Australian baseball

[Simmo79]

I think the lower bowl of the MCG could be diamondised fairly easy

[wildcat]

ABL released the names and launched the websites of the 6 foundation teams on August 5th, Teams are
- Melbourne Aces http://www.melbourneaces.com.au/
- AdelaideBite http://www.adelaidebite.com.au/
- Brisbane Bandits http://brisbanebandits.com.au/
- Canberra Cavalry http://www.canberracavalry.com.au
- Perth Heat http://www.perthheat.baseball.com.au/
- Sydney Blue Sox http://www.sydneybluesox.com.au

Good to see some teams sticking with their old names, but I can't say I am too keen on the Canberra Cavalry, and the Adelaide Bite....wow, thats right up there withe the Adelaide Fellas (WNBL), but fortunantly they had a sponsor to blame.

[Boba Fett]

Up until a couple of weeks ago the Sydney Blue Sox could have planned to play out of the Showground at Homebush. Now that the AFL has come in and got the government to cough up the redevelopment money to turn it into an AFL ground, the Blue Sox will be forced to play out at Blacktown. Which has a capacity of only 3,000.

[Simmo79]

Death to AFL! It makes my blood boil to see a local sport kicked out of its spiritual home for an upstart

[cam]

I doubt they ever would have played at the Showgrounds. Has a baseball game been played there since the Olympics? Not even any Claxton Shield games have been played there I don't believe? They've got a purpose-built white elephant out at Blacktown which needs to be used as oppose to the Showgrounds which will finally be used for something now that the AFL is taking it over. I'm pretty sure the 3,000 seating capacity won't be threatened - if so, then I'm sure they can erect some temporary seating as they did for the Olympics.

[Rob]

Up until a couple of weeks ago the Sydney Blue Sox could have planned to play out of the Showground at Homebush. Now that the AFL has come in and got the government to cough up the redevelopment money to turn it into an AFL ground, the Blue Sox will be forced to play out at Blacktown. Which has a capacity of only 3,000.

Those fuckers! Where are the 20,000 people that want to go and watch the bluesox going to go now?

[Boba Fett]

I doubt they ever would have played at the Showgrounds. Has a baseball game been played there since the Olympics? Not even any Claxton Shield games have been played there I don't believe? They've got a purpose-built white elephant out at Blacktown which needs to be used as oppose to the Showgrounds which will finally be used for something now that the AFL is taking it over. I'm pretty sure the 3,000 seating capacity won't be threatened - if so, then I'm sure they can erect some temporary seating as they did for the Olympics.

It wasn't so much a capacity issue (I think you're absolutely right on the crowd expectations!), but more a question of we have a purpose built baseball stadium in the geographic heart of Sydney that has great transport facilities that never got used. At the end of the day the Showground was built for one purpose (baseball) and we will now spend millions of dollars turning into something else (an AFL stadium) that looks a bit half-arsed from the renders supplied so far.

[Simmo79]

I'm pretty confident that the Showgrounds would still make a half-decent ball-park after the redevelopment. It's not like they'll be playing on a RL field anymore

[HoldenV8]

Read the Blue Sox web site and you'll find that Cam is right, they'll play out of Blacktown. The Adelaide Bite (I prefer the old ABL name, the Adelaide Giants) have announced they will play out at Norwood Oval. Perth Heat will play out of Baseball Park. The Brisbane Bandits will probably play at the Ekka. Canberra (who came up with the name Cavalry???) have stated they will play at an upgraded Narrabundah Ballpark.

Melbourne is a tough one. While they do have the Melbourne Ballpark its way out west in Altona while from all reports I have read the majority of those involved in baseball in Melbourne live in the eastern suburbs. Is Melbourne going to get a new ballpark closer to the city or the eastern suburbs or are they going to play again at a place like Moorabbin? It would be nice if they got a baseball only stadium instead of having to play on an oval unsuited to the game.

[krc]

Don't believe all the hype you read coming out of the eastern suburbs clubs, V8 (there are substantial growth areas out that way, as there are through Werribee and down to Geelong).

Expect an announcement shortly about Royal Melbourne Showgrounds in Maribyrnong (ten-twelve minutes from Melbourne CBD).

[cam]

That's interesting regarding the Melbourne Showgrounds. Considering the work they've done there in recent years, where would it be situated? The old main arena doesn't exist, one of the grandstands is still there. They built a new "arena" but it's square and very small. I imagine a fair bit of work would be required. Good location though.

[krc]

The "square" area is big enough to play baseball games, albeit only at 300 feet to leftfield and 290 to rightfield. Somthing along the lines of a "Green Monster" could be constructed - probably in timber -to make it a legitimate hit to clear each outfield corner (and it's still 400 feet at what would be centrefield).

The excellent location, seating, facilities, accessibility and preparedness of venue management to negotiate on tenancy make this a no-brainer - even if the mound had to be removed for rock concerts and other events held over summer.

[hot_dogma]

Do any sporting teams use the square at all?

[beastjim]

This competition starts in less than 2 months. Yet at least 1 or 2 clubs still doesn't know where its going to play, pretty much no one has a roster and its receiving even less attention then the ARC and NBL did/do. Still no TV partner either, surely someone has to get on board. Looking at you One HD.

Anyways season draw is up: http://theabl.com/site/baseball/abl/dow ... 20Date.pdf
Or a team by team breakdown: http://www.theabl.com.au/site/baseball/ ... hedule.pdf

The double header of a 7 innings game, and a 9 innings game in one day is interesting, then again 16 innings of baseball in one day might be overkill for most people.

For a venue the Bandits are still trying to close the deal on something workable at the RNA Showgrounds, if not they will head to Holloway Field. About the only thing they have done is get Dave Nilsson on as team manager.

[Egan]

It seems Perth Heat will be operating on a whole different level to the rest of the ABL as austadiums reports have shown. They have triple the amount of administration staff with only a General Manager and Assistant General Manager on the pay roll. Perth Heat has marketing manager, event managers etc etc.

Will be very interesting whether that increased revenue will show a big gap between them and the rest of the teams. But the alternative is that they are a 'bonus' which was the view of WA Baseball.

Ticket prices are very cheap, should get people who can't afford other sporting events to go to the game.