[The Just]

Get to know your ARB teams

December 15^th, 2007


The ARB debuts with their first regular season games in October of next year. Scouting combines start next month, and the draft will roll around in May. We won't wait until September's spring training to introduce you to the ARB.


The ARB requires their teams to build baseball specific stadiums, and refuses to rent out other grounds. In this get-to-know report, we'll show you the stadiums that the original six teams will call home. We have capacity, field dimensions, planned construction details, and the names of these venues. We'll also introduce you to the fan groups that have already assembled to support their baseball team.


Adelaide
Adelaide Baseball Field
Capacity: 8,000
LF line: 315 ft. / 10 ft. wall
LF: 330 ft. / 10 ft. wall
L-C: 360 ft. / 10 ft. wall
C: 388 ft. /10 ft. wall
R-C: 360 ft. / 10 ft. wall
RF: 330 ft. / 16 ft. wall
RF line: 315 ft. / 16 ft. wall


Stadium Notes: The 16 ft. wall in right is a scoreboard. It's a big, humanly operated, wooden scoreboard.


Brisbane
Bank of Queensland© Stadium
Capacity: 11,300
LF line: 360 ft. / 5 ft. wall
LF: 370 ft. / 5 ft. wall
L-C: 390 ft. / 5 ft. wall
C: 430 ft. / 5 ft. wall
R-C: 400 ft. / 5 ft. wall
RF: 385 ft. / 5 ft. wall
RF line: 360 ft. / 5 ft. wall


Stadium Notes: “The BoQ” gives outfielders of all kinds a daunting task. To make things worse, all of that running hard for a ball hit very deep could just end up as an easy ground rule double. Those walls are only five feet after all.


Melbourne
Winstow Park
Capacity: 16,000
LF line: 300 ft. / 12 ft. wall
LF: 320 ft. / 12 ft. wall
L-C: 358 ft. / 10 ft. wall
C: 387 ft. / 10 ft. wall
R-C: 358 ft. /10 ft. wall
RF: 326 ft. /12 ft. wall
RF line: 326 ft. / 12 ft. wall


Stadium Notes: Named after team owner Eric Winstow, this BSS has the highest capacity in the ARB. It also looks very slick, and appears to be the easiest for television crews to setup.


New Zealand, “The Outsiders”
The New Zealand National Baseball Park
Capacity: 5,700
LF line: 330 ft. / 30 ft. wall
LF: 370 ft. / 30 ft. wall
L-C: 390 ft. / 30 ft. wall
C: 420 ft. / 30 ft. wall
R-C: 400 ft. / 30 ft. wall
RF: 380 ft. / 30 ft. wall
RF line: 360 ft. / 30 ft. wall


Stadium Notes: The stadium will have all of their seats by the third base line, at the left field side. In order to make it hard for those who are looking to get a free peak of the action, the NZNBP will have thirty foot walls that start at the left field line, wrap around the outfield, and over the home team's dugout along the first base line. That's most of the stadium surrounded by the wall.


The home team dugout is located in front of the big wall, while the visiting team will have their dugout right underneath the home crowd. New Zealand will look to make the most of their home field advantage.


Fan Notes: Being the only team in the ARB that is outside of Australia, and representing the whole country of New Zealand, a rugby and cricket dominated country has already seen a growing fan base that is planning extensively for the first pitch.


The fans call themselves “The Outsiders,” and have made it known that they view their country's pride at stake in every game against the five Australian cities. Their supporters group website has called for their members to bring noisemakers, flares, streamers, and anything else that is allowed into the stadium.


Perth
The Home of the Bell
Capacity: 6,800
LF line: 290 ft. / 9 ft. wall
LF: 350 ft. / 9 ft. wall
L-C: 380 ft. / 11 ft. wall
C: 385 ft. / 11 ft. wall
R-C: 380 ft. / 11 ft. wall
RF: 350 ft. / 9 ft. wall
RF line: 290 ft. / 9 ft. wall


Stadium Notes: Up in the sky, on top of the press box, a giant bell stands. It's what this park is named after. It is to be pulled on and rung five times before the umpire shouts, “Play ball!”


“The Perth organizers thought it'd be a great idea,” said a team spokesman. “It will catch everyone's attention, and it should set a mood at the ballpark that you won't get anywhere else.”


Perth will be looking at the prospect of celebrity bell ringers that will attract the media to these games.


Fan Notes: Upon hearing about their stadium plans, “Hell's Bells” has been formed and plans to take their seats right behind home plate. They plan on bringing little bells of their own to add to the atmosphere, and create a distraction for opposing players.


That's what Perth is looking for, and one of the reasons why they cramped up the field dimensions. “We want fans to be closer to the field,” said a spokesman. “The closer they are, the more into it they'll be.”


Sydney, “The Premiers”
Premier State Field
Capacity: 14,200
LF line: 343 ft. / 20 ft. wall
LF: 343 ft. / 20 ft. wall
L-C: 366 ft. / 14 ft. wall
C: 390 ft. / 14 ft. wall
R-C: 363 ft. / 8 ft. wall
RF: 339 ft. / 8 ft. wall
RF line: 330 ft. / 8 ft. wall


Stadium Notes: The 20 ft. wall in left is a scoreboard, which is more hi-tech than the one in Adelaide. This one updates scores from all over Australia, in many different sports, in a bit of a marquee style. The Premiers' score is the main one, of course.


Fan Notes: New South Wales is the most populated state in Australia, and is known as “The Premier State.” A group of fans have taken the liberty to naming themselves “The Premiers,” proclaiming their dominance even before the team has scouted anyone.