Flintoff & Dunn’s AUSTRALIAN MAJOR LEAGUE - 2013 AUSTRALIAN BASEBALL LEAGUE 2013 IN REVIEW! - By Peter Flintoff Section 1

CANBERRA PREVAILS FOR IT'S FIRST AUSTRALIAN BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP!

In 2012/13 we enjoyed the third of the re-born Australian Baseball League. As in the first two seasons six teams from major capital centres made up the competition, namely Adelaide Bite, , , , Heat and . Once again these teams comprised many of the best local players with the addition of international imports from the USA, and Korea mainly.

For reasons best known to them only the teams on the eastern seaboard invited Japanese imports with the understanding that they would only be available up to Christmas. This of course remains an issue of interest and division among ABL fans. Although we recognise the benefit of having this relationship with the Japanese pro leagues, plus the players can be productive and popular while they are here, it has not been a recipe for team success. Canberra, as we would expect, had a surplus of American import players and the departure of a couple of Japanese imports had little effect on them - they were readily replaced. Brisbane, and Melbourne especially, found it tough to compete after their key Japanese players returned home mid-season. The Adelaide Bite hit pay dirt with a couple of very good Korean players who remained all season to compliment their strong US professionals. The defending Champion once again boasted a strong core of US imports.

For the third season of the new league there was another very minor expansion of the schedule with one extra game increasing the regular season from 45 games to 46. This was achieved by extending the regular season from 11 weeks to 13 weeks, while the five game weekend series from the 2012 season was discontinued in favour of a maximum of four games per series, with room to make up postponed games. The extra rounds meant that each team would host one additional home series against different opponents, even though this resulted in an unbalanced schedule. The season started with a "softer" schedule that involved three game weekends and each team had an early season bye round.

Again the programming of games varied slightly from city to city and week to week but, generally, they spanned from Thursday to Saturday or Friday to Sunday. Typically each series comprised two night games with one weekend double-header. The first game of a double-header was played over seven innings while all other games were nine innings. Rained-out and/or postponed games were re-scheduled to be added to weekend programs for the return series between the same teams.

At the conclusion of the 46 preliminary games played by each team a new “Top Three” format was adopted for the playoffs. The shortening of the playoffs that had been a "Final Four" in 2012 balanced the longer regular season by having two weekends of finals instead of three. Additionally, it was decided to make all finals best-of-three, whereas the early finals had been best-of-five. Under this format the team finishing top automatically qualified to host the Championship series, while the second placed team hosted the third placed team in the one semi-final series. The winner of this progressed to be the away team in the Championship series.

The final table for 2012/13 will record that both Sydney and Brisbane played one fewer game (45) and this was because their final series of the season was not concluded. The fourth game of the series at Blacktown was washed out and, because final table positions could not be changed, it was decided that a re-schedule of the game before the playoffs was unnecessary.

It was slightly disappointing for ABL fans that the commitment for FOXTEL pay-TV coverage of the Grand Final games slid somewhat from the previous season. There had been live coverage of all three Championship games at the end of 2012, but in 2013 only the first game was televised live while the second game was shown days later on replay. As a footnote to this the second ABL All- Star Game was also shown only on replay a few days later, whereas it had been live in 2012.

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Flintoff & Dunn’s AUSTRALIAN - 2013 AUSTRALIAN BASEBALL LEAGUE 2013 IN REVIEW! - By Peter Flintoff Section 1

This ABL review is not intended to duplicate the detail about every game from the individual game reports that will also feature in ‘Flintoff & Dunn’s’ 2013 Edition book, but we do want to run through a brief overview of each series for historical purposes, as follows:

WEEK ONE SERIES Perth @ Adelaide; Sydney @ Canberra; Brisbane & Melbourne Narrabundah 1 Nov - Adelaide 3-9 Perth 2 Nov - Canberra 1-2 Syd (10) BYE Round 2 Nov - Adelaide 3-13 Perth 3 Nov - Canberra 1-2 Syd (7) 3 Nov - Adelaide 4-8 Perth 3 Nov - Canberra 2-1 Sydney

