamondbacks. Sydney was buzzing for it, and it seemed like everyone was wearing MLB baseball caps all over the CBD.

Rebel Sports at Mid City Centre had an Autograph signing the Friday before game 1, and I went along and met Miguel Montero, who is the starting catcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Normally a Seattle Mariners fan, I assured him I was backing the D'backs for this one. In turn he was stoked to be able to cross "Meet Dan" off his bucket list. Happy to help, Miguel!

Here is the Autographed card I got. I admit I didn't know who he was specifically before hand, but I found out Miguel plays in number 26 and that's my number and he plays catcher which is my favourite position, so I figure he must be alright. Later that weekend he threw out Yasiel Puig stealing 3rd base, so now I really think he's pretty cool ;)

We decided to take Ryan with us to the Saturday game. Apart from the poo explosion that came out of his nappy and on to my shirt in the parking lot, he was really well behaved. Judging by his smile below, he even had fun. The game started late due to some really dark clouds delaying first pitch, which is why you can see Tarps over the infield in the picture. 

Given the amount of down time waiting for the game to start, I tweeted the above photo to the Mariners to let them know they were represented on Opening Day in Sydney.

#TrueToTheBlue RT @ObiDan26 They aren't playing here at Opening Day in Sydney, but we're representing @Mariners. pic.twitter.com/7NrmK7Owza
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) March 22, 2014

@ObiDan26 What a great experience. Hope you two had fun. Thanks for representing!
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) March 22, 2014

Apparently people think Ryan is cute...

And a little thanks from my first choice MLB team

I have a tradition of taking a photo of my food when I'm at a ballpark. If I'm at a Sydney Blue Sox game it's usually a Whitto's pizza, but at MLB it's a Hotdog shot. So this was my dinner. I heard there was more exotic food selections, but with Ryan there, I didn't really want to do much exploring, so this humble hotdog would have to do.

 

Side Note: Here is where the tradition began, one of my hotdogs from Safeco Field in Seattle.

Anyway, back the game in Sydney. You know how the story went, the Diamondbacks, despite getting everything right in the PR Department in the leadup, just couldn't get the score right, going down 5-0 on the back of some strong pitching by Clayton Kershaw.

We even got a special appearance from Brian Wilson and his Beard.

Thisgame really made me BallparkHomesick, so I gotta save to go "Home" to Safeco Field again one day. Overall, the 3 of us had a great night at Ryan's first MLB game. The Yankees fan sitting next to us said "So obviously this is your son's first baseball game, right?" to which I proudly responded, "Nope, he's a regular at Sydney Blue Sox games" to which I was met with a blank look... but that's a blog for another day.

ABL Buzz

I now contribute the occasional ABL-related article/blog, with Boris and the gang over at:

http://www.ablbuzz.com.au

Drop by and have a read!

Dan

AN IMPORTS GUIDE TO CELEBRATORY SWIMMING ETTIQUETTE

 

It’s that time of year where baseball in the USA steps into high gear. Teams are aiming to finish the regular season strong and make the post-season. Today in MLB, both the Boston Red Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers booked their spots in the Post-Season. Of these two teams, the Dodgers sparked social media furore with what has now been dubbed Poolgate. The team, who clinched the division playing away to their fierce division rivals the Arizona Diamondbacks, were told to not celebrate on the field. So what is a team to do in such circumstances? They chose to comply and take the party to the Outfield pool of course!!! In a move that has been dubbed “Classless” the Dodgers climbed the Outfield wall and took their party to the Diamondback’s swimming pool. Outrage! Shock! Horror! Disgust!
The Diamondback’s own Brandon McCarthy was probably the most level headed when he said that if they don’t want them swimming in our pool, in future don’t let them beat us at home. Seems sensible, but the point still stands that the good folks in Arizona had their feelings hurt by the Dodgers Celebratory actions.

So in an effort to not have the same sentiment sweep the ABL this season, I have compiled an etiquette list of places players should NOT swim/celebrate if they win the ABL Championship at an away venue. This list should serve to assist the imports with how not to annoy the locals in each teams home. We don’t want an Aussie team repeating the “class-less” display the Dodgers gave us!

ADELAIDE BITE:
If the championship game is in Adelaide there are two places I would recommend not taking a celebratory dip. 1. The Great Australian Bight. The local team even derives it’s name from the waters of this particular coastline, so if you win here, stay away from the coast, it’s important to them. You should note it’s high population of Great White Sharks, so it’s probably in your own best interest to celebrate there. 2. Our friends in South Australia pride themselves on the wine in the Barossa Valley, so even though you may like crushing grapes, please refrain from swimming in the wine barrels and grape crushing pits. No celebrating in the barrels, please.

