Flintoff & Dunn’s AUSTRALIAN MAJOR LEAGUE - 2015 AUSTRALIAN BASEBALL LEAGUE 2015 IN REVIEW! - By Peter Flintoff Section 1

PERTH HEAT JUGGERNAUT MAKES IT 4 FROM 5 ABL CHAMPIONSHIPS IN 2015!

In 2014/15 we enjoyed the fifth of the "second coming" of the Australian Baseball League. Once again six teams from major capital centres made up the competition, namely Adelaide Bite, , Cavalry, Aces, Heat and Blue Sox. As usual these teams comprised many of the best local players with the addition of international imports from the USA, , Taipei and Korea mainly. Having said that, some of our very best Australian professional talent either did not play or played only part of the season as a worrying trend.

To continue their elected path, only the hosted Japanese professional imports for the 2015 season. The remainder of this paragraph is a repeat from last season, but my opinion has not changed and, moreover, it is stronger than ever. The Japanese players had only a modest impact before, as dictated, packing up to return home at Christmas time. 'Flintoff & Dunn' has probably said enough about the overall value of importing Japanese players into our ABL, especially given that they are unable to stay the course of the full season. Regardless of what philosophical advantage there may be for our league to have some Japanese "connection", there is sufficient evidence that the Japanese import players provide very little value to the club(s) that host them. It is more of a detraction and a distraction to replace these players mid-season. More frustrating for Melbourne fans in 2015 was the fact that the team was already slipping out of contention and there was no attempt to find adequate replacements.

Canberra, out of necessity, were once again dominated by American import players while all of the other teams had a healthy contingent of US professional imports. Perth again set the bar very high with the quality of their imports, adding former major leaguers Mike McClendon and Rene Tosoni to the returning Gold Glove star Joey Wong who gave the team valuable continuity. To maintain their history in the modern ABL era the again relied less on import pitching.

In its fifth season, the ABL stayed with virtually the same schedule that they adopted for the 2014 season with 48 (up from 46) regular season games spread over 13 weekend series. Again each club played every other club "home and away" with one additional home and away series against a selected opponent. This again produced an unbalanced schedule, but at least the opponents were rotated on this occasion from 2014. The season started with a "softer" schedule where each team had an early season bye round. All series were scheduled for four games in 2014/15.

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. Although they remained on the schedule in some instances there seemed to be a growing reluctance to schedule double header openings in favour of mainly single night games. Rained-out and/or postponed games were re- scheduled to be added to weekend programs for the return series between the same teams.

The ABL also stuck with the "Top Three" playoffs format. 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. All playoff series were best-of-three although there was one minor "wrinkle" for the 2015 Semi-Final series. With Perth seeded to host Sydney, the Blue Sox hosted the opening game at Blacktown then travelled to Perth for the other two games, if required. There was no third game required because the Heat swept the series 2-0.

Unfortunately television coverage of ABL games was again virtually non-existent during the regular season, although the Championship series games were televised live on FOXTEL. On a more positive note the ABL did arrange a very broad coverage of games throughout the season via various internet streaming platforms. ABLtv and iiNet provided live streaming coverage of the majority of games which, by all reports, attracted good numbers of viewers around the country.

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Flintoff & Dunn’s AUSTRALIAN - 2015 AUSTRALIAN BASEBALL LEAGUE 2015 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’ 2015 Edition book, but we do want to run through a brief overview of each series for historical purposes, as follows:

WEEK ONE SERIES Adelaide @ Brisbane; Sydney @ Perth; Melbourne & Canberra , Thornlie 30 Oct - Brisbane 3-8 Adelaide 31 Oct - Perth 4-9 Sydney BYE Round 31 Oct - Brisbane 3-23 Adelaide 1 Nov - Perth 3-7 Sydney 1 Nov - Brisbane 6-5 Adelaide 1 Nov - Perth 5-0 Sydney 2 Nov - Brisbane 7-2 Adelaide 2 Nov - Perth 20-9 Sydney

WEEK TWO SERIES Sydney @ Canberra; Brisbane @ Melbourne; Perth & Adelaide Narrabundah 6 Nov - Canberra 7-13 Sydney 7 Nov - Melbourne 3-10 Brisb BYE Round 7 Nov - Canberra 4-2 Sydney 8 Nov - Melbourne 2-1 Brisb 8 Nov - Canberra 1-3 Sydney 9 Nov - Melbourne 4-5 Brisb 9 Nov - Canberra 5-7 Sydney 10 Nov - Melbourne 1-2 Brisb