WEEK TWO SERIES Adelaide @ Melbourne; Brisbane @ Sydney; Canberra & Perth Blacktown, Sydney 9 Nov - Melbourne 5-1 Adelaide 9 Nov - Sydney 8-0 Brisbane BYE Round 10 Nov - Melbourne 5-7 Adelaide 10 Nov - Sydney 1-3 Bris (11) 11 Nov - Melbourne 7-2 Adelaide 11 Nov - Sydney 2-5 Brisbane

WEEK THREE SERIES Melbourne @ Perth; Canberra @ Brisbane; Adelaide & Sydney , Thornlie Redlands Baseball Club 16 Nov - Perth 3-0 Melbourne 16 Nov - Brisbane 2-3 Canberra BYE Round 17 Nov - Perth 9-4 Melbourne 17 Nov - Brisbane 2-3 Canb (7) 18 Nov - Perth 2-12 Melbourne 17 Nov - Brisbane 6-1 Canb (3) Game resumed 11 Jan 2013

WEEK FOUR SERIES Perth @ Sydney; Brisbane @ Adelaide; Melbourne @ Canberra; Blacktown, Sydney Norwood Oval Narrabundah 22 Nov - Sydney 1-0 Perth 22 Nov - Adelaide 2-6 Brisbane 23 Nov - Canberra 3-5 Melbourne 23 Nov - Sydney 4-2 Perth 23 Nov - Adelaide 7-6 Brisbane 24 Nov - Canberra 10-9 Melb (7) 24 Nov - Sydney 4-6 Perth 24 Nov - Adelaide 5-2 Brisb (7) 24 Nov - Canberra 5-3 Melbourne 25 Nov - Sydney 3-4 Perth 24 Nov - Adelaide 3-7 Brisbane 25 Nov - Canberra 7-8 Melbourne

WEEK FIVE SERIES Perth @ Melbourne; Adelaide @ Canberra; Sydney @ Brisbane; Melbourne Ballpark Narrabundah Lismore 30 Nov - Melbourne 2-9 Perth 30 Nov - Canberra 8-2 Adelaide 30 Nov - Brisbane 3-8 Sydney 1 Dec - Melbourne 3-1 Perth (7) 1 Dec - Canberra 6-7 Adel (7) 1 Dec - Brisbane 3-2 Sydney (7) 1 Dec - Melbourne 0-8 Perth 1 Dec - Canberra 6-3 Adelaide 1 Dec - Brisbane 2-3 Sydney 2 Dec - Melbourne 3-4 Perth 2 Dec - Canberra 4-2 Adelaide Palm Meadows, Gold Coast 2 Dec - Brisbane 2-9 Sydney

WEEK SIX SERIES Melbourne @ Adelaide; Brisbane @ Perth; Canberra @ Sydney; Norwood Oval Baseball Park, Thornlie Blacktown, Sydney 7 Dec - Adelaide 10-4 Melbourne 7 Dec - Perth 4-6 Brisbane 6 Jan - Sydney 1-2 Canberra (13) 8 Dec - Adelaide 5-3 Melb (9) 8 Dec - Perth 3-2 Brisbane (7) 7 Jan - Sydney 4-3 Canberra 8 Dec - Adelaide 18-1 Melbourne 8 Dec - Perth 4-3 Brisbane 8 Jan - Sydney 2-6 Canberra 9 Dec - Adelaide 10-9 Melbourne 9 Dec - Perth 1-5 Brisbane 9 Jan - Sydney 6-7 Canberra (10)