 

BRISBANE BANDITS:
I know what you’re thinking, “Bandits in the Finals?” but we must be prepared for any scenario, regardless of how unlikely. If there is championship games in Brisbane, please refrain from taking the party to the Brisbane River, it is solely reserved for late night skinny dipping of the drunken folks of fortitude valley. Another place to avoid celebratory swimming would be the Crocodile pools at Australia Zoo. The Late Steve Irwin is revered in those parts, and we don’t want to annoy the locals by taking a plunge with the pets of the great man.

CANBERRA CAVALRY:
If Canberra try to go all the way again and host the finals, please do not celebrate in the water feature outside Australian Parliament House. Yes, the water does look nice, and the “pool” is a product of beautiful architectural design, but it’s a nationally significant building and the locals don’t want your revelry there. Please also refrain from taking the celebrations to Lake Burley Griffin… that’s for locals only also, so no celebratory swim there either. Yes it is a man-made lake, but that man didn’t design it with visions of you taking your party to it’s murky depths.

MELBOURNE ACES:
In Melbourne, they pride themselves on being a world-class city, and as such the classy folk down south won’t take nicely to you sullying their regal river, the Yarra, with your classless celebration, if you win while they are hosting. That river is for refined hobbies like rowing, not hobbies like celebrating a hard fought victory. They also won’t like you celebrating with a dip at Brighton Beach. Yes, their fancy huts are a tourist must-see, but they don’t want to see your blue socks hung from them as you party in the water… In Melbourne, stay classy. 

 

PERTH HEAT:
Truth be told, it’s like a whole other country over there, and at times I think that’s the way they like it. But because it’s soooo far away, we aren’t 100% sure if they even have anything to swim in over there. The locals tell me there is a Swan River there, so out of respect, if that’s the extent of it, stay out of it. Along the Swan River they have Matilda Bay, and the Statue Eliza, and even she, a local, is poised above the water, frozen in time unable to get in the water… take that as a sign, if the Championship is in Perth, don’t Celebrate in Matilda Bay… even Eliza doesn’t do that!

SYDNEY BLUE SOX:
We don’t get offended by such trivial things… swim wherever you want, we may even throw in some suggestions! We have world famous beaches, a beautiful harbour… if it comes to it and your desperate, I even have a kiddie pool we can blow up for you, because let’s face it, celebrations should be unbridled! If you win away, more power to you!

 

Hopefully, with around 40 days to go til the ABL season starts, we SHOULD, in theory, start to hear rosters reports and the like. And if that does happen, I can stop writing trivial fluff like this, and get down to REAL baseball talk, but in the absence of anything coming out of the ABL, you’re stuck with the fluff for the time being.

What's your take? Celebrate where you want or Respect the Home side's place? Hit me up on Twitter @ObiDan26

5 Reasons I Miss The ABL

Recently the Hewitt Sports Network ran an article by a blogger cataloguing the 5 reasons he misses ABL season. At the end of the article it asked the very obvious question, “What do you miss about the ABL?” which can also be phrased this way, “What are you most looking forward to about the coming ABL season?” So, I set about making my own list, and here is what I’ve come up with.

1. When it’s not ABL season I miss… the Sounds of the Ballpark. Call me a romantic, but what I love about Baseball is not the stats, and it is not knowing how many RBI’s this player has, or what OBP means. For me it’s the culture of all things baseball. So when it’s not ABL season, I miss the sounds, I miss the live cracking sound of wood on ball. There is no sound like a well hit fastball on a wooden bat. Yes, I readily accept that I can turn on OneHD 3 times per week and watch baseball, but no matter your audio visual set up, no speakers can truly match the live sound of sitting in the bleachers and hearing the song of a well hit baseball. When it’s not ABL season, I miss hearing the ball come cracking of Mitch Dennings’ bat at BlueSox Stadium. And there are other ballpark sounds too. I’m convinced even the most beautiful cathedrals of Europe don’t have an Organ that can belt out a tune quite like that of a Ballpark Organist. From the simple sounds of the chords that make up the rally for cries of “CHARGE,” to the old-timey melody of “Take Me out to the Ballgame” I love Ballpark organ noise. I love walk-up music too! I imagine what music would pump me up as I step into the Batter’s Box (Side Note: In my dreams I walk up to the intro to “My Hero” by the Foo Fighters), and I love seeing a little of the home teams players personality shine through in their walk up choices. Last season you could hear James Robbins, one of Sydney’s imports, represent his home state of Washington, by his choice of proud Seattlite rapper Macklemore. And you know Big Snell was on his way to the plate when Pearl Jam came blaring from the speakers, perhaps a nod to his days in the Mariners system? Who could forget that other famous ballpark sound… the heckler. From my favourite spot in the 3^rd base line stands, I used to laugh at some of the remarks sent the way of whichever poor member of the opposing teams coaching staff, who had to undertake the duties of 3^rd base coach. Especially Coach Fish from the Perth Heat… poor guy cops some really “Fishy” puns, but its all part of the atmosphere that makes up a night at the ABL. When it’s not ABL season, I miss all those sounds.

