ABL 2010/11

[Guest The Second Spitter]

Sydney's got the best logo, no doubt:

That it is, but also quite partial to the Adelaide Bite cap logo:


The nickname of the Adelaide team may sound lame to US audiences, is actually quite a clever double entendre.

Btw, my opening day Blue Sox ticket cost me less than a beer at Citi Field.

[Guest The Second Spitter]

Here's a list of former and current Mets organizational players in the ABL:

Former
Dae-Sung Koo is the closer for the Sydney Blue Sox.


Justin Huber is DHing for the Melbourne Aces (apparently can no longer catch so he'll be splitting time between 1st and DH)

There's also a hot rumor that Jae Seo will be a Blue Sock next season (maybe they can get Chan Ho Park too and have a reunion of Korean former Mets in Sydney.....)

Current
Stefan Welch, (1B, St Lucie Mets) is splitting time between DH and 1B for the Adelaide Bite (does that make him a Biter?). Incidentally, the player he's platooned with at 1st is Todd "Son of a Goose" Gossage.

Lachlan Hodge, (LHP, Kingsport Mets) was initially assigned to the Blue Sox, but won't make an appearance until after Xmas for reasons unbeknownst to me. Hodge was a highly touted prospect when he signed with the Mets in 08 but sucked last season, so the Mets may believe that rest is what he needs)

That's all I know of.

[Ceetar]

Hey, they've started.

no TV though I imagine. I'd watch..

[Willets Point]

Missed this thread before. Looks like the Perth Heat will log a lot of miles getting to their road games this season.

[Guest The Second Spitter]

I have to say some of tthe initial buzz has subsided for me for few reasons..

(1) To watch the Blue Sox, I have to travel a similar distance to what metfairy has to travel to watch the Mets. It's far from the center of Sydney and shithole of an area, really.
(2) Their ground is way too small. ( Here's a

from opening night). It has a capacity of 2,000. Every game's a sell-out, which means, getting tickets is a pain in the arse.
(3) The standard of baseball sucks (Single A and I'm being generous).
(4) The media coverage is abysmal, although with cricket dying a painful death in this country, that may change.
(5) The playoff structure is ridiculous. It's a 6 team league and four make the play-offs. Next season there's gonna be two more teams (Newcastle, Gold Coast), so I guess that's an improvement.

On the positive side, the league is very professionally run. MLB is basically bankrolling and running the whole thing.

Ceetar wrote: Hey, they've started. no TV though I imagine. I'd watch..

Theres's a live audio feed of Blue Sox games on their website. Opening pitch is usually 3AM ET, so I'll be expecting most of you to be around for an IGT.

I'll see what I can do about uploading some games. Meanwhile...

[Guest The Second Spitter]

We're deep into the play-offs; (I won't bother explaining the play-off structure as it may be incomprehensible to Americans, but you can read it here)

Perth Heat have made it to Championship series where they will meet the winner of the Blue Sox/Bite series. Blue Sox are up 1-0 (best of 3). David Welch (formerly of the Brewers org) pitched the league's first no-no in Game 1)

Game 2 starts in about an hour and you watch it live here.

Had a ticket but not going as it's about 110�F out there.

[Guest The Second Spitter]

Adelaide got up 4-0. Game 3 tomorrow. Tune inat 21:30ET tonight for the series decider.