Australian Baseball: Another Try

[RayofHope]

ACTUAL (ABBREVIATED) HISTORY of ORGANIZED AUSTRALIAN BASEBALL:

Prior to 1990, Australian baseball lurked largely in the shadows of Australia's main summer sport - cricket. The game was purely amatuer, and unfamiliar to most apart from the odd reference to the game from former Australian cricket legends. In these early days, the Claxton Shield was Australia's World Series, but unless you played the game or were an avid baseball fan, you never would have heard of it. Even some who played once a week on a Saturday or Sunday had never heard of the Shield, again playing second, or even third, fiddle to cricket's Sheffield Shield.

From 1990 to 1999, Australian baseball was represented nationally in the form of the ABL (Australian Baseball League). The first game was played in Perth between Perth and Adelaide, with Adeliade (my team!) winning 8-5. The size of the league varied from 6 teams to 9 teams, playing a schedule usually between 40 and 60 odd games, and the game was seen as being semi-pro, with most of the athletes also holding down extra jobs. Most clubs had affiliations with Major League Clubs, and talent such as Vernon Wells, John Jaha, Preston Wilson, Kevin Millwood and Troy O'Leary all played in the ABL. Once again, my team, the Adeliade Giants, was a main stay of the affiliation program, retaining a relationship with the LA Dodgers for the lifetime of the league.

Some of the better known Australian players the ABL "produced" include Dave Nilsson and Graeme Lloyd - although Mark Hutton is known to be one of the first Australian pitchers to crack the Major Leagues in the Modern Era. (I like to claim this because Mark also pitched for the local club team I played for in South Australia, the Sturt Saints).

From 2000 to 2002, after being purchased by Australian former Major Leaguer Dave Nilsson, the ABL continued operation as the IBLA (international Baseball League of Australia). Since then, competition has reverted back to the round robin, tournament format of the Claxton Shield.

The ABL in particular was known as an offensive league, with 7 qualifying players logging single season batting averages of .400 or above, including Brendan Kingman, who hit .487. Two of those .400 or above averages were accomplished by players using wooden bats (Jaha and Nilsson) while everyone else used aluminum bats. It does warrant notice that the most hits in a single season, due to the shorter schedules, was 78 in 208 at bats by Steve Hinton in 1998. The highest single season slugging percent (yes, SLUGGING, not OPS) was 1.083 by Brendan Kingman, also in 1998.

This is the paradigm (shorter schedule - although not 60 games short - offensive orientated league) I used to put together my "second coming" of organized Australian Baseball - the AABF, or Association of Australian Baseball Franchises.

For more info on the Claxton Shield, the ABL, the IBLA, and Australian Baseball in general, visit Flintoff and Dunn's website (which I used to gather most of the info here) at http://www.users.bigpond.com/goreds/Index.htm.

Info on my solo league in the next post.

[RayofHope]

FICTIONAL HISTORY: THE AABF IS BORN

The Association of Australian Baseball Franchises (AABF), based very loosely on the now defunct ABL, is my take on Australian Baseball. I have 20 teams representing every state and territory in Australia, north, south, east, west and island (damn Tasmanians), every nook and cranny is represented.

My plan, fluid and depandant upon my time constraints, is to sim 20 leisurely seasons of the AABF, with each team controlled solely by the AI. After the first 20 seasons have run, I may (or may not, depending on my free time) open the 20 teams of the league up to the OOTP Community**. I would not manage a team, serving only as the league commisioner, and I will not have any say in any of the league activities (drafts, trades, Rule 5 etc) for the first 20 years.

**Note: If i manage to keep going with this project (I think I will) and I have the time to turn it over to the community as an online league, I will say now that I will give team preference to whoever I deem has followed the progress of the league the most on this thread.

LEAGUE SET-UP

Finances: Disabled (easiest for me personally, and reflects the semi-pro nature of the ABL and the fact that most involved had full time occupations).
Coaches and Scouts: Disabled - I would have enjoyed playing this league with them on, but hey, the finances are off, that makes it awkward to say the least!
Ratings Options: "Talent Only" - Inspired by Satchel's Jamaica League. No ratings are shown. Stars are currently enabled, but this may change. Talents and "other ratings" are on a 1-10 scale.
Leagues, Divisions, Schedule, Trades and Playoffs: There are two leagues consisting of 2 geographical divisions each, with 5 teams in each division, for a total of 20 teams. There is NO DH in either league. The first two teams in each division qualify for the finals. The finals consist of three stages. The first round is titled "Qualifying Finals" the second round is the "Conference Finals" and, as homage to the origins of competitive Australian Baseball, the final round is the "Claxton Shield." EVERY SERIES is best of 5. Each team will play 100 games in the regular season. Due to a quirk of playing a 100 game schedule, trading will be allowed UNTIL the playoffs begin! (Note, I'm sure I could fix this, but upon much review, I decided it was a unique twist for the league, and opted to leave it this way).
"Advanced" Options: The only "advanced options" (those listed under Financial Set-Up) enabled are the 40 man roster, minor league FREE AGENTS (not option years) and the Rule 5 draft. The standard roster is 25 men.
Engine Set-Up: DIPS (OOTP6) Engine in use. League totals configured to provide an average on balls in play of .313 (reflection of offensive nature of the ABL). Modern Era baseball. AI Player Evaluation (stars) 50-30-15-5 (ratings-'04-'03-'02). Player creation modifiers: +15% on batter contact, +10% on gap and power, everything else regular (0%). Development: Hitter and pitcher development +5%, aging modifier regular (0%). Home field advantage ENABLED.
Misc. Set-Up: Injuries Enabled > Normal frequency. Draft pre-season, 5 rounds.
Hall of Fame: Will be set to roughly 2/3rds of the requirement that OOTP sets by default in order to reflect the fact that a regular seasonin the AABF is roughly 2/3rds the length of an MLB season. However, this will NOT be a hard and fast set of numbers. Due to the fact that I'll be using Catobase, players may be elected to the Hall for extraordinary careers that do not quite meet the regimented requirements.

THE TEAMS, DIVISIONS, AND CONFERENCES, including league website, Team and conference logos, players, ball park factors* etc., to follow in the next posting.