2. When it’s not ABL season I miss… the budding rivalries that are being developed. When the ABL off-season is 3 times as long as the ABL season it’s self, I feel like the rivalries that develop in-season lose a little traction in the long off season. I can’t wait for them to be renewed again. I know we’ve had state rivalries for a long time, across all sports, but especially with the Claxton Shield’s tournament history, but even though the ABL is only a few seasons old, and technically still in it’s infancy, I love the rivalries the ABL is developing. I love the “Oh we’ll get them next time we meet” attitude that comes with having the ABL as our own league, as opposed to the Annual tournament that was the Claxton Shield. I love the reputation the Perth Heat developed due to their consistent excellence in the first few seasons, with one pundit on Twitter going as far as likening them to “The ABL equivalent of the New York Yankees.” Who could forget the reputation the Canberra Cavalry got when their roster of imports started to accomplish amazing feats, prompting remarks of “Team America” and “Canberra Cavalry: Proudly sponsored by the US Embassy” (Okay I made that last one up). On top of all that, we have fiery personalities that fuel these rivalries (Please don’t tell me Luke Hughes is not passionate about Perth Baseball), and great stories of close calls (Remember that time the Blue Sox were robbed in Canberra!?) that will continue to fuel the rivalries. Trust me, as much as I love Travis Blackley when he’s pitching in MLB, the moment he’s back in a Melbourne Aces uniform, he’s public enemy #1, and I haven’t forgotten his comments in a radio interview a few seasons back where he said Sydney had the weakest pitching he’d ever seen (Ox, Ando and the boys sure turned that one around last season… Booyah!) So here, in this cold, baseball-less winter, I miss the rivalries that the ABL is developing.

3. When it’s not ABL season I miss…Aussie Baseball. Growing up, we used to travel down from my home in Gosford to watch my cousin Chris pitch in the Claxton Shield. This was after the old ABL had long since been abandoned and the Claxton Shield was a one week tournament, so it wasn’t really like you could get too entrenched in baseball fanaticism. Each year when it was held at Blacktown I would make the annual pilgrimage down to get my small fix of baseball. Imagine then my joy when it was announced that the tournament was being expanded to a league of our very own. More than just a week of state baseball, we would get our own league again, we could have a team to invest in! I remember the first season, merchandise was still under way, and everyone would wear whatever MLB gear they had to the ballpark. Now as the seasons go by and we get more than a week of top quality baseball, I see more and more Blue Sox gear on the fans and I think it’s great. So even though we have our own league, and we get more baseball than we used to, it’s still a long off-season, and I simply just miss that hard running, no nonsense, slug above your weight brand of Aussie baseball when the ABL isn’t on.

4. When it’s not ABL season I miss… following the journey. One of my favourite parts of each season is dragging my friends along to the ballpark in hopes of converting them. Part of that involves sitting in the stands and telling them about the journey some of the players have taken or are taking.  “Oh that’s Brad Thomas. He used to be a relief pitcher for the Detroit Tigers in the Majors.” “That guys in the St Louis minor league system, he’s looking to make the jump to AA next year” “Oh last year we had this Outfielder named Brandon Barnes and he went on make it to the show with the Houston Astros!” “This guy here is Denning, he just got cut from the Red Sox, so he’s looking to get a new contract.” It’s the joy of the journey, the joy of seeing young talent on the rise, and hoping one day you’ll get to look back and say, “Remember when we saw him patrolling centrefield at Blacktown? Look at him now!” It’s the silent respect for the player on the down side of his career, “Hey that’s Koo, he’s still got a cannon for an arm!” Whether it’s young players looking to make a name, and climb the ranks, or older players just enjoying one more go around, the ABL has it all, and when it’s the off season, I really miss watching that journey.