WEEK SEVEN SERIES Canberra @ Melbourne; Adelaide @ Brisbane; Sydney @ Perth; Melbourne Ballpark RNA Showgrounds Baseball Park, Thornlie 13 Dec - Melbourne 1-9 Canberra 13 Dec - Brisbane 4-2 Adelaide 13 Dec - Perth 2-5 Sydney 14 Dec - Melbourne 5-0 Canb (7) 14 Dec - Brisbane 1-2 Adel (11) 14 Dec - Perth 10-2 Sydney (7) 14 Dec - Melbourne 8-9 Canb (10) 14 Dec - Brisbane 6-5 Adel (10) 14 Dec - Perth 4-6 Sydney 15 Dec - Melbourne 0-5 Canberra 15 Dec - Brisbane 1-6 Adelaide 15 Dec - Perth 10-9 Sydney

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WEEK EIGHT SERIES Sydney @ Melbourne; Brisbane @ Canberra; Perth @ Adelaide; Melbourne Ballpark Narrabundah Norwood Oval 20 Dec - Melbourne 1-5 Sydney 20 Dec - Canberra 2-5 Brisbane 21 Dec - Adelaide 1-2 Perth 21 Dec - Melbourne 1-0 Sydney 21 Dec - Canberra 8-4 Brisbane 22 Dec - Adelaide 5-3 Perth (7) 22 Dec - Melbourne 3-4 Sydney 22 Dec - Canberra 6-1 Brisbane 22 Dec - Adelaide 2-10 Perth 23 Dec - Melbourne 8-10 Sydney 23 Dec - Canberra 9-2 Brisbane 23 Dec - Adelaide 5-4 Perth

WEEK NINE SERIES Adelaide @ Sydney; Melbourne @ Brisbane; Canberra @ Perth; Blacktown, Sydney RNA Showgrounds Baseball Park, Thornlie 27 Dec - Sydney 7-9 Adelaide 27 Dec - Brisbane 5-1 Melb 28 Dec - Perth 2-3 Canberra (12) 28 Dec - Sydney 3-2 Adelaide 28 Dec - Brisbane 4-0 Melb 29 Dec - Perth 6-8 Canberra 29 Dec - Sydney 2-1 Adelaide 29 Dec - Brisbane 3-5 Melb 30 Dec - Perth 7-10 Canberra 30 Dec - Sydney 4-0 Adelaide 30 Dec - Brisbane 6-1 Melb 31 Dec - Perth 19-12 Canberra

WEEK TEN SERIES Brisbane @ Melbourne; Sydney @ Adelaide; Perth @ Canberra; Melbourne Ballpark Norwood Oval Narrabundah 3 Jan - Melbourne 6-1 Brisbane 3 Jan - Adelaide 7-3 Sydney 3 Jan - Canberra 10-1 Perth 4 Jan - Melbourne 7-3 Brisbane 4 Jan - Adelaide 3-4 Sydney 4 Jan - Canberra 16-9 Perth 5 Jan - Melbourne 2-0 Brisbane 5 Jan - Adelaide 9-4 Sydney 5 Jan - Canberra 5-6 Perth 6 Jan - Melbourne 5-4 Brisb (11) 6 Jan - Adelaide 7-6 Sydney 6 Jan - Canberra 9-0 Perth

WEEK ELEVEN SERIES Melbourne @ Sydney; Adelaide @ Perth; Canberra @ Brisbane; Blacktown, Sydney Baseball Park, Thornlie RNA Showgrounds 10 Jan - Sydney 13-3 Melbourne 10 Jan - Perth 2-5 Adelaide 11 Jan - Brisbane 6-1 Canberra 11 Jan - Sydney 2-0 Melbourne 11 Jan - Perth 11-7 Adelaide Re-started from 17 Nov 2012 12 Jan - Sydney 5-4 Melbourne 12 Jan - Perth 7-3 Adelaide 11 Jan - Brisbane 6-1 Canberra (7) 13 Jan - Sydney 4-1 Melbourne 13 Jan - Perth 4-9 Adelaide 12 Jan - Brisbane 3-0 Canberra (7) 12 Jan - Brisbane 10-5 Canberra 13 Jan - Brisbane 9-5 Canberra