*Each team has a unique ballpark picture in game, MOST of these pics were taken from the ballpark sets made available to the public from various mod'ers in the OOTP Community. Because I used ball park pics from I think 3 sets by 3 different mod'ers - and I cannot remember which pic belongs to which set, I WILL NOT be reproducing the ball park pics in this thread. If, at a future time, I establish which pic belongs to which set, and I can give credit to the creator, I will post the ball park pics somewhere in this thread.

[RayofHope]

THE LEAGUE:

The Association of Australian Baseball Franchises (AABF) webpage can be located here. My Webpage creator (Word) has been causing some system instability of late, so the webpage is quite basic. I will be purchasing a new laptop within the next few months, but until then, the webpage will remain in a form very similar to how it is now. I have played around with Catobase (love that utility!) and think I have it working great, so every season will be added to the database at season's end.

www.aabf.us

THE CONFERENCES:

Each of the AABF Conferences is named after an explorer who was integral in the Australia as we know it today.

The Flinders Conference is named after Captain Matthew Flinders, and the Cook Conference is named after Captain James Cook. More info can be found on each conference (and explorer) by visiting the league homepage, and clicking on the shield of each conference.

The Flinders Conference: Consists of the Western and the Central Division. Teams in the Western Division are from the State of West Australia (WA) - Perth (the Capital of WA), Fremantle, Bunbury, Kalgoorlie, and Geraldton. Teams in the Central Division are from the Northern Territory (NT) - Darwin (the capital city of the NT) and Alice Springs (the city most closely related to Ayers Rock, or Uluru); and South Australia (SA) - Adelaide (the capital of SA), Whyalla, and Mount Gambier.

The Flinders Conference (FC) Teams play under and for the following shield:



The Cook Conference: Consists of the South Eastern and North Eastern Divisions, encompassing teams stretching the length of Australia's Eastern Seaboard. The South East Division teams are from the states of Victoria and the island state of Tasmania. The Victorian (Vic) teams are Melbourne, Victoria's Capital and Australia's 2nd largest city, Ballarat, an early gold rush town, and Geelong. The Tasmanian (Tas) teams are Hobart (the capital of Tasmania) and Launceston. The North East Division boasts teams from two states (Queensland and New South Wales) and one territory (the Australian Capital Territory). The teams from Queensland (Qld) are Brisbane (the capital of Qld) and the tropical Townsville. From New South Wales (NSW) comes Sydney (the largest city in Australia and NSW capital) and Newcastle, and from the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) comes the Australian National Capital city, Canberra.

The Cook Conference (CC) Teams play under and for the following shield:



THE TEAMS:

FC Central:

Adelaide Sharks (SA)

Manager: Macca Swaine
Home Stadium: Shark Park, Open grass, 20000 cap.
Stadium Factors: Heavily favors LH hitters.
AAA Team: Elizabeth
AA Team: Norwood
A Team: Unley
Rival(s): Melbourne, Perth

Darwin Cowboys (NT)

Manager: Zach Porter
Home Stadium: Cowboy Stadium, Open grass, 12000 cap.
Stadium Factors: Pitcher's park, RH batters will hit for higher average.
AAA Team: Katherine
AA Team: Palmerston
A Team: Rum Jungle
Rival(s): Alice Springs, Townsville

Alice Springs Angels (NT)

Manager: Kyle Smythe
Home Stadium: ANZAC Desert Park, Open Grass, 7000 cap.
Stadium Factors: Favors RH batters, esp. in average.
AAA Team: Iwupataka
AA Team: Amoonguna
A Team: Santa Teresa
Rival(s): Darwin, Adelaide

Whyalla Waves (SA)

Manager: Mark Johnson
Home Stadium: Ocean Crest Field, Open Grass, 6800 cap.
Stadium Factors: Heavily favors pitchers, LH batters hit slightly more HRs.
AAA Team: Port Augusta
AA Team: Port Pirie
A Team: Cook
Rival(s): Kalgoorlie

Mount Gambier Blues (SA)

Manager: Paul Waters
Home Stadium: Blue Lake Field, Open grass, 7200 cap.
Stadium Factors: Favors RH batters, LH batters will struggle mightily.
AAA Team: Penola
AA Team: Canunda
A Team: Wepar
Rival(s): Ballarat

FC West:

Perth Heat (WA)

Manager: Sebastian Dole
Home Stadium: Sun Stadium, Open grass, 20550 cap.
Stadium Factors: Favors LH batters, especially in HRs.
AAA Team: Wilbinga
AA Team: Beechina
A Team: Burns
Rival(s): Fremantle, Adelaide

Fremantle Dolphins (WA)

Manager: Gordon Free
Home Stadium: Dolphin Harbour, Open Grass, 13500 cap.
Stadium Factors: Heavily favors LH batters.
AAA Team: Garden Island
AA Team: Jelcobine
A Team: Birchmont
Rival(s): Perth

Kalgoorlie Miners (WA)

Manager: Jake Hall
Home Stadium: Kalgoorlie Minesides, Open grass, 6800 cap.
Stadium Factors: Favors RH batters, basically neutral.
AAA Team: Menzies
AA Team: Red Lake
A Team: Tampa
Rival(s): Bunbury, Whyalla

Bunbury Bombers (WA)

Manager: Dennis Day
Home Stadium: Bomber Greens, Open grass, 6808 cap.
Stadium Factors: Favors LH batters who hit for average, otherwise fair P park.
AAA Team: Busselton
AA Team: Allanson
A Team: Jarrahwood
Rival(s): Kalgoorlie, Geraldton

Geraldton Firebirds (WA)

Manager: Tim Fitzgerald
Home Stadium: Firebird Field, Open grass, 6200 cap.
Stadium Factors: Favors all hitters, esp. LH'ers.
AAA Team: Bowes
AA Team: Greenough
A Team: Eneabba
Rival(s): Bunbury


CC South East

Melbourne Monarchs (Vic)

Manager: Eric Mitchell
Home Stadium: Melbourne Casino Stadium, Open grass, 22600 cap.
Stadium Factors: Favors RH batters who hit for average, otherwise P Park.
AAA Team: Brighton
AA Team: Aspendale
A Team: Ardeer
Rival(s): Sydney, Adelaide, Geelong

Hobart Hawks (Tas)

Manager: Craig "Bluey" McGraw
Home Stadium: State Fair Park, Open grass, 13000 cap.
Stadium Factors: Favors RH batters, LH power hitters will struggle.
AAA Team: Kingston
AA Team: Port Aurthur
A Team: Abels Bay
Rival(s): Launceston