WEEK THREE SERIES Canberra @ Sydney; Melbourne @ Brisbane; Perth @ Adelaide; Blacktown, Sydney Holloway Field 13 Nov - Sydney 2-0 Canberra 13 Nov - Brisbane 6-7 Melb 13 Nov - Adelaide 0-6 Perth 14 Nov - Sydney 7-6 Canberra 14 Nov - Brisbane 6-6 Melb 14 Nov - Adelaide 5-4 Perth 15 Nov - Sydney 1-8 Canberra 15 Nov - Brisbane 4-3 Melb 15 Nov - Adelaide 3-2 Perth (7) 15 Nov - Sydney 6-11 Canberra 16 Nov - Brisbane 12-6 Melb 16 Nov - Adelaide 2-4 Perth

WEEK FOUR SERIES Sydney @ Melbourne; Brisbane @ Adelaide; Canberra @ Perth; Melbourne Ballpark Norwood Oval Baseball Park, Thornlie 20 Nov - Melbourne 3-5 Sydney 20 Nov - Adelaide 14-6 Brisb 20 Nov - Perth 12-11 Canberra 21 Nov - Melbourne 4-2 Sydney 21 Nov - Adelaide 5-6 Brisbane 21 Nov - Perth 4-9 Canberra 22 Nov - Melb 8-12 Sydney (11) 22 Nov - Adelaide 5-2 Brisbane 22 Nov - Perth 4-5 Canberra (7) 23 Nov - Melbourne 10-4 Sydney 23 Nov - Adelaide 2-7 Brisbane 22 Nov - Perth 2-11 Canberra

WEEK FIVE SERIES Melbourne @ Brisbane; Perth @ Sydney; Adelaide @ Canberra; Holloway Field Blacktown, Sydney Narrabundah 28 Nov - Brisbane 9-0 Melbourne 27 Nov - Sydney 9-5 Perth 27 Nov - Canberra 6-2 Adelaide 29 Nov - Brisbane 5-2 Melb (7) 28 Nov - Sydney 2-6 Perth 28 Nov - Canberra 6-0 Adelaide 29 Nov - Brisbane 4-2 Melbourne 29 Nov - Sydney 7-1 Perth 29 Nov - Canberra 8-9 Adelaide 30 Nov - Brisbane 2-12 Melb 30 Nov - Sydney 0-2 Perth (7) 30 Nov - Canberra 8-11 Adel (11)

WEEK SIX SERIES Perth @ Melbourne; Canberra @ Adelaide; Brisbane & Sydney Melbourne Ballpark Norwood Oval 4 Dec - Melbourne 5-6 Perth 4 Dec - Adelaide 5-2 Canberra BYE Round 5 Dec - Melbourne 2-1 Perth 5 Dec - Adelaide 7-4 Canberra 6 Dec - Melbourne 7-6 Perth (12) 6 Dec - Adelaide 7-0 Canberra 7 Dec - Melbourne v Perth (WO) 7 Dec - Adelaide 4-11 Canb

WEEK SEVEN SERIES Melbourne @ Canberra; Brisbane @ Perth; Adelaide @ Sydney; Narrabundah Baseball Park, Thornlie Blacktown, Sydney 11 Dec - Canberra 4-3 Melbourne 11 Dec - Perth 2-3 Brisb (11) 12 Dec - Sydney 4-5 Adelaide 12 Dec - Canberra 5-4 Melbourne 12 Dec - Perth 4-2 Brisbane 13 Dec - Sydney 0-3 Adelaide (7) 13 Dec - Canberra 0-5 Melbourne 13 Dec - Perth 5-4 Brisbane 13 Dec - Sydney 0-6 Adelaide 14 Dec - Canberra 3-0 Melbourne 14 Dec - Perth 4-5 Brisbane 11 Dec - Sydney 6-5 Adelaide (12) Flintoff & Dunn’s ALMANAC 19th Edition Page 1-12

Flintoff & Dunn’s AUSTRALIAN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL - 2015 AUSTRALIAN BASEBALL LEAGUE 2015 IN REVIEW! - By Peter Flintoff Section 1