WEEK TWELVE SERIES Adelaide @ Melbourne; Sydney @ Canberra; Perth @ Brisbane; Melbourne Ballpark Narrabundah RNA Showgrounds 17 Jan - Melbourne 3-2 Adelaide 17 Jan - Canberra 8-12 Sydney 18 Jan - Brisbane 4-5 Perth 18 Jan - Melbourne 8-2 Adelaide 18 Jan - Canberra 8-7 Sydney 19 Jan - Brisbane 2-0 Perth (7) 19 Jan - Melbourne 6-12 Adelaide 19 Jan - Canberra 2-10 Sydney 19 Jan - Brisbane 8-5 Perth 20 Jan - Melbourne 0-9 Adelaide 20 Jan - Canberra 4-3 Syd (12) 20 Jan - Brisbane 8-2 Perth

WEEK THIRTEEN SERIES Canberra @ Adelaide; Brisbane @ Sydney; Melbourne @ Perth; Norwood Oval Blacktown, Sydney Baseball Park, Thornlie 24 Jan - Adelaide 4-3 Canberra 24 Jan - Sydney 6-2 Brisbane 24 Nov - Perth 4-3 Melbourne 25 Jan - Adelaide 7-8 Canberra 25 Jan - Sydney 13-0 Brisbane 25 Nov - Perth 11-3 Melbourne 26 Jan - Adelaide 2-12 Canberra 26 Jan - Sydney 2-4 Brisbane 26 Nov - Perth 6-2 Melbourne 27 Jan - Adelaide 6-11 Canberra 27 Jan - Washed-Out and no 27 Nov - Perth 11-1 Melbourne need to re-schedule

SEMI-FINAL SERIES GRAND-FINAL SERIES Perth @ Sydney; Perth @ Canberra; Blacktown, Sydney - Day 1 on 1 Feb Washed-Out Narrabundah 2 Feb - Sydney 1-4 Perth 8 Feb - Canberra 6-4 Perth 2 Feb - Sydney 6-8 Perth 9 Feb - Canberra 7-6 Perth

(##) = Refers to Extra Innings Number; Or less than normal innings - - (R) = Re-Scheduled Game

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WHAT’S NEW

In its third season of the new era the 2012/13 Australian Baseball League once again saw few fundamental changes as the competition continued to imbed its culture in .

As mentioned in the introduction, the regular season was expanded by two extra weekends, although this amounted to just one additional game per team on the schedule. Weekend series which had been up to five games in 2012 were limited to a maximum of four in 2013. In total the season was lengthened by just one week as the finals were reduced from three weeks to two.

As a sidelight to our third season of ABL competition, our defending Champion Perth Heat represented Australia in the prestigious Asia Series for the second time. The Heat were far from disgraced again although winless from their games in , Korea.

As an ongoing theme from the 2011/12 season the distribution or acquisition of import players was a constant bone of contention. More so than in the first two seasons of the new ABL the uneven availability of professional import players was a serious distraction for front offices and fans around the country.

Maybe it was because of their successful season, some fans seemed fixated with the fact that the Canberra Cavalry were blessed with an overload of import players who clearly carried a bare handful of local players. They were variously described as 'Team USA' and 'Team Galactica' yet, while this is understandable to some extent, I'd suggest that those fans were more concerned with the fact that these imports were superior quality... it may not have mattered if the team had struggled. If we are to accept the notion that our needs a team in Canberra, or a sixth team based anywhere, then we must also accept that this team will need substantial import help. However, I would like to see more local players from non-Sydney origins (eg. country NSW) encouraged to play with the Cavalry rather than the Blue Sox who have plenty of players to choose from. This could apply equally to players from other states who may be looking for playing time.

More concerning for me was the luxury of imports available to the dual defending Champions Perth Heat, who weren't far away from a third successive title. Once again it should be noted that the state of WA is currently riding the crest of a mighty wave of local talent, yet several of their younger professionals see very little playing time while they maximise their use of experienced imports. Moreover, any time one of their imports may become unavailable, the Heat seem to find a quality replacement landing on their doorstep. Such was their determination to make full use of their import strength that they often had to substitute players so that they had no more than five imports on the field, depending upon whether they had an import or local pitcher. It is not up to me to criticise the Perth Heat for making winning a priority, of course it should be, but it is up to the rule-makers of the competition to set limits that maintain the integrity of the competition.