5. When it’s not ABL season I miss… Chris Oxspring. Let me just say that if the Sydney Blue Sox decided to erect a statue in his honour and rename the stadium to “Chris Oxspring Stadium” I wouldn’t be against it at all. Chris Oxspring is everything I love about the Blue Sox, hardwork, determination, never giving in. The man they call Ox is everything we love about Aussie baseball. He encapsulates that never give up attitude, the fall and get back up way we like to think of as purely Australian. Even after his MLB stint, when many said he was past it, he came back, dominant as ever and is still having another go around in the Korean Pro leagues and pitching against the best in the world for Team Australia in the WBC. I still remember going to games in the inaugural ABL season with my friend Jenny (a Rangers fan, born and raised in Texas) and hearing her Texan drawl cheer, “C’mon Ox”. All those hopeless baseball fans had to start somewhere. People don’t just become a suffering Cubs fans, something draws them to it, something that makes them follow a team like the Cubs year in and year out. It’s the same for any team, you get a taste and that’s where it starts, then you’re hooked. For me, my Blue Sox fanaticism started on those warm summer evenings, cheering from the stands for Ox. He will forever be etched in Blue Sox folklore (I’m sure I will forever ask, “Why didn’t they start Ox over Thomas in game 2 of the finals verses the Heat?? They ended up pulling Thomas and Ox salvaged what he could, but the damage was done! Folklore!) The pages of Blue Sox history will speak of his amazing feats (Strike out record anyone?) If he ever retires (Which I refuse to believe will ever happen!) it will be a sad day indeed. In this long, dark ABL off season, I miss Chris Oxspring, because Chris Oxspring IS the Blue Sox, he IS Australian baseball.

So that's what I miss about ABL season... and the new season is too far away!!! MLB on tv is good, but live baseball is better!

The Import Culture

After a fantastic Australian Baseball League season, and a tremendous Finals series in Canberra, debate continues to rage about the status of Import players in the competition, specifically the number of imports afforded to Canberra Cavalry as opposed to the other 5 teams in the league. While I don’t think I can bring anything new to the debate, I do have random thoughts about the import culture in the league, so I thought I'd try this blogging thing.

Let me first in light of this start by saying, I do like watching the Imports added to the mix. As a Sydney Blue Sox fan, one of the highlights of the season for me was watching the amazing defensive plays of infielder Zach Penprase (and also his record breaking stolen base efforts too!). Imports have an important role to play in the development of Baseball in Australia, I recognise that. However, there is a negative side to the import culture that often goes unmentioned or even unnoticed. You see, to put it simply, the success of team sports off the field, like any sports really, is in large part dependent on fans. Fans become a part of the culture of a club, just like players. What does that have to do with imports? Let me explain by starting with a silly story.

I decided recently, while sitting on the train on my daily commute to work, to write a song about the Blue Sox. As I sat their penning lyrics about the team I love, I came across a dilemma… How do I write a song now and have it still relevant next season? Put simply, could we sing a song next season, about Penprase’s defensive flair or Herr’s command on the mound? How about a song about J.D. Williams’ speed or Klein’s work behind the plate? The simple reality for me is this, I can’t write about them, because I don’t know if they will be wearing the Blue Sox next season. For my song, it turned out far easier to write about Ox, Matt Williams’ Beard and Dennings’ Bat, because as they’ve demonstrated, they love playing in the blue, and they’ll be back again and again!

Consistency is important, culturally, to growth. How do you explain to your 6 year old son, who is developing a love for the game that his favourite player isn’t here anymore? Imports, in most cases, tend to be one season wonders. In rare cases, such as with Canberra’s Cody Hightower, they return and are fan favourites, but in my experience, that’s rare, here one season, gone the next (And no doubt, as soon as I click submit on this blog post, I’m sure you will come up with a heap of examples on your teams of more than one season Imports). That’s the downside of the import culture. As was highlighted by one pundit on Twitter, I have no idea who will be defending the Canberra Cavalry’s championship next season. But this I can tell you, I know who will be gunning for it. You see, while those imports may have won it this time around, and question marks abound about whether we’ll see them again next year. That said, some people you KNOW you will see next year are players like Hughes, De San Miguel and their band of Kennelly’s at the Heat, Ox, The Boss and Denning and the boys in Blue at the Blue Sox, Roberts, Dutton and their gang of Bandits in Brisbane… they’ll be there.

It’s what the Cavs won’t have for some time. It’s the flip side to the perceived “Import Advantage”. Yes, it’s great to see a Canberra team have success, and it takes nothing away from their achievement. I hope some of their core group does stay together to develop a culture the fans can get behind. But consistency is a great tool to build with. I love imports, but in this writers opinion in the Aussie culture, I’d take the multiple years of Luke Hughes passionate play for his home team, over one season of the flame-throwing pitching of Alex Maestri any day. I can still remember excitedly cheering for Ox in season 1, but I can’t name an import from that season (Did the Sox even have any that year?) And being able to see Brandon Barnes play in the outfield for the Houston Astros is great too, knowing he donned the Blue Sox once, but it’s not gonna help bring the Claxton Shield to Sydney next season. Imports will come and go, but out boys will keep coming back.

 

 

So yes, there is a lot of debate about imports and their place in our league, but just remember this one important point… Luke Hughes is pissed that someone stole his shield, and you better believe he will want it back next season!

Where do you stand on this? Would you rather a gun import for one season, or a home-grown star for five?