WEEK EIGHT SERIES Perth @ Melbourne; Sydney @ Adelaide; Canberra @ Brisbane; Melbourne Ballpark Norwood Oval Holloway Field 18 Dec - Melbourne 5-15 Perth 18 Dec - Adelaide 10-3 Sydney 19 Dec - Brisbane 4-11 Canb (13) 19 Dec - Melbourne 9-0 Perth 19 Dec - Adelaide 6-2 Syd (8) 20 Dec - Brisbane 1-6 Canb (7) 20 Dec - Melbourne 1-2 Perth (7) 20 Dec - Adelaide 4-2 Sydney 20 Dec - Brisbane 2-8 Canberra 20 Dec - Melbourne 1-2 Perth (R) 21 Dec - Adelaide 4-3 Sydney 21 Dec - Brisbane 10-3 Canberra 21 Dec - Melbourne 3-1 Perth

WEEK NINE SERIES Adelaide @ Canberra; Brisbane @ Sydney; Melbourne @ Perth; Narrabundah Blacktown, Sydney Baseball Park, Thornlie 27 Dec - Canberra 2-1 Adel (7) 26 Dec - Sydney 2-6 Brisbane 27 Dec - Perth 11-0 Melbourne 27 Dec - Canberra 1-2 Adelaide 27 Dec - Sydney 2-1 Brisbane 28 Dec - Perth 3-4 Melbourne 28 Dec - Canberra 3-6 Adelaide 28 Dec - Sydney 6-4 Brisbane 29 Dec - Perth 6-4 Melbourne 29 Dec - Canberra 5-6 Adel (12) 29 Dec - Syd 10-9 Brisb (10) 30 Dec - Perth 8-7 Melbourne

WEEK TEN SERIES Canberra @ Melbourne; Perth @ Brisbane; Sydney @ Adelaide; Melbourne Ballpark Holloway Field Norwood Oval 1 Jan - Melbourne 6-12 Canberra 2 Jan - Brisbane 11-6 Perth 2 Jan - Adelaide 6-7 Sydney 2 Jan - Melbourne 6-9 Canberra 3 Jan - Brisbane 4-3 Perth (7) 3 Jan - Adelaide 11-7 Sydney (7) 3 Jan - Melbourne 9-8 Canberra 3 Jan - Brisbane 3-4 Perth 3 Jan - Adelaide 9-7 Sydney (8) 4 Jan - Melbourne 3-2 Canberra 4 Jan - Brisbane 3-9 Perth 4 Jan - Adelaide 13-5 Sydney

WEEK ELEVEN SERIES Brisbane @ Canberra; Melbourne @ Sydney; Adelaide @ Perth; Narrabundah Blacktown, Sydney Baseball Park, Thornlie 8 Jan - Canberra 10-3 Brisbane 8 Jan - Sydney 16-4 Melb 8 Jan - Perth 7-1 Adelaide 9 Jan - Canberra 2-0 Brisbane 9 Jan - Sydney 7-0 Melb 9 Jan - Perth 10-5 Adelaide 10 Jan - Canberra v Brisb (WO) 10 Jan - Sydney v Melb (WO) 10 Jan - Perth 7-8 Adelaide 11 Jan - Canberra v Brisb (WO) 11 Jan - Sydney v Melb (WO) 11 Jan - Perth 3-1 Adelaide

WEEK TWELVE SERIES Melbourne @ Adelaide; Perth @ Canberra; Sydney @ Brisbane; Norwood Oval Narrabundah Holloway Field 15 Jan - Adelaide 2-1 Melbourne 15 Jan - Canberra 0-11 Perth 15 Jan - Brisbane 8-5 Sydney 16 Jan - Adelaide 8-2 Melbourne 16 Jan - Canberra 3-15 Perth 16 Jan - Brisbane 3-4 Sydney 17 Jan - Adelaide 10-3 Melbourne 17 Jan - Canberra 7-5 Perth 17 Jan - Brisbane 2-7 Sydney 18 Jan - Adelaide 4-6 Melbourne 18 Jan - Canberra 4-14 Perth 18 Jan - Brisbane 9-5 Sydney

WEEK THIRTEEN SERIES Canberra @ Sydney; Adelaide @ Melbourne; Canberra @ Perth; Blacktown, Sydney Melbourne Ballpark Baseball Park, Thornlie 22 Jan - Sydney 2-3 Canberra 22 Jan - Melbourne 4-6 Adel 22 Jan - Perth 4-3 Brisbane 23 Jan - Sydney 8-6 Canberra 23 Jan - Melbourne 2-4 Adel 23 Jan - Perth 4-2 Brisbane 24 Jan - Sydney 2-1 Canberra 24 Jan - Melbourne 4-2 Adel 24 Jan - Perth 11-7 Brisbane 25 Jan - Sydney 2-7 Canberra 25 Jan - Melbourne 1-3 Adel 25 Jan - Perth 6-5 Brisbane