Adelaide was again fairly well served with their import talent, but they did lose a few of those during the season that probably resulted in their late slide from playoff contention. Sydney, who had only seen a few import players over the first couple of seasons, suddenly joined the arms race for import strength with four regular US position players that really bolstered their lineup. Brisbane and Melbourne were again most affected when their Japanese imports departed at Christmas time. The Bandits at least kept themselves afloat with backup help from front line US professional pitchers, while the Aces were left floundering.

Aside from the three Japanese imports who went home, Melbourne had just one import position player and one main-stream professional pitcher who was a "one inning" reliever type, rather than the horse that all teams need. They tried their hardest to paddle with some former Indy League Americans but, at one stage, they had two local teenagers as starting pitchers in a series!

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There is no need to investigate any further as to why the Melbourne Aces slid from a narrow defeat in the 2012 Championship series to an embarrassing last placed finish, ten games out of the post season. This type of inequity will ultimately cause fans to become disillusioned unless the league can find a way to level the playing field... at least for teams other than Canberra.

There were no major changes to the rules of the competition and, once again, all ABL players were required to swing wooden bats.

Building on the inaugural success of the ABL All-Star Game in 2011/12, the ABL held their second annual All-Star Game at Melbourne Ballpark on 16 December 2012. This time Team Australia turned the tables with a 6-4 win over the World All-Stars. Somewhat disappointingly this game was not televised live as was the inaugural game, but replayed on FOXTEL a few days later.

Although we have expressed some disappointment about the fact that live telecasts of the All-Star Game and Grand Final games were scaled back in 2013, there was one major upside for the ABL in terms of media exposure. For the third season of competition Pay TV broadcaster FOXTEL started to televise a weekly "ABL Highlights Show" that featured an edited "Game of the Week" from the previous weekend, plus a recap of other ABL games. This hour-plus program was telecast and replayed three or four times each week during the season. I'd say that ABL baseball had a net gain!

VENUES & ATTENDANCES

There was only one change to the home venues utilised by teams in the Australian Baseball League as each club hoped to build upon their efforts from the first two seasons. Obviously there is some credence in the desire to establish a consistent home base and in most cases there would be few realistic options for change.

We mentioned in previous reviews that the one major venue headache remained in Melbourne. Therefore it was little surprise that it was the Melbourne Aces who made a move. They shifted their home base from the cosy but contrived venue to a re-vamped and radically improved Melbourne Ballpark. Oh yes, for the unfamiliar this was a case of "back to the future" for Melbourne baseball as the ABL team had no alternative but to return to the previously shunned "white elephant" commonly known as Altona Stadium.

When we say "no alternative" it is understood that the option of remaining at the Showgrounds had become untenable. Aside from the ongoing waste of time and effort to develop a baseball venue that had zero vested interest in the sport, this season would have seen the thin edge of the wedge in terms of stadium availability. This had been a minor issue in the first two seasons but, word has it, the Aces would not have been able to host a home series until December due to music festivals among other events. Clearly this would have been a killer in terms of attracting membership.

However, for anyone who might have expected a return to Melbourne Ballpark to be a retrograde step, the Aces went a long way toward turning the tide of negativity that has always shrouded this venue and made it a "no go zone" for people from Melbourne's baseball heartland. With a decent injection of funds the venue was given a quite impressive facelift and, in all honesty, the facilities were superior to most venues around Australia. Although the location of the venue will never be regarded as ideal there is a chance that the improved facilities will cause some attitude swing?

First and foremost the old "astro turf" infield was upgraded with a new state-of-the-art artificial turf infield that, not only looked impressive, but it also played that way for the competitors. Infielders usually commented that it played superbly and very much like natural grass. The Aces also did a host of cosmetic upgrades for spectators that will be improved further as time goes by.

