Savin’ Me

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!

Is More Less?

After making the foolish promise to up the output from a blogging perspective, the Defensive Specialist has been pacing back and forth in front of the Deep in the Hole super computer desperately trying to come up with decent ideas to waffle on about. Mired in the dead of winter is not helping the creative juices flow and the Defensive Specialist fights a daily battle against the urge to comfort eat. Fortunately Tuesday saw a breakthrough with the genius idea to talk about the 2011/2012 schedule!

Before you click off the page in disgust, remember the Defensive Specialist also committed to shorter posts (in order to avoid repetitive strain injury after a lengthy lay off). So even if it’s a crappy topic, you’ll only have to endure 500-750 words on the matter as opposed to the usual 1500-2000. That’s a win win right?

The biggest change from last season is the addition of 6 more games, increasing from 40 games (20 home / 20 away) to 46 (23 home / 23 away). Regular readers of this fine, upstanding site will know that the Defensive Specialist has long championed the idea of playing more games. For those disinclined to read through the archives to find these well-written gems and in order to pad the word count, let your old pal quickly rehash the topic.

If Major League Baseball wants to run an offseason league that’s taken seriously by its franchises then it has to offer more games. The reason? MLB teams who want their prospects to play offseason baseball are looking for 3 things: 1) quality competition, 2) quality standard of living and environment and 3) volume. We all know that you get better at baseball by playing it a lot (hence the 162 game MLB schedule). Teams want to get games into their prospects against solid competition. The more games they play (particularly offensive players who don’t need to rest their arms as pitchers do), the greater the benefit. There is a huge advantage to Australian professional players as well as they now have a legitimate offseason league to continue their development in. Think back a couple of years when an Australian kid’s offseason program included club ball and a week long Claxton Shield tournament. Now compare that to a 46 game season with games running 5 days a week!

So this new schedule is a good thing right?

Yes and no.

Obviously from a players perspective it’s a great thing. As outlined above, playing every day is only going to ratchet up the development time and skills of all players involved. It’s going to expose Australian youngsters to good baseball and allow our professional players to hone their talents. From an imports perspective, they get to continue their growth in Australia during summer while drinking better beer.

So what’s the downside you ask? Well there are a couple of issues the Defensive Specialist sees: 

• Firstly, playing more games actually impacts the ability of both non-professionals and professionals to hold down regular jobs. We all know that minor leaguers are not paid any sort of princely sum and require off-season work to survive. We also had a decent level of non-professionals / amateurs taking part in the league last year who work first and play baseball second. With games now taking place on Wednesdays, players are effectively only able to work 2 days per week (when on the road). There aren’t many gigs around that A) support working 2 days per week and B) pay enough. What we’re likely to see is the number of mature non-professionals / amateurs decline and an increase in younger players (bankrolled by mum and dad!) and non-professional imports (sponsored by local clubs).
• The effect of extended series on crowd support. When contacted by the Sydney Blue Sox to continue membership, one of the selling points to re-up was the addition of games. “Instead of 4 games per series, you get 5!!” went the spiel. That looks good on paper until you consider the thought of attending 5 games a week from Wednesday to Sunday. In fact attending that many games in a week would lead to divorce papers, which wouldn’t look so good. Obviously most people wont be attending all 5 games in a series unless they have a child or loved one playing so the effect on crowd numbers will be interesting to study. Will more games allow fans greater accessibility and options or lead to apathy? You know what they say -increasing supply decreases demand.
• From a revenue perspective, franchises will be expected to give fans and supporters a great show no matter the day of the week.  You’d expect numbers to suffer on Wednesday and Thursday nights which means that the bottom line may hurt as teams aren’t pulling $$$ from concessions, alcohol, parking and the gate. Teams can’t afford to cut back on the bells and whistles on Wednesday and Thursday because they cant afford to give fans a reason (other than the night of the week) to not show up.

Another interesting scheduling curiosity to note is the ABL continuing with the New Years Eve / Day scheduling. The Defensive Specialist can think of nothing better than bringing in a new year watching baseball. Unfortunately not all family and friends may agree. Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne are the teams scheduled to host the games over the New Year period, which is also interesting. A case can definitely be made for Adelaide who have a rapid fan base that are likely to turn out in droves (plus there’s bugger all else to do in Adelaide anyway). Both Melbourne and Brisbane had sketchy attendance numbers last season so when you couple that fact with a tough date are they asking for trouble (or did they have a huge offseason membership drive that influenced the scheduling?)? Surely teams with stronger attendance figures  (Canberra and Perth) would have been better choices to host on these dates as they have a better chance to at least pull a crowd.

The Defensive Specialist has blown out his target of 500-750 words and is starting to cramp up. At the end of the day, more baseball games is a good thing for the players involved and for the perception of the league. It’s the hard to measure things that bare watching as the season progresses.

Shedding Light on the Subject

A spousal illness on Friday meant the Defensive Specialist had to switch into his role as Superhusband / father and was unable to attend Game 2 of the Blue Sox / Heat series. Fortunately it played out just as the Defensive Specialist predicted – a dominant sweep by the Heat on the road……….