PRELIMINARY-FINAL SERIES GRAND-FINAL SERIES Sydney @ Perth; Perth @ Adelaide; Blacktown, Sydney Norwood Oval 30 Jan - Sydney 4-5 Perth 6 Feb - Adelaide 3-2 Perth Baseball Park, Thornlie 7 Feb - Adelaide 3-5 Perth 31 Jan - Perth 9-2 Sydney 8 Feb - Adelaide 5-12 Perth

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

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Flintoff & Dunn’s AUSTRALIAN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL - 2015 AUSTRALIAN BASEBALL LEAGUE 2015 IN REVIEW! - By Peter Flintoff Section 1

WHAT’S NEW

In its fifth season of the new ABL era the 2014/15 Australian Baseball League once again saw few fundamental changes as the competition continued to imbed its culture in .

Part of the reason why the opening rounds of the season included BYE rounds was the expected participation of the reigning ABL Champions, , in the prestigious . Unfortunately this series was cancelled due to scheduling issues that, apparently, could not be resolved. It deprived them of a chance to emulate Canberra’s ground-breaking win last year.

Although many Australian baseball devotees were keen to debate the number of import players featuring in the league, it is fair to say that the spread of import players was again more evenly apportioned than in the earlier years of this league. As mentioned, the only anomaly was that Melbourne continued to host Japanese players for the first part of the season - as we continue to say this is certainly a detriment to their chance of overall success?

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

For the fourth time the ABL held their annual All-Star Game at Melbourne Ballpark on 17 December 2014. With a stunning comeback the Australian All-Stars pounded eight runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to overturn the ascendency of the World All-Stars with an amazing 11-8 triumph. Perth’s was the game MVP with three RBIs. This All Star game was televised live on FOXTEL after a year hiatus of this live coverage.

VENUES & ATTENDANCES

The home venues for ABL teams seemed to be pretty much locked-in with Brisbane settling in to their second season at Holloway Field. As we don’t expect there to be much change to these venues in coming years, we will just use this table to record the ongoing history of the clubs.

TEAM HOME VENUE NAMING SPONSOR Adelaide Bite Norwood Oval SA Power Networks Brisbane Bandits Holloway Field Welldog Narrabundah Canberra Elite (Taxi Service) Melbourne Aces Melbourne Ballpark - Altona Jet Couriers Perth Heat Baseball Park - Thornlie alcoholthinkagain Sydney Blue Sox Blacktown Int. Sportspark SKLZ

From my own observation, attendances were pretty much the same as the previous seasons. Certainly there was no quantum increase or decrease that I noticed.

From my previous review 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. The ABL competition took on a new primary naming rights sponsor ConocoPhillips.

To repeat our usual stance, '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.

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Flintoff & Dunn’s AUSTRALIAN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL - 2015 AUSTRALIAN BASEBALL LEAGUE 2015 IN REVIEW! - By Peter Flintoff Section 1

OFFENSIVE HIGHLIGHTS

As we always try to do at this time I will begin by paying tribute to Perth star and Sydney star who put their hands up to play in the ABL. These were the only two local players of recent major league pedigree who graced the league during the 2014/15 season.

Week 10 of this ABL season in early January 2015 proved to be somewhat of a “watershed” for ABL offence this season. When Melbourne’s Canadian slugger Kellin Deglan clocked two homers against the visiting Canberra Cavalry at Melbourne Ballpark on 3 January, he broke the previous record of Aussie team mate (15) with his 16th of the season. As the Aces continued to nosedive out of contention Deglan did not add to that tally thereafter and he did not play the last series of the season. We can only speculate what his final total may have been in other circumstances? Deglan also drove in 36 runs, just one behind season leader Jack Murphy who supplied 37 RBIs in his third season with the Canberra Cavalry.

Week 10 also saw the departure of Adelaide import Aaron Miller who was the most feared offensive player in the league and he may have been on track to set quite a few league records. Once again, who knows what he may have achieved over the full journey, but there is no doubt that he would have made the Bite an even more formidable force in the playoffs. From his 144 at bats, Miller topped the league with his .389 batting average, .701 slugging percentage, .444 on base percentage and, obviously, his mighty 1.145 OPS. Despite missing so many games, Miller was the only other player to pass ten home runs with 12, while he also compiled third most runs, hits and RBIs in a quite remarkable performance.