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Heading north, Canberra and Sydney were back at their well established venues of Narrabundah and Blacktown. Attendances at these venues once again varied from encouraging at times to below expectations at other times. I'm not sure if it was driven by the Canberra team or by media invention but the Cavalry venue was often referred to as "Fort Narrabundah" during 2012/13.

During the early rounds of the season the Brisbane Bandits embarked on a "Community Road Trip" aimed at taking the game to the people in other local centres. They played one home series at Redlands Baseball Club and another was split with three games in Lismore, plus one at the old Gold Coast Dolphins venue at Palm Meadows. Upon their return to Brisbane's RNA Showgrounds the team bemoaned the fact that they had a taste of playing at "proper baseball venues" and it was a pity that they didn't have something like that in Brisbane... a clear slap for RNA Showgrounds!

My visits to Perth and Adelaide during the season again gave me the impression that some of the bigger and more boisterous crowds in Adelaide had dwindled somewhat, unlike Perth who have had stable attendances that may be partially attributable to the success of the Perth Heat team. The Sydney Blue Sox maintained a stable level of support at Blacktown International Sportspark.

From my previous review at the end of the 2012 season I won't repeat the re-badging of stadium names based on commercial sponsors as they were generally unchanged. What I will repeat is my personal dislike of having sponsor names permanently attached to the simple team names. For the 2013 season we had the return of the 'Jet Couriers Melbourne Aces' and the 'Alcohol, Think Again Perth Heat'. The new monikers belonged to the 'Powered by SA Power Networks Adelaide Bite' and the 'Canberra Cavalry Driven by Rolfe Renault'. Brisbane Bandits and Sydney Blue Sox continued to refrain from this long-winded practice. Even the ABL competition carried its primary sponsor with its name as the 'BE THE INFLUENCE Tackling Binge Drinking AUSTRALIAN BASEBALL LEAGUE'.

At most ABL venues the attendances can be quite good when big games are promoted for favourable timeslots like Friday and Saturday nights, while double headers tend to be popular for young families. What balances this is the reality that it remains hard to attract crowds of any decent size on other occasions like Wednesday or Thursday nights. This appears to be a fact of life that baseball people must learn to live with and expect.

One thing that causes plenty of discussion among supporters around the country is the variable confidence in the reporting of attendance numbers. I recognise that any negative comment about this seemingly "touchy subject" is very hard to support with facts and I struggle to fully understand why reported attendances would be anything other than fact. However, having personally travelled to most venues again this season and after receiving trusted reports from other series, there is reason to suspect that the majority of official attendance reports are inflated... some greatly. From my own attendance at games I'm prepared to exclude Melbourne and Perth from this as their home attendances appear to be fairly accurate. I'm not prepared to make any further detailed comment about this because I'm not sure what the relevance is?

Once again 'Flintoff & Dunn' will offer the view that Australian baseball is a minority sport and a "niche market", therefore we need to be conservative and realistic about what to expect in terms of spectator support. It is understandable to aim high but patience will be necessary.

OFFENSIVE HIGHLIGHTS

As we always try to do at this time I will begin by paying tribute to WA star who, for the third season running, was the only current major league player who put his hand up to support the Australian Baseball League in regular uniform. Luke may not have ended the season in the big leagues, yet he did play at the major league level earlier in the previous 2012 US season.

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To digress for a moment, my personal preference has always been that Australia's famous Helms Award should have been limited to local Australian players only. This most coveted individual Australian baseball award was suspended during the previous ten-year span of the original ABL in favour of an ABL Most Valuable Player. The Helms award was instituted for our long standing competition and, now that international players have won the award since the re- birth of the ABL, the list of winners is no longer an exclusive list of Australian baseball greats.