Geelong Cats (Vic)

Manager: David Rogers
Home Stadium: Cat Field, Open grass, 13000 cap.
Stadium Factors: NOT a power hitters park, LH & RH batters hit for average.
AAA Team: Torquay
AA Team: Mount Moriac
A Team: Avalon
Rival(s): Ballarat, Melbourne

Launceston Loggers (Tas)

Manager: Noah Fitzsimmons
Home Stadium: Forest Grove Field, Open grass, 12250 cap.
Stadium Factors: Favors LH batters, esp. for average.
AAA Team: Burnie
AA Team: Devonport
A Team: Legerwood
Rival(s): Hobart

Ballarat Gold (Vic)

Manager: Mike Peterson
Home Stadium: Ballarat Stadium, Open grass, 12000 cap.
Stadium Factors: Neutral, slightly favors hitters EXCEPT LH power hitters.
AAA Team: Wattle Flat
AA Team: Brewster
A Team: Red Streak
Rival(s): Mount Gambier, Geelong

CC North East:

Sydney Storm (NSW)

Manager: Jim Thomas
Home Stadium: Sydney Harbour Stadium, Retractable grass, 25640 cap.
Stadium Factors: Neutral pitchers park.
AAA Team: Dubbo
AA Team: Bondi
A Team: Penrith
Rival(s): Melbourne, Canberra

Canberra Raiders (ACT)

Manager: Grim McGinty
Home Stadium: Capital Dome, Dome astro turf, 13570 cap.
Stadium Factors: Neutral, LH power numbers will be up.
AAA Team: Queanbeyan
AA Team: Ulladulla
A Team: Binalong
Rival(s): Sydney, Newcastle

Brisbane Broncos (Qld)

Manager: Alexis Hoyle
Home Stadium: Brisbane Stadium, Open grass, 20000 cap.
Stadium Factors: Heavily favors RH batters.
AAA Team: Ipswich
AA Team: Noosa Heads
A Team: Griffin
Rival(s): Townsville, Alice Springs

Townsville Roos (Qld)

Manager: Mick Corliss
Home Stadium: Dockside Park, Open grass, 12500 cap.
Stadium Factors: A little hard on LH batters, otherwise neutral.
AAA Team: Barringha
AA Team: Alva
A Team: Cannonvale
Rival(s): Brisbane, Darwin

Newcastle Knights (NSW)

Manager: Jake Lloyd
Home Stadium: Castle Field, Open grass, 14000 cap.
Stadium Factors: Slight pitchers park, LH power numbers will be up however.
AAA Team: Bar Beach
AA Team: Islington
A Team: Stockton
Rival(s): Brisbane, Sydney

**Notes on Team Profiles:
Managers are, at this stage, fictional.
Home stadiums are listed by name, roof type then surface, capacity. Capacity is relative to actual city population.
Stadium Factors were randomly generated for doubles, triples, LH BA, LH HR, RH BA and RH HR through random.org, actual dimensions are unchanged for every stadium - they are the same.
Minor League teams are based in actual Australian towns close by the city of the big league team.
Rivals are listed in order of intensity - largest rival first. Some teams consider one game a rivalry that others do not.

[RayofHope]

I expect an update, outlining the 1st round (and maybe the 2nd as well, but I doubt it) of the player dispersion draft, and perhaps the first sim, to be posted on Thursday of this week.

[RayofHope]

Player Draft:

**Note: In order to achieve more realistic player origins, all players were run through Dave William's Origin Generator, which, along with Jeff Cato's Catobase, are my favorite two OOTP add-ons, I don't know I could live without either!