The only other batting averages above .350 were Canberra’s import pair Christian Lopes (.371 - 124AB) and Jack Murphy (.353 - 153AB), along with Perth’s Aussie Luke Hughes (.352 - 125AB).

A couple of other import stars topped the league for hits with Brisbane’s Thomas Coyle nailing 60 and Adelaide’s Brandon Dixon just behind with 59. Dixon led the way for total bases with 107, ahead of Coyle (102) and Miller (101) as the only ones above 100. Behind Miller’s .701 slugging percentage were Deglin (.631) and Hughes (.608) as the only players to top the .600 mark. Luke Hughes was second behind Miller with his .431 on base percentage. Hughes (1.039) and Lopes (1.002) joined Miller as the only players to boast an OPS higher than 1.000.

Home grown stars (Perth) and Mitch Dening (Adelaide) were the only players to play all 48 possible games, while Kennelly’s 200 at bats were just behind Brandon Dixon’s 204 as the only players to have more than 200. Perth import Joey Wong topped the ABL with 32 walks plus he also shared the competition lead for runs scored with Brandon Dixon as both crossed the plate 38 times. Adelaide certainly utilised the running game with imports Brandon Dixon (21) and Chan Moon (20) leading the league for stolen bases

PITCHING HIGHLIGHTS

Somewhat sadly, once again, there weren't any Australian of recent major league calibre strutting their stuff in the 2015 Australian Baseball League that was pretty much dominated by US starting pitchers. Canberra’s reached ‘AAA’ level in 2014 as the highest ranking home grown to feature in ABL 2015.

Although he ended up with an uncharacteristic 5-6 losing record, Sydney warhorse Craig Anderson was again an ever reliable man at the top of the Blue Sox rotation by making all twelve series starts. His three complete games stood out in a season where only five others recorded one, to go along with his usual status as owner of the league’s most (77.2). Import team mate Markus Solbach was next with 73.0 to give the team a solid platform on most occasions.

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The only others to make all twelve scheduled starts were Solbach along with Canberra’s duo Brian Grening and Tim Atherton. The most used players were Perth’s ace import reliever Jorge Marban, with 24 outings, and Brisbane’s specialist lefty reliever Masato Goto with 23.

While on the subject of reliability and longevity we simply must mention the remarkable feat of Adelaide’s “Man of Steel” pitcher Darren Fidge whose career has now spanned all 25 years of AMLB since the very start of the original ABL way back in 1989/90… he is a genuine marvel!

Perth’s former major leaguer Mike McClendon took the ERA honours with his 1.66 ERA (48.2ip), while Adelaide’s consistent import Morgan Coombs owned an equally impressive 1.95 ERA (69.1ip). Sandwiched in between them was young Melbourne professional Sam Gibbons who made only four starts, yet he was quite outstanding. He recorded a 2-1, 1.69 ERA record from his allowed 26.1 innings. To emphasise his effectiveness young Sam struck out 21 and walked only two! Gibbons also led the league with his terrific WHIP of .825 that edged out Brisbane’s most efficient import Chen-Hua Lin who recorded .976 as the only pair under the 1.000 plateau.

Adelaide reliever often found himself in the right place at the right times to lead the ABL with nine wins, ahead of Coombs and Perth’s Scott Mitchinson with seven apiece. Jorge Marban shared the ABL lead for saves with Bite closer Tyler Brunnemann and Canberra’s Dustin Crenshaw who all posted eight. The imposing Marban also led the competition with his .147 opponent batting average, just lower than Melbourne’s one effective import pitcher Cody Buckel with .177.

Mike McClendon led the league for fewest walks per innings (.062) and Josh Tols owned the most strike outs per innings (.647).

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.

2014 Championship Series MVP and Gold Glove winner Joey Wong was again a standout at short stop as one of the league’s most consistent defensive stars. His Perth team mate and former Gold Glove winner rarely fails to impress with his defensive work in the hot kitchen behind the dish.

Brisbane import Granden Goetzman was as good as any with an errorless season in the outfield while Melbourne’s underrated Adam Engel also showed some class in the vast expanses.