Why mention this you may well ask? Well, this third year of the revitalised Australian Baseball League should see our prestigious Helms Award taken by an American import for the second time. Barring some outrageous voting, if your name is not ADAM BUSCHINI there is not much point attending the awards night expecting to take the trophy! Consider Buschini's credentials as follows: - Topped the league batting averages with .363 from 168 at bats - Topped the league slugging percentage with .690 - the only one above .600 - Topped the league for RBIs with 50 - next best was 32 - Topped the league for home runs with 15 - equalled 's ABL record from 2012 - Equal topped the league with 37 runs scored - shared with team mate Kody Hightower - Topped the league with 61 hits - Topped the league with 116 total bases - next best was 75 - Topped the league with a massive 1.111OPS

Quite clearly I can rest may case with respect to the Canberra Cavalry's second baseman Adam Buschini who became the first "Triple Crown" winner in the history of the new ABL.

Buschini's team mate Jeremy Barnes was unlucky to be overshadowed after a terrific season of his own. Barnes batted a third best .343 average, topped the league with 16 doubles and he just edged Buschini with his .423 on base percentage - Buschini had a .421 OBP.

The second best batting average belonged to Sydney Blue Sox local Mitch Dening who batted .347 and he was the only man other than Buschini with at least 60 hits. Sydney import Zachary Penprase set a new league mark with 16 stolen bases as the only man with more than ten, while he also had most at bats for the season with 181. Another Sydney player, veteran , milked most walks for 2013 with 32.

For some other statistics four players played all 46 regular season games - one import and one local from each of Perth and Melbourne. Perth Heat stalwart was joined by import team mate Carter Bell - Melbourne Aces outfielder Elliot Biddle was joined by his import outfield team mate Carlo Testa. Perth import David Amberson actually owned the best batting average with .380 but his came from just 50 at bats. Finally, as a minor negative, Sydney import James Robbins was the only man to strike out more than 50 times with 54 for the season.

PITCHING HIGHLIGHTS

Melbourne's was the only current major league pitcher to feature, albeit briefly, during the 2012/13 ABL season. Recent major leaguers like Chris Oxspring, and all pitched more frequently throughout the season.

The 2013 ABL season saw quite a deal of consistency among starting pitchers with no fewer than eight pitchers making a scheduled start in all twelve series for their respective clubs.

Star import relievers Andrew Kittredge (Adelaide) and Sean Toler (Canberra) each made 22 appearances, one more than another Canberra import Dustin Loggins with 21 as the only ones above 20.

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For those with more than 50 innings pitched, veteran Sydney left-hander Craig Anderson compiled another outstanding season. Not only was his 2.10ERA a league best, but his 81.1 innings was the most pitched by any player. On top of that he earned a league most eight wins and his stunning control meant that he owned a miniscule ratio of .061 base on balls per innings pitched.

Also just above the 50 innings pitched was dynamic Brisbane import Chris Smith who really left his mark from nine starts. Smith had a next best 2.31ERA from 50.2 innings while setting a new league record with a 15 strike out game during the season. He topped the league with two complete games while striking out batters over nine times more often than he issued walks. For a period of three or four starts he was virtually untouchable.

Next behind Anderson for wins was underrated Perth starter Daniel Schmidt who collected eight more to extend his record number of victories in the three year history of the new league. Also just behind Anderson for innings pitched was star team mate Chris Oxspring with 79.2. Oxspring again led the ABL with 86 punch outs, ahead of quality Perth import Anthony Claggett with 77.

Other players worthy of mention for low ERAs with fewer than 50 innings pitched are Brisbane's (0.42ERA - 21.1ip), Perth import Jack Frawley (1.21ERA - 22.1ip) and Melbourne's import reliever Zachary Arneson (1.77ERA - 20.1ip). Melbourne's Japanese starter Hirotaka Koishi was terrific pre-Christmas with a 1.78ERA from 35.1 innings after a shaky beginning to the season - he was the All-Star game starter for the World All-Stars.

Blue Sox reliever Matt Williams set a new ABL record with 15 saves, surpassing the previous record of twelve set by his veteran Korean team mate Dae-Sung Koo. Canberra's ace import Sean Toler was next best with eleven. Another reliever who flew somewhat under the radar with a fine season was Adelaide's Richard Olson who owned the lowest opponent batting average with .174 and the fewest hits per innings with .612.