: 1/1: 2B Isai "Dazzy" Lowham Fremantle make the 1st overall pick a foreigner! 25 y.o. Isai hails from the UK, and is a fine hitter. Should post awesome average and power numbers, has a GREAT eye, and brilliant speed, but hasn't yet learned the art of stealing. Lacks range in the field (average) but rarely makes an error on balls he gets to at 2nd. Also can play short. Bats switch.
: 1/2: RF Jack Mcsauly 28 y.o. McSauly is the first Aussie to be drafted, 2nd overall by Geelong. His talents mirror those of Lowham, but he lacks the speed. Average range defensively in right, but like Lowham, rarely errs on balls he reaches. Can also play center, but lacks range to play there every day. Bats left.
: 1/3: 2B Kade "Crystal" Wales The second Aussie taken is also the second switch hitter taken, and the second second baseman in 3 picks. Many though Kade "Crystal" Wales would be taken first overall. The 30 y.o.'s age probably played against him, but talent wise he is every bit the player Lowham is, if not more. Similar blazing pure speed, and is better at stealing than Lowham. Wales also has far more range at 2nd than Lowham, and exhibits the same sureness on balls he reaches. Only plays 2nd.
: 1/4: RF Brad "Smash" De Louvieres Adelaide make 30 y.o. Californian Brad "Smash" De Louvieres the first American born player selected in the draft, 4th overall. Brad has slightly above average speed, but reads pitchers well, which leads to a good tally of steals in any given year. Solid to above average in right in every department, but can only play RF. Bats rightly.
: 1/5: RF Jabari Frew Melbourne look young at 5, taking 24 y.o. Aussie Jabari Frew. Scouts consider Frew the best prospect in the game, and at 24, he should start on the big league club. Displays similar running and fielding talents to De Louvieres, but may never reach the same lofty numbers De Louvieres should post. If he falls short of De Louvieres, it won't be by much. Can also play CF, bats lefty.
: 1/6: OF Darrin "Bling Bling" Thompson Brisbane raid Sydney territory in taking Sydney native Darren "Bling Bling" Thompson #6 overall. The oldest player taken so far (32), Brisbane must be looking to "win now," as Bling Bling is perhaps the finest player in every manner in Australia today. Darrin will hit for average, power, to the gap, he'll walk a lot, but will also fan a lot. Blazing speed and a great ability to steal a base, Darrin should lead the league in steals if green lighted by Brisbane. A phenominal fielder in every outfield position, can chase down anything from anywhere. Arm strength has dwindled, so runners may tag up from 3rd more often than not on him, but this is truely his only "weakness." Bats lefty.
: 1/7: RF Alexis "Mr. Cool" Warner Bunbury too go with experience at #7, taking the 31 year old Warner. Hailing from the same home town as #2 overall selection McSauly, "Mr Cool" as his team mates have already dubbed him, can challenge Bling Bling Thompson as the best player in Australia. The right hander simply has no weaknesses in his game, excelling in every aspect, but his ability to play only RF is probably what lead to Thompson being selected before him. A stronger arm in the outfield will mean few will challenge Alexis in right, and a strong infield arm may mean a possible challenge for Alexis as he ages, perhaps learning a new position.
: 1/8: 1B Darrell "Golden" Mccomish McComish beats out Thompson by about 7 months as the oldest player selected to date, taken here by Newcastle. Many question this pick, suggesting a big reach on Newcastle's behalf. Other than his outstanding bat and eye, "Golden" does little else well on the diamond. He can play only first, has no speed or range, has a terrible arm, and couldn't bunt to save himself. A probable DH type in a league that actually used the DH, but will be forced to play 1st in the AABF. The pressure will be on Darrell to prove doubters wrong. Bats lefty.
: 1/9: CF Julien "The Snake" Carroll Sydney collect a stellar player in "The Snake." Projected as a sure fire top 5 pick, slips here to 9th. The 28 y.o. plays center and right equally well, and if it wasn't for a slightly sub par arm, would no doubt win Slick Fielder Awards every year. Lack of power probably saw Carroll drop to Sydney, but his bat should win batting title after batting title at the age of 28. Solid pick form Sydney, bats righty.
: 1/10: RF Jeremy Dussault There is no doubting the pure talent that 26 year old Dussualt displays with the bat in every aspect, but his fielding (lack of range) and injury prone nature made him a somewhat risky pick here for Whyalla. Few baserunners, however, will get far if they choose to challenge his outfield arm, as he displays a cannon, which, if it wasn't for a little inaccuracy, would be the best in the league. Can also play LF, but preferes, and is slightly better in, RF. Bats switch.
: 1/11: OF Craig Tinkler The lefty from Tasmania will have some adjusting to do as he moves from one of the Southern most cities in Australia (Hobart) to one of the northern most (Darwin). A fine prospect who at age 24 should be ready for the highest level of Australian competition, Tinkler's bat is above average in every aspect. Can play all three OF positions, displaying the best range in LF, but the best glove in CF. Above average speed makes him a 5 tool player.
: 1/12: 1B Matsuyo "The Kid" Oshin The first Japanese player taken, here by Launceston at #12 overall, is also the oldest player taken to date. But, even at age 34, Oshin retains the nickname "The Kid" due to his youthful play. "The Kid" is a fine all round ball player in every aspect apart from the running game, and can only play 1st. Perhaps, due to his age, a slight reach by Launceston, but a great player regardless.
: 1/13: C Tsugahara "Porky" Takenouchi "Porky" Takenouchi is the the player most expected to be taken first out of Japan. The 6'4, 240lb, 29 year-old catcher carries a phenominal bat in every aspect. Perhaps his short coming behind the plate (more a Piazza type) lead to him dropping to 13, but this is, none-the-less, a stellar pick form the Kalgoorlie Miners, especially if they can land a fine defensive catcher to back him up.
: 1/14: 1B Junior "Specs" Ellery Ballarat pick up the "steal of the draft" to date, in 30 year-old Junior "Specs" Ellery. The switch hititng 1st baseman is cut from the McComish mold (whom Newcastle selected at #8 overall), and most expect "Specs" to be taken before McComish. His skills with the bat are comparable to McComish's, only lacking in gap power, he is two years younger, and is a switch hitter. While still lacking in speed, he is slightly faster than McComish, and he is a slightly better first baseman that McComish as well, although would still be better suited to the DH mold. A nice pick from Ballarat.
: 1/15: LF Landon Muir The Hawks "settle" here for Muir, a sensational left handed hitter in every department. The Hawks had held out hope that local boy Tinkler would be available here, but he was snatched up by Darwin a few picks earlier. Average speed and poor range in LF are Muir's biggest draw backs, and the fielding shortfalls can not be "hidden" at first base, as LF is the only position Muir can play. A nice "consolation" pick from Hobart.
: 1/16: P Luciano Marshal The first pitcher taken in the AABF draft is also the first player to be drafted to a team form his home town - in this case Perth. The 32 year old fly ball pitcher has the ability to go deep into most games, and can keep hitters off balance with 5 great pitches - fastball, change, curve, sinker, slider. Of those, the sinker is probably his weakest pitch, and the curve is his "out" pitch, a large breaking 12-6 pitch. Fast ball tops out around 94mph.
: 1/17: 3B Corey Overheu A versatile 30 year-old infielder presents Mt gambier with a nice pick 17th overall. His favored position is third base, but from a dfeensive stand point, 1st base is his best. Also plays second base, and technically, while displaying the same range at all three infield positions, 3b base, while his favored spot, is his worst defensively. Stellar bat and arm team with decent speed to present Gambier with a great value pick here. Bats righty.
: 1/18: 1B Patrick Morrow Alice Springs go young with one of the better prospects in the game. 24 year-old Morrow presents the Angels with a great switch hitting prospect to build their team around. Decent with the glove at first, and while he lacks any speed at all, he has very good base running instincts, and can steal a base here and there.
: 1/19: 2B Camden Whittaker A fine pick by the Canberra squad at 19 overall, 29 year-old Whittaker prvides a boost in most categories with his bat. Only slightly above average speed, and average range at 2nd (at best) but rarely makes a mistake at second with the ball in hand. An absolute rocket for an arm, he'll throw out the fastest of runners on ANY ball he reaches. Can play a little 3b in a pinch if needed. Bats righty.
: 1/20: LF Conor Mcmurray A Brit opened up the first round, and a Brit rounds out the first round. A nice pick from Geraldton to round out the first round. Every bit the peer of the best hitters for average, displays fine power and a grat eye. Bats lefty. Average outfield arm, slightly above average range in left, but will not make a mistake once he has a beat on the ball. Can play right field if needed. Decent speed, but needs to learn how to steal if he intends on stealing.

[Simon_Nesbit]

Hi,

I'm super, super keen on this idea of yours.

I'm from Tassie, and would love to run either Franchise (Hobart or Launceston) if/when the game goes live.

