Paint us a picture

The Defensive Specialist gets particular joy sitting outdoors taking in a ball game and detailing the intricacies of the battle. Once the Defensive Specialist has ruminated on the proceedings, he then crafts finely detailed game reviews filled with insight, knowledge and understanding in such a way that even the layman fan can get a true appreciation for what unfolded on the field. Many critics have labeled the Defensive Specialists work as a painting in blog form. The Defensive Specialist then dutifully posts these impressions and you, the loyal readers feed on this information like it was a life source.

As humbling as this all seems to the Defensive Specialist, it is the unrelenting emails and messages that hit the Deep in the Hole inbox in the days following a series; at first politely requesting more insight, then gently insisting and finally outright demanding, that stokes the Defensive Specialist’s fire and propels him to be the best.

As we head towards the last series of the regular season where every win has permutations on the final standings, so many people have questions that its only fair the Defensive Specialist takes the knowledge up to another level. Here at Deep in the Hole, we like to call the post:

“What has the Defensive Specialist learned?”

Key Learning 1

Do not mess with the Baseball Gods... again! The Defensive Specialist can just imagine the atheists rolling their eyes out there but the evidence of a supernatural higher baseball power is extraordinary. Infractions and retribution included:

• The last time the Defensive Specialist saw the Patriots play, he commented on Tim Cox flaunting all baseball protocol by running out onto the base line for pregame introductions. In that game Cox battled to find his usually outstanding stuff and managed a no decision. In this game, the lead off hitter unloaded for a bomb on his second pitch and his first inning of work was extremely shaky. It wasn’t until he stepped off and prayed to the gods that his sins were absolved and he was able to settle back into his usual dominant self.

• Heat manager, Don Kyle rolling out an infield outfield slow roller by hand rather than with his fungo which obviously resulted in a terrible catcher pop up and led to him losing his innie outtie battle with NSW coach Graeme Cassell.

Key Learning 2

Is NSW a viable baseball state? YEAH, The Defensive Specialist said it! Look, your old pal the Defensive Specialist knows that’s an absurd statement since NSW produces the greatest proportion of talented players and consistently fields a strong team. But after watching a number of series both at the Blacktown facility and now at Campbelltown, and seeing limited crowd numbers across a 3 game series, the Defensive Specialist has to put it out there at least as a discussion point.

By the Defensive Specialists count there were 1369 spectators in attendance over the weekend, with the vast majority seeming to come from the local area. Granted, the game was played at a venue other than the main baseball facility in NSW, but even when the action is at Blacktown, the crowd numbers don’t swell significantly more than that anyway.

The most important question however is can such low levels of spectator attendance support an ABL franchise expected to break even across a 50+ game season? The Defensive Specialist is keen to hear from the readers as to their theories on baseball attendance in NSW and how it can be improved. Is the game promoted enough? Would a facility located closer to the CBD attract greater numbers? Are the local clubs asked to support the team? If you have a theory, hit the Defensive Specialist at thedefensivespecialist@gmail.com

Key Learning 3

An injury or two can cause absolute havoc with only a 19-man roster at your disposal. With most teams carrying 9 pitchers, managers are left with 10 positional players for a 3 game series. As we saw with the Perth Heat on the weekend, when one or two of your guys decides to take a baseball off their eyeball, things can go pear shaped really quickly. Luke Hughes returning from wrist surgery on his throwing hand was forced onto the field with the pitcher Dean White having to bat for himself.  Teams that are able to carry a ‘two way’ guy (a player who can pitch and hit – a rarity since the vast majority of pitchers cannot hit no matter how much they tell you they can) are at an advantage due to the extra flexibility.

Obviously roster sizes are controlled in order to minimize cost but the Defensive Specialist would envision this number increasing next year as game frequency increases and the season is extended.

Key Learning 4

The Heat defensive work last week was best described as abysmal with each of the 3 games featuring multiple errors and lapses. It would be easy to blame the surface, which the Defensive Specialist described as resembling a sheep paddock. Word doing the rounds at the field was that a solid weeks work had been put in to get it up to speed. The Defensive Specialist could only wonder what it looked like before the work went in.