DEFENSIVE HIGHLIGHTS

As always we must apologise for the fact that our comments are primarily based on games that we saw in person and/or some anecdotal information we received. This might unfairly result in a neglect to mention some other worthy defensive efforts.

This year I must begin by endorsing Perth's 2012 Gold Glove award winner and pro stalwart Allan de San Miguel. The regular star catcher was terrific behind the dish again this season, yet he also revealed his versatility when he allowed import Michael Ohlman to take his gloves. Toward the end of the season 'de San' had become installed as the Heat's first baseman and, far from just filling in to let Ohlman catch, he was most impressive there too. Not only did he bring his "soft hands" to the first sack, but his defensive play and some stretching pick-ups were equally eye-catching.

Once he resumed playing in January Melbourne's exciting professional short stop James Beresford again reminded us of his sublime talent in the field. Some of his defence was breathtaking and his double-play combination with Australian team mate Brad Harman was again a highlight.

Returning Canberra import Kody Hightower was again very good at short as a vital player for the new Champions. We should not ignore the fact that Sydney's regular import catcher Geoffrey Klein did not record an error throughout the long season. Brisbane's lanky David Sutherland was once again a big target and a very strong one at first base with numerous put outs. Although first baseman don't often get mentioned for defence, the other player who caught my attention as a very solid gloveman was Adelaide's Korean import Ji-Man Choi who was a fine all-round player.

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One other player I saw often was Melbourne's laconic import right fielder Carlo Testa. The big man was not the most fluent mover and he was better going back on balls than coming forward. Although he was better than he looked with the glove, it was his cannon of a throwing arm that couldn't escape attention. It reminded Melbourne fans of our first season MVP Andrew Russell who had such a rocket arm at right field that he is now pitching for the Aces and professionally!

Adelaide's pro third baseman shared the Gold Glove award with Allan de San Miguel.

SEASON RESULTS

The 2013 season ended with Melbourne tailed off and out of contention well before the end. The remaining five teams kept in the hunt for a variety of finishing possibilities right up to the last series of the regular season. Adelaide was next to fall away, followed by Brisbane who each ultimately missed the post season action. Perth started the season on fire to defend their title before a shaky patch mid-season revealed some vulnerability. Canberra, then Sydney took turns at the top of the table before, finally, Canberra edged Sydney for the "minor Premiership".

Under the new three-team finals format the one Preliminary Final saw Perth travel to Blacktown for a best-of-three encounter with the Blue Sox. After the opening night of the final was washed out, it all happened in one day with a Saturday afternoon / night double header. Much to the disappointment of expectant home fans the Perth Heat took both games to advance to the final.

They booked a trip to Canberra for a best-of-three Championship series and, while it was by no means a walkover, the import-strong Canberra Cavalry took a 2-0 grand final series sweep. However, the final dramatic word belonged to a sort-of Canberra native, evergreen slugger Michael Wells, who broke a deadlock in Game 2 with his go-ahead . The Melbourne raised Wells was the toast of Canberra as they celebrated their first ever Australian baseball Championship.

THE AFTERMATH

In many ways the 2013 Australian Baseball League season was again a small step forward and a season of further consolidation. There were still plenty of issues to be addressed but there were some comforting signs that these were part of a plan for continuous improvement.

Aside from the ongoing improvement of logistics, venues and media exposure there must still be some concern about the integrity of the competition. I've already said enough about the uneven distribution of import player strength around the league - this is a very serious and growing issue.

I don't think that the Australian Baseball League is still anywhere close to the type of attendance numbers that would make the competition self-sufficient. Any failure to address this inequity of team strength is likely to result in even fewer fans attending games in cities where the team is floundering due to lack of import help.

To repeat something that we have said very often over many years after the original ABL folded, we simply cannot afford to fail with our this attempt at a National League or we might never see one again. The new National League is here and we must not let it fail…

Australian baseball fans must all rally together and remain confident - support our league!

By Peter Flintoff

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