This is very similar to something I've created previously, however for that I started with only A players, and created all players with Australian Origins, (export player general info, then randomize Australian cities in there).

[RayofHope]

Howdy Simon - Tassie eh? Boonie was one of my favorite cricketers . . . held the Aussie team record for the most beers consumed on the flight from Australia to Britain for a while there, may still hold it as far as I know!!

Both the AABF Tassie squads have put together some interesting lineups. Launceston has the top ranked farm system, and Hobart, after the first month, is leading their division, but things are tight. We'll see how things develop!!

[RayofHope]

5/1/04

AABF Homepage

FIRST MONTH OF AABF PLAY SEES MILESTONES, INJURIES

With the first month of the season now in the AABF history books, two teams saw some major injuries to their first round picks, we had our first player hit for the cycle, and we had a combined no hitter . . . controversy rained on the no hitter, as the starter was pulled needing just two outs in the 9th.

Friday, April 30th will be a day long remembered in the history of the AABF, as being the day the first Cycle was hit for in the league.

Geelong's Gage Mansfield was the player to accomplish the cycle. The 32 year-old Tamworth native was 4 of 5 on the day with 4 runs scored, and he also drove 5 runs in the game. So far on the year Mansfield has been one of the league's stars, hitting .376 with 14 homers and 36 RBI (both AABF bests).

"I'm off to a good start," commented Mansfield, "hopefully the team (11-14) can turn it around here soon, and hopefully my play can spark us on some."

Ballarat were the first team to record a no hitter, using two pitchers to do it. Ballarat media remains mystified by Manager Mike Peterson's decision to pull young phenom starting pitcher Joel "Crazy" Brumpton after 8 and a third innings. The 22 year-old from Geelong had struck out 7 Raiders hitters and walked only one while keeping the team from Canberra hitless.

As Manager Peterson strolled out of the dug out to speak with Brumpton, "Crazy" became visibly upset before Peterson was even half way to the mound. As Peterson took the ball from Brumpton, the pitcher seemed reluctant to hand it over. A tense stand off ensued where-in the manager attempted to yank the ball away from his starting pitcher. The 6'6", 240lb rookie was having none of it, and started to verbally accost his manager, kicking at the ground and spraying spittle all over Peterson. Blake Henshaw, a minor league stand in at catcher for the game, had to pull his starting pitcher away from the Manager, and pry his fingers off the ball before returning it to the manager, who then handed it over to closer Cornelius Guy who recorded the final two outs in order, saving the complete game no hitter for his starter.

Both Brumpton and Peterson down played the incident, prefering to talk about the team's early success, but at least one team mate was quoted as saying "now I see where he got the nickname, that kid needs some valium or something, maybe some ritalin."

22 year-old Brumpton is 3-0 in 6 starts on the young year, with a 1.90 era in 42 and 2/3rds IP. He has struck out as many as he's walked (36) and has walked only 8, and is tied for the Cook Conference league in wins and innings pitched. His Ballarat Gold are a game behind Melbourne and Hobart in the Cook South East, at 14-11.

MAJOR INJURIES HIT TOP PICKS

The number two overall pick in the league, Geelong's right fielder Jack McSauly, broke his hand in the team's third game of the season, and was expected to miss 5-6 weeks. Team Doctors expect McSauly to be ready in 1 or 2 weeks time, but he claims he is currently feeling 100%, actively lobbying management to get back in the lineup. He is able to come of the DL today. The 11-14 Cats could surely use his presence in their lineup, the Cat's .295 team batting average is 13th in the league.

Two days later, Melbourne's Jabari Frew (the #5 overall pick in the draft) went down for 8-9 weeks with an inflamed ACL. The 24 year-old Frew was off to a sensational start, having hit 2 home runs with 8 RBI in the team's first 4 games (his first 16 at bats) before the injury. He was batting .563 at the time of the injury. The Monarchs placed Frew on the DL, and even though he is eligble to come of it any day now, Melbourne management are handling their franchise cornerstone with "kid gloves." Frew, like McSauly, claims to be feeling 100%, but team doctors say he will be out for another 5 weeks yet while the swelling subsides.

"Swelling in your knee, and any sort of ACL damage should be watched very closely. We aren't going to risk the future of this franchise right now, especially when we are still playing division leading ball," Melbourne Manager Eric Mitchell said.

Newcastle's second round pick, 26 year-old rotation ace Zakary "The Admiral" Kerr was the hardest hit of the high draft picks. Kerr was off to a slow start (6GS, 3-1 WL, 6.83 era, 29.0 IP) but had logged 29 strike outs when he tore the tricep in his throwing arm. Kerr refused to use the injury as an excuse for his poor start, saying he felt fine in each of his starts, but team doctors say he had been receiving minor treatment on the arm in the pre-season. The injury will keep Kerr out for the remiander of Newcastle's season.

STANDINGS

FC Central

Team           W  L  PCT GB 
Adelaide      14 11 .560  - 
Whyalla       13 12 .520 1.0 
Alice Springs 12 13 .480 2.0 
Mount Gambier 11 14 .440 3.0
Darwin         8 17 .320 6.0 

FC Western

Team           W  L  PCT GB
Fremantle     18  7 .720  - 
Geraldton     15 10 .600 3.0 
Kalgoorlie    15 10 .600 3.0 
Bunbury       12 13 .480 6.0 
Perth          7 18 .280 11.0 

CC South East

Team           W  L  PCT GB
Hobart        15 10 .600  - 
Melbourne     15 10 .600  - 
Ballarat      14 11 .560 1.0 
Geelong       11 14 .440 4.0 
Launceston    11 14 .440 4.0 

CC North East

Team           W L   PCT GB
Brisbane      15 10 .600  - 
Townsville    14 11 .560 1.0 
Newcastle     11 14 .440 4.0 
Canberra      10 15 .400 5.0 
Sydney         9 16 .360 6.0

AABF BATTING LEADERS

#  TOP 10 AVG              AVG 
1  L. Muir (Hbt)          .511 
2  J. Carroll (Syd)       .452 
3  B. De Louvieres (Ade)  .448 
4  I. George (Kal)        .447 
5  C. Mcmurray (Ger)      .444 
6  D. Mccomish (New)      .438 
6  H. Hira (Mel)          .438 
8  J. Holbrook (Fre)      .436 
8  G. Reese (Fre)         .436 
8  N. Rodgers (Hbt)       .436