Although it also reflected the sorry plight of the hapless Melbourne Aces at the end of another miserable losing season, there was an opportunity for them to manufacture a rare defensive feat. Veteran utility player Scott Wearne has always shown himself more than capable of pitching or playing in just about any position and this is what he did. On the occasion of their last game of the season at home against the Adelaide Bite on 25 January 2105 ‘Wearney’ changed position every inning to play all the field positions before taking the ball to pitch a scoreless last frame.

SEASON RESULTS

The 2015 ABL season was quite even and competitive aside from the re-jigged Melbourne Aces who fell from contention early and eventually spiralled downward to a lamentable conclusion that bordered on embarrassing at times. The Aces had replaced icon Phil Dale as manager with American Tommy Thompson who promised a lot, but delivered little more than distraction with some of his off-beat antics. Of course he didn’t have the greatest of cattle either.

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Melbourne was again shackled by the inclusion of Japanese professional players who, as we have come to understand, always return home when Santa Claus arrives in Australia. This season the Aces could only manage to replace their Japanese players with what could be described as “second tier” local league players. To put it bluntly, this league is too tough to try to sneak through with “smoke and mirrors” and Melbourne fans had nothing much to enjoy as the season progressed.

The Adelaide Bite led the way for just about the entire season and they clinched top position well before the end of the campaign to finally top the table with a four-game buffer. At times the defending Champion Perth Heat looked somewhat vulnerable in terms of their playoff hopes but, in the end, their pure quality rose to the challenge with an ominous late season charge that eventually saw them claim second place with a five-game buffer of their own.

There was only one game separating Sydney, Canberra and Brisbane at the end as all three teams were still battling for the final playoff berth right down to the last weekend of the season. Perth swept the Bandits at home to end their aspirations in disappointing fashion for them. Sydney won two of the first three very tight games that they hosted against Canberra to clinch their playoff spot by virtue of head-to-head results. Canberra won Game 4 on the last night at Blacktown to split the series and to finish level on points yet there was no post season for them this year.

Under the three-team finals format the one Preliminary Final saw the Heat hosting the Blue Sox. As mentioned, this year Sydney was scheduled to host the first game while Perth owned the right to host two games if required. As it happened Perth Heat swept the ‘B-Sox’ 2-0 to reach another final.

There was a fair bit of buzz in South Australia that their Adelaide Bite club could finally break a lengthy Premiership drought when they hosted Perth for a Best-of-Three showdown at Norwood. Those expectations heightened when back-to-back-to-back home runs in the seventh inning overturned a 0-2 deficit and propelled them to a stunning 3-2 victory in Game 1. However, the Perth Heat were never going to hand over their title without a big fight and they came through to take the two remaining games for a 2-1 Championship series triumph. Once again they had franked their “golden era” with a fourth Championship from five seasons of the modern ABL.

I won’t attempt to nominate a likely Helms Award winner this season, but I reckon that Adelaide import Aaron Miller would have romped in if he not left after Week 10… he may still win it?

To repeat again, 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.

THE AFTERMATH

Here is some more repeated text that I have no reason to change for this review:

To be as clear-thinking, realistic and honest as we always try to be, 'Flintoff & Dunn' really can't be very insightful about where our Australian Baseball League is positioned at present with respect to the expectations of those in major league baseball that control our league? Like all Australian baseball devotees, we'd love to be a "fly on the wall" at the inner sanctum whenever the future of our league is under discussion. It is hard to imagine that we have exceeded, or even fulfilled, their expectations in terms of attendance or growth... not to mention financial viability? The multi-million dollar question is whether those expectations can be tempered to a point where our benefactors at MLB can continue to support our league for philosophical "growth" reasons?

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Whether the Australian Baseball League, even in a modified form, could continue without the ongoing support of MLB is an even bigger quandary and we really hope that we don't need to find out any time soon.

Aside from the ongoing improvement of logistics, venues and media exposure there was a pleasing improvement in the competitiveness of all teams and the evenness of the competition was commendable. There is no magic wand or potion that will bring about a dramatic increase in spectator support, so we can only keep chipping away at improving those things that will gradually attract more people to games.

To repeat something that we have said very often over many years after the original ABL folded, we simply cannot afford to fail with this attempt at a 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!

What we can add is the intrigue about what is on the immediate horizon, given that we have just completed the fifth season of what was originally a five year promise of support from MLB. We haven’t heard as much as a whisper that they could withdraw their support but, equally, we have heard nothing about their plans to continue. This is where only time will tell…

By Peter Flintoff

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