Anyway, despite the fact the surface was a tad rough, the Heat managed to butcher enough baseballs to suggest that a solid session of defensive fundamentals is in good order. The usually sure-handed Andy Kyle tripled his seasons error tally during this series and even the usually reliable Nick Kimpton in centrefield looked like he would have benefited from the use of a GPS device judging by some of the routes he took on fly balls. The icing on his ordinary defensive performance in game 3 was clanking a can of corn late in the game.

Third base and left field have been black holes for the Heat this season with injuries and players being unavailable resulting in less than stellar defenders taking the field in these positions. With Luke Hughes or Dallas Christenson handling third things seem to be fixed at the hot corner, but it will be interesting to see what Heat Manager Don Kyle does about left field.

Although the Heat offensive lineup has the horsepower to put up runs, you don’t want your pitchers working harder making up for additional outs that your defense has coughed up. For the Heat to make a legitimate run at the title, they’ll have to catch and throw the ball.

Key learning 5

The Patriots starting rotation looks to be in good order. Tim Cox is a legitimate staff ace (unless he continues to torment the Baseball Gods) who’d be expected to win every game he starts. Wayne Lundgrem looks fine and dandy from the wind up and a little shaky from the set. If he has his stuff going and can limit base runners then he’s fine. Craig Anderson baffled a solid line up topping out at 75mph and working consistently at 69-73 mph, which just goes to show that changing speeds and outstanding command can beat teams.

However the NSW bullpen didn’t set the Defensive Specialists world on fire. Lee Ingram looked solid but seems to be rarely used (the Defensive Specialist wishes he would incorporate his legs into his delivery). Jarrett Commane can eat up some innings as a long man and held the Perth lineup down. Lefty Matthew Rae gets the vast majority of relief innings for the Patriots and has averaged a strikeout per inning. After those 3 guys, it’s somewhat of a crapshoot, meaning that the starters are going to have to go deep to give the team a chance at winning.

Key Learning 6

So with one last weekend of games, how’s this thing going to play out?

The Defensive Specialist has already boldly stated that South Australia cannot win the Claxton Shield in 2010 and is going to stick with that.

The Patriots take on Queensland and will need to be put on suicide watch if they can’t sweep that series. They have the starting pitching and with Mitch Denning returning, the offensive to compete for a championship.

If the Heat sweep Victoria this weekend, they’ll win the championship again. Now, can they sweep the Aces this weekend? No, the Defensive Specialist doesn’t think so as their pitching staff is a little short. The Defensive Specialists advanced scouts have indicated that Scott Mitchinson will take the ball in game 1. Last weekend he was on a 40 pitch count so it’ll be interesting to see if he has the steam to go deeper into the game. After Mitchinson, the Heat role out TJ ‘Wolfmother” Wohlever who has been solid when he has taken the mound as a starter for the Heat. Game 3 is a coin toss between Dylan Peacock and Mark Kelly. On paper all of these guys can win you a ball game and a sweep is entirely possible.

However, their opposition is the Victorian Aces who have gone 9-2 down the stretch and have been a good offensive ballclub. The Aces will send out Adam Blackley and Matthew Blackmore in games 1 &2 and some combination of Dean Barker, Shane Lindsay or Donovan Hendriks in game 3. With Adam Bright and the unused game 3 starters available in relief, the Aces staff is in good order. As a team, the Aces have been the premier offensive club in the competition and seem to be stroking the ball pretty well at present. They are most definitely not the club that the Heat wanted to face really needing to win 3 at the end of the season.

So having swirled all of this information around in his head, what has the Defensive Specialist come up with?  Well, for the Defensive Specialist’s money, the Aces will win the Championship in 2010.

The Defensive Specialist needs to go and meet with the Deep in the Hole CFO in order to evaluate the Deep in the Hole travel budget and see if there’s one more road trip in it for a finals series. If you’d like to share your thoughts (or if you’d like to be a sugar daddy and pay for a finals trip) hit the email or the comments section below.