#  TOP 10 HR           HR 
1  G. Mansfield (Gee)  14 
2  K. Salvaire (Ger)   12 
3  L. Muir (Hbt)       11 
3  T. Takenouchi (Kal) 11
3  P. O'dea (Dar)      11 
6  M. Hayden (Tow)     10
6  A. Warner (Bun)     10 
6  J. Anderson (Why)   10 
9  S. Green (Mel)       9 
9  K. Wales (Tow)       9

#   TOP 10 RBI          RBI 
1   G. Mansfield (Gee)   36 
2   L. Muir (Hbt)        33 
3   K. Salvaire (Ger)    32
4   J. Tovar (Bun)       31 
4   S. Kawakami (Hbt)    31 
6   C. Juarez (Fre)      30 
6   S. Green (Mel)       30 
6   M. Hayden (Tow)      30
9   K. Wales (Tow)       28
10  P. O'dea (Dar)       27 
10  T. Mccreery (Bun)    27 
10  C. George (Why)      27

AABF PITCHING LEADERS

#  TOP 10 ERA        ERA 
1   A. Prince (Can)   1.72 
2   J. Brumpton (Bal) 1.90 
3   K. Mackie (Tow)   2.23 
4   S. Shehan (Tow)   2.34 
5   J. Trigg (MtG)    2.42
6   B. Spears (Kal)   2.54 
7   J. Redd (Mel)     2.70 
8   N. Patten (Fre)   2.76 
9   J. Hale (Fre)     2.83 
10  S. Oborne (Ger)   3.15

#  TOP 10 Strikeouts   K's
1  C. Byass (Bri)       41 
2  P. Drury (Lau)       38 
3  J. Herbert (Mel)     37
4  R. Tiller (New)      36 
4  J. Brumpton (Bal)    36 
6  D. Lodington (A.S)   35 
6  J. Clapp (Bri)       35
8  J. Hale (Fre)        34 
8  J. Gibson (Kal)      34
8  A. Lamothe (Can)     34

#  TOP 10 Innings        IP 
1  J. Della (Mel)       42.2 
1  J. Brumpton (Bal)    42.2 
3  W. Vernon (Kal)      42.1 
4  J. Moreno (Ade)      41.1
5  B. Baldwin (Hbt)     40.2 
6  P. Spanswick (Can)   40.1 
7  D. Lodington (A.S)   40.0 
8  P. Drury (Lau)       39.2 
9  B. Spears (Kal)      39.0 
9  L. Marshal (Per)     39.0

*NOTE: IP will be replaced with "Wins" within the next few months of the season, but currently, there are about 20 or more pitchers leading the wins category with 3 or 4 wins.

[RayofHope]

6/1/04

AABF Homepage

ANOTHER CYCLE, INAUGURAL ALL STAR GAME HEADLINE MAY STORIES

Once again proving the offensive nature of the AABF, the story of the month for May was the league's second ever cycle. While the first was hit by a bonafide league star, Gage Mansfield, the second was hit by part time Bunbury fill in, Tristin Spencer. Prior to the game against Kalgoorlie (in which he hit his cycle), Spencer had appeared in only 4 games (no starts), and had logged only one pinch hit appearance. Indeed, Spencer achieved his cycle in his first, and only, start of the seaosn so far. On the year so far, Spencer has only 10 at bats, and 6 hits, 5 of them coming in the one game. There are no calls, however, for Spencer to see more at bats in Bunbury, as the man ahead of his Juan "Frenchy" Tovar, is hitting .309-18-58. Those 58 RBI are a Bunbury team high.

The Inaugural AABF All Star game was also played and won (in convincing fashion) at the end of May. The Cook Conference, lead by Ballarat's infamous phenom starting pitcher "Crazy" Brumpton and Sydney's Julien "Snake" Carroll, ran away with a 13-3 victory over the Flinder's Conference.

FINAL       1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9   R  H E 
CC Allstars 2 0 0 2 1 0 2 3 3  13 19 0 
FC Allstars 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0   3  9 0 
WP: J.Brumpton (Bal) LP: J.Hale (Fre) 
MVP: J.Carroll (Syd)

CC Allstars        AB R H RBI   
J. Carroll RF       6 3 4  2 
M. Oshin 1B         3 1 1  0 
   G. Ball PH       1 1 1  0 
   D. Mccomish 1B   1 1 1  1 
K. Wales 2B         3 1 2  2 
   S. Nishikawa PH  1 1 1  2 
   J. Mansfield 2B  1 0 1  2 
D. Thompson CF      3 1 1  0 
   S. Kawakami PH   1 0 1  2 
   O. Boase CF      0 0 0  0 
L. Muir LF          6 1 2  2 
C. Whittaker 3B     5 0 2  0 
N. Rodgers C        5 0 0  0 
B. Barrington SS    5 1 2  0 
J. Brumpton P       2 0 0  0 
   M. Enever P      1 0 0  0 
   K. Gardiner P    0 0 0  0 
   R. Lewer PH      0 1 0  0 
   C. Aviles P      0 1 0  0 

HR: Carroll, Wales, Nishikawa
Muir.
SB: Thompson, Rodgers.

CC Allstars   IP  H R ER BB K 
J. Brumpton W  3  3 0  0  1 3 
M. Enever      2  1 1  1  2 3 
K. Gardiner    2  2 1  1  1 0 
C. Aviles      2  3 1  1  2 1 

FC Allstars          AB R H RBI 
K. Bandy C            4 0 2  0 
G. Mansfield 3B       5 0 1  0 
I. Lowham 2B          4 0 0  0 
A. Warner RF          3 2 2  0 
C. Mcmurray LF        3 0 0  0 
   J. Holbrook PH     1 0 1  0 
   R. Howard SS       1 0 0  0 
J. Tovar 1B           2 0 0  0 
   R. Mccreery P      0 0 0  0 
   J. Dussault PH     1 0 0  0  
   T. Gouldthorpe P   0 0 0  0 
I. George SS          3 0 0  0 
   T. Mccreery LF     0 0 0  1 
S. Mendoza CF         4 1 2  0 
J. Hale P             1 0 0  0 
   G. Cottrell P      0 0 0  0 
   B. De Louvieres PH 0 0 0  0 
   S. Oborne P        0 0 0  0 
   C. Overheu 1B      2 0 1  1  

SB: Warner (2).

