What an interesting week in Australian baseball. We
had the upstart Canberra Cavalry landing in Perth and stealing 3 out of 4 from
the previously undefeated Heat. We had the Blue Sox taking steps to right their
season by winning 3 out of 4 against the Bandits (with a little hand from their
fans) We had Adelaide and Melbourne split even though slugger Denny Almonte
dropped 12 rbi’s on the Aces across the 4 game series.
Unfortunately, all of that was over shadowed by even
bigger news – Aussie big leaguer Peter Moylan getting into a Twitter stoush
with the rock band Nickelback. Seems Moylan was suitably inspired by a recent
Foo Fighters gig to call out Nickelback:
 |
"Note to @nickelback please attend a @foofighters concert.
That's how's it should be done chad,"
Unfortunately for Moylan, Nickelback fired back and
fired back in style!
"@PeterMoylan Foos are killer for sure. We're doing just
fine too thanks. ? for you Pete, is watching Kimbrel better from the bench or
on TV?"
Zing!
Nickelback 1, Moylan 0
Anyway, enough injured relief pitchers and Canadian soft
rock bands; lets get back to the ABL.
Heat V
Cavalry
The Defensive Specialist suggested in a recent post that
the Heat’s recent foibles in Asia could lead to a Cavalry upset. Unfortunately
your old pal also predicted that the winless trip abroad would fire the Heat up
and lead to a demolition of the Canberra outfit… Canberra were having none of that, shutting down the Heat
offensively in the first 3 games and having their way with the Heat pitching
staff to the tune of 25 runs in the first 3 games.
Blue Sox V
Bandits
Keen meteorologists will tell you that Sydney is
currently in the midst of the coldest December in recent memory. As a result,
the Blue Sox faced the proposition of playing the Bandits in wet and wild
conditions. While the inclement weather threatened the contest across the
weekend it also allowed the Blue Sox to expand their roster to 145 as the local
fans came out onto the field to assist pulling the field tarp across the
diamond. In more serious news, the
weekend saw the Blue Sox take steps towards respectability by adding 4 games to
the win column. The key additions of Mitch Denning, Joe Hage and Brandon Barnes
paid dividends immediately and manager Kevin Boles will hope and pray this
newfound offense can be sustained.
Bite V Aces
Adelaide will be less than impressed after splitting a
home series with the last placed Melbourne team although centerfielder Denny
Almonte definitely gave the home fans something to talk about, exploding for 12
rbi’s across the series The highlight was obviously game 2 when he hit a grand
slam, mixed in an RBI single and them ended the game with a walk off 3 run
blast. That’s the sort of game you hang your hat on!
 |
| Denny Almonte enjoying a big series |
After 5 years of continued success and prosperity in
Sydney, the Defensive Specialist is pleased to announce that the entire Deep in
the Hole operation will be relocating to Western Australia as of next week.
While the logistics of moving a franchise are daunting, the Defensive
Specialist is confident that a seamless transition can be made. The Defensive
Specialist has a a single Blue Sox season membership available to anyone who’s
interested, simply drop the Defensive Specialist an email with your mailing
address and it’ll be sent through at no cost – well actually there will be a
cost, you’ll likely be accosted by autograph hounds who’ll mistake you for
Australia’s preeminent baseball blogger – don’t worry, you’ll grow to love it!