FC Allstars    IP  H R ER BB K 
J. Hale L       3  3 2  2  1 3 
G. Cottrell     2  5 3  3  0 1 
S. Oborne       2  4 2  2  0 0 
R. Mccreery     1  3 3  3  1 0 
T. Gouldthorpe  1  4 3  3  1 0

ALL STAR BREAKDOWN, BY TEAM

Flinders Conference
Bunbury, Geraldton (5), Mt Gambier (4), Fremantle, Whyalla (3), Adelaide, Kalgoorlie (2), Alice Springs (1), Darwin, Perth (0).

Cook Conference
Brisbane, Townsville (5), Hobart (4), Ballarat (3), Launceston, Sydney, Newcastle (2), Geelong, Canberra (1), Melbourne (0).

STANDINGS

Flinders Standings 
 
Central  
Team           W  L  PCT  GB 
Adelaide      30 20 .600   - 
Whyalla       29 21 .580  1.0 
Mount Gambier 24 26 .480  6.0 
Alice Springs 20 30 .400 10.0 
Darwin        17 33 .340 13.0 

Western 
Team           W  L  PCT  GB 
Fremantle     31 19 .620   - 
Kalgoorlie    28 22 .560  3.0 
Bunbury       26 24 .520  5.0 
Geraldton     24 26 .480  7.0 
Perth         21 29 .420 10.0 

Cook Standings 
 
South East 
Team           W  L  PCT  GB 
Hobart        32 18 .640   - 
Geelong       28 22 .560  4.0 
Melbourne     24 26 .480  8.0 
Ballarat      23 27 .460  9.0 
Launceston    22 28 .440 10.0 

North East 
Team           W  L  PCT  GB 
Brisbane      32 18 .640   - 
Townsville    25 25 .500  7.0 
Canberra      22 28 .440 10.0 
Sydney        22 28 .440 10.0 
Newcastle     20 30 .400 12.0

BATTING LEADERS

#   TOP 10 AVG             AVG
1   L. Muir (Hbt)         .445
2   K. Bandy (Bun)        .433
3   G. Reese (Fre)        .428
4   B. De Louvieres (Ade) .427
5   I. Lowham (Fre)       .421
6   J. Carroll (Syd)      .419
7   I. George (Kal)       .417
8   G. Ball (Tow)         .407
9   C. Larrad (Per)       .404
10  D. Mccomish (New)     .401

#   TOP 10 HR             HR 
1   L. Muir (Hbt)         21
2   I. Lowham (Fre)       20 
2   B. De Louvieres (Ade) 20
2   M. Oshin (Lau)        20
5   K. Wales (Tow)        19 
5   A. Warner (Bun)       19 
7   B. Womack (MtG)       18 
7   J. Tovar (Bun)        18 
7   G. Mansfield (A.S)    18 
10  J. Anderson (Why)     17

#  TOP 10 RBI           RBI 
1  L. Muir (Hbt)         60
2  J. Tovar (Bun)        58 
3  I. Lowham (Fre)       56 
4  B. De Louvieres (Ade) 55
5  S. Green (Mel)        52 
6  G. Mansfield (A.S)    51 
7  J. Anderson (Why)     48 
7  G. Mcdonald (Ade)     48
7  S. Kawakami (Hbt)     48  
10 K. Salvaire (Ger)     47 
10 P. O'dea (Dar)        47

PITCHING LEADERS

#  TOP 10 Wins             W 
1  C. Byass (Bri)          9 
2  M. Enever (Bri)         7
2  C. Guilfoyle (Why)      7 
4  P. Eyles (Hbt)          6 
4  K. Mackie (Tow)         6 
4  K. Gardiner (Tow)       6 
4  J. Hale (Fre)           6 
4  G. Cottrell (Why)       6 
4  S. Oborne (Ger)         6 
4  B. Wingrove (Bun)       6 
4  J. Moreno (Ade)         6 
4  A. De L'échaillon (MtG) 6

#  TOP 10 Strikeouts      K's
1  P. Drury (Lau)          90
2  C. Byass (Bri)          84
3  J. Herbert (Mel)        77 
4  A. Lamothe (Can)        75
5  A. De L'échaillon (MtG) 73 
5  J. Trigg (MtG)          73 
7  J. Gibson (Kal)         69
8  B. Baldwin (Hbt)        64 
8  J. Brumpton (Bal)       64 
10 L. Marshal (Per)        62 
10 D. Lodington (A.S)      62
10 A. Prince (Can)         62

#  TOP 10 ERA          ERA
1  M. Enever (Bri)    2.41 
2  E. Gardiner (Why)  2.73 
3  J. Hale (Fre)      2.76
4  A. Prince (Can)    2.78 
5  B. Spears (Kal)    2.95
6  P. Drury (Lau)     2.99 
7  J. Trigg (MtG)     3.03
8  C. Byass (Bri)     3.21 
9  B. Wingrove (Bun)  3.39  
9  J. Redd (Mel)      3.39

TRIPLE CROWN WATCH

Half way through the inaugural AABF season, Hobart's Landon Muir is leading the three major AABF batting categories, home runs, RBI and batting average. His lead is significant in batting average (.026 over Sydney's Carroll) and RBI (8 over Melbourne's Green), but he leads home runs by only 1 over Launceston's Kid Oshin. Can he win the Cook Conference batting Triple Crown in the league's first year? An even greater feet would be winning the AABF Triple Crown, he currently leads all three categories there too, but his leads are much smaller. Brisbane's Cole Byass perhaps has an outside shot at a CC Pitching Triple Crown. He leads the CC in wins with 9 (two clear of second). He is second in strike outs with 84, trailing league leader Parker Drury of Launceston by 6, and is 4th in ERA, but trails Brisbane's Enever (2.41) by a full .80 points. If he is to challenge for the Crown, he needs to lower that ERA markedly in the second half of the season!

Adelaide's Smash De Louvieres and Fremantle's Dazzy Lowham have the best shots at a Flinders Conference Batting Triple Crown. They are tied for conference lead in homers and 2-3 in RBI, but 3-4 in batting average. Smash is 6 points behind the BA leader (Bunbury's "City Slicker" Bandy, at .433), and Dazzy is 12 back in 3rd. In RBI, Lowham is 2 back, De Luvieres 3 back of FC leader, Bunbury's Frenchy Tovar (58). No FC pitcher, at this stage, has a legitimate shot at the Pitching Triple Crown.

[RayofHope]

Added a link to the league homepage, "All Stars."

Just a very basic page with the all time record of each league in the All Star game (obviously now 1-0 CC).

I created a few spreedsheets that I'm going to use to track All Time All Star stats and a basic statistical history of the all star game. Obviously all that's in there at the moment is the first game, cause that was just played, and it's very plain, but hey.

3rd and 4th months of the seaoson will be simmed shortly, I'm eager to get the first year done and get Catobase up and running!!

[RayofHope]

I'm eager to get some history into Catobase, so I buzzed throught he end of the regular season and playoffs, Catobase is now up on the webpage reflecting stats from season one. I'll probably hustle through the next 4 seasons to get 5 seasons into Catobase, so expect minimal updates until then, perhaps only season end posts.

The 2004 season finished as follows:

FC Central Division:
Whyalla 58-42
Adelaide 53-47

FC West Division:
Fremantle 60-40
Kalgoorlie 56-44

CC South East:
Hobart 54-46
Launceston 51-49

CC North East
Brisbane 57-43
Canberra 52-48

Of the playoff teams, Launceston was the biggest surprise. Half way through the year they were dead last in their division at 22-28, 6 games behind 2nd place (playoff spot) and 10 behind 1st.

Brisbane roared through the CC Qualifying and Semi Finals without losing a game, sweeping Launceston 3-0 in the QF's and Canberra 3-0 in the Conference Finals.

Whyalla knocked off Kalgoorlie 3-1 in the QF's, and then Fremantle 3-2 in the Conference finals.

Brisbane's luck run out, the must have peeked too early, as Whyalla won the inaugural AABF Claxton Shield, sweeping Brisbane 3-0.

Muir failed in both bids to win the AABF and Cook Triple Crowns, finishing second in homers (40) and batting average (.405), but he did lead the CC with 100 RBI.

Over in the Flinders Conference, Adelaide's Smash De Luvieres was the closest to a FC Triple Crown, finishing 2nd in BA (.413), 1st in homers (41) and 1st in RBI (109).

Dazzy Lowham won the FC Batting Crown with a .438 batting average, and Sydney's Julien Carroll won the CC Batting average award with an AABF high .448 batting average.

Launceston's Parker Drury was 3 wins short of a Cook Pitching Triple Crown, winning the ERA crown with a 2.80 mark, and the strikeout crown, posting 183 on the year.

Drury staked his claim as the pre-eminant AABF hurler. His ERA was by far an AABF low (.40 points lower than second place) and his 183 strike outs were 34 higher than that of second place in the AABF.

He posted an 11-3 record in 23 games, all starts.

AWARD WINNERS:

Thunder Bat (Best all round hitter):
Flinders Conference: Brad De Louvieres (Ade) .413, 41HR, 109RBI
Cook Conference: Landon Muir (Hob) .405, 40HR, 100RBI

Blazing Ball (Best all round pitcher):
Flinders Conference: Jordan Gibson (Kal) 11-5, 4.14, 132.7IP, 131K
Cook Conference: Marc Enever (Bri) 14-3, 3.20, 126.7IP, 106K

Fresh Face (Rookie)*:
Flinders Conference: Craig Tinkler (Dar) .324, 28HR, 76RBI
Cook Conference: Marc Enever (Bri) 14-3, 3.20, 126.7IP, 106K

On my "to do" list is a reworking of the league homepage and a creation of links on each of the team's logos on the home page, just have to figure out what to put on them.

*Even though technically everyone in the league was a rookie this season, only prospects or players under 25 were eligible for the award.

[RayofHope]

League Homepage totally updated and redesigned!!

It looks a little more professional now, check it out at www.aabf.us - all links should be working, Catobase is up for year one, eventually the team logos will be turned into links (I think, just have to work out what to put on them).

The "All Star" link will take you to a page I'll be using to track all star stats through the course of the league. None of the links are active yet, but all the info is stored away in excel databases on my computer, just a matter of converting them to tables on the webpage.

Took me most of the day to get this thing to a point that satisfies me, but it paid off.

Any comments on the actual webpage would be welcomed!

[kq76]

It's nice to see this! A few years ago I read all about the ABL and fell in love with it, but unfortunately that was just when they were deciding to shut it down. Getting to watch Nilsson and Kingman in the Olympics has been great and now they'll be playing for the gold medal! I'd love to see them be successful in fully resurrecting organized baseball in Australia. It's great to see your league here to bring more attention to it all though. Best of luck with this.

Your poor Giants, IIRC they were the only constant franchise without a championship.

[RayofHope]

Giants were one of I think two franchises that basically never changed a bit (from team name to playing location etc.).

They were always pretty good, they just never got over the hump.

Interestingly enough, not sure if you remember the name, but Tim Day used to play for the Adelaide Giants, and I met him last year, in, of all the possible places, a Mexican Bar" (On the Border) in Gainesville Florida!!

I couldn't believe it. He was over doing some coaching or something, he was a pretty good player for the Giants too.

Kingman was nuts, I thought long and hard about renaming the batting title the "Kingman Award" or something, and toyed with getting Dave Nillson's name in there too (may still do it). I also toyed with putting Graeme Lloyd's name on a pitching award, I remember him playing for the Heat, he was a starter in Australia, and wondering how the hell anyone could hit him.

Couldn't believe it when I heard the Aussie national team was playing for gold against Cuba, awesome!

[RayofHope]

2005 Season is complete and uploaded into Catobase.

Additions to the webpage (www.aabf.us) include a better organized homepage, and two additional links at the very bototm of the left hand nav bar, "Flinders Champs" and "Cook Champs."

Still working on the "All Stars" link - decided to make links available only for the antire AABF instead of each conference and the AABF (that was just going to take too long).

I have the 2005 All Star game stats in my spreadsheet, and I have a template of the basic page, so once I get the time, it shouldn't take me too long to get the links up for each category.

At the moment, three of the batting categories are up, but only have the 2004 All Star game stats in them.

[blackrussian]

Ray' - this has been a great read. are you still doing this? just curious as its been a while since yr last post

v'