Yeah ok, so perhaps the Defensive Specialist screwed the pooch on that call but it’s not like the predictions offered here at Deep in the Hole have been close to accurate all year anyway. One call your old pal did get right was the Adelaide Bite / Melbourne Aces result which was kind of a no brainer anyway.

The Heat roll straight into the Grand Final to be held at their home ballpark (which may or may not be a good thing when you consider their .500 record at the Barbagallo Ballpark) with their offense humming and some resilient efforts on the mound from the pitching staff. The Sydney team have to have a case of the tight sphincter now, knowing that they’ll play host to the hard hitting Bite who have won 7 of their last 8 games. The Blue Sox will be buoyed by the fact they pulled the Bite’s pants down the last time they played in Sydney, sweeping the series 4-0. Two big problems facing the Sydney team are:

1) Chris Oxpsring is now a reliever, which means that team is now down an ace

And

2) The Blue Sox offense is even more exposed now that playoffs are here and the pitching is above average. On the upside, Mitch Dening seems to have found his stroke in the 2 games against Perth clearly leading the way offensively in a losing effort.

Adelaide welcomed Quincy Latimore and James McOwen back into the fold after both took some time off due to injury which makes the Bite line up all the more potent. Mark Brackman took the ball in game 1 of the semi finals and was solid and although Brandon Maurer didn’t appear to have his best stuff in game 2, he did manage to punch out 8 in 6 innings of work. The Defensive Specialist will have more detailed thoughts on the next round of playoffs later in the week.

As many ABL fans know, Foxtel will be showing the grand finals series, which is a coup for the sport and an exciting development. Many will be scratching their head at the 4.30pm start times for the games and wonder why on earth the schedule has been changed. Well let your old pal tell you why. Apparently the quality of lighting in the ballparks is not conducive to the broadcast being in high definition, hence the need to play the games in daylight to avoid this technical issue. So that means on the east coast we’ll be watching games at 7.30 pm due to Western Australia’s backwater mentality of not having day light savings. No word yet on who’ll be commentating but lets just hope and pray that its someone with half an idea.

The Defensive Specialist isn’t really too worried about the broadcast anyway since he fully expects MLB / ABL to bankroll Australia’s preeminent baseball blogger’s trip to the Grand Final series anyway…….

I am the shark amongst the fishes.......

It’s not going to be easy to replicate the complex imagery and metaphors the Defensive Specialist conjured for the Blue Sox / Heat post over the past two days, especially since Melbourne and Adelaide don’t share the same level of vitriol that an east / west rivalry presents. When you couple this with the fact that the Defensive Specialist has seen the Bite play once and has never laid eyes on the Aces, trying to predict a winner becomes even tougher. Fortunately you’re not dealing with any mere mortal here at Deep in the Hole – when in doubt your old pal falls back on his trusted gut instinct.

On paper the result looks fairly straightforward – the Bite took 7 out of 8 from the Aces over the course of the season and play host to the Melbournians in the minor semi final. Home field advantage + regular season dominance = Adelaide win.

Ok, so leaving it at that would make for a fairly boring post.  Let the Defensive Specialist run through both line-ups and see which team wins the positional battle (Jaws /Adelaide or Maverick / Aces).

Catcher

Import Brandon Bantz handles the tools of ignorance for the Bite, but despite a hot start his production has tailed off as the season’s progressed (including an 0-20 in mid January). Nevertheless Bantz still managed to bop 8 home runs while driving in 26. The 7 errors have to be a concern for Manager Tony Harris, especially when you consider that it’s not like the Bite staff are loaded with hard to handle pitchers. The return of Quincy Latimore and James McOwen allows Bantz to drop lower in the line up and alleviates some of the stress placed upon him.

The festive season may have been a little bigger than his manager would have liked because before the Christmas break Grant Karlsen was flirting with .400. Upon return to the diamond he suffered through a painful January (4-34 and 5 of his 7 strikeouts)) which dragged his average down almost 100 points. Despite his struggles Karlsen provides a solid lower order bat that puts the ball in play and can drive the ball out of the yard from time to time.

Edge: Tie

First Base

It was widely speculated that Justin Huber would take the ABL by storm in 2010 / 2011. Unfortunately things got off to a woefully sluggish start and he’s scuffled pretty badly all season. While he did hit 9 home runs and drive in 29 the Defensive Specialist is sure that he would have expected more.  Despite a down season, he still provides an imposing bat in the 4 hole and is definitely someone that opposing managers do not want to mess with.

Scott Gladstone appears to be the man at first base for the Bite and although not a prolific power bat he did manage to put up some tidy numbers – particularly in January when he hit .372.

Edge:

Second Base

Last year the Defensive Specialist openly questioned second baseman Josh Cakebread’s value offensively as he posted anaemic numbers with the bat. The move to a grander stage has obviously agreed with him as his production has increased substantially with a .277 average and 17 runs scored in 21 games. Cakebread isn’t going to drive the ball out of the yard but his ability to get on base in the 9 hole makes the top of the line up more potent and his defence at second base has always been highly valued.

Matthew Lawman plays the role of punchless second baseman in this series with a disappointing .193 average on the season. Making matters worse he also tallied 12 errors on the season, which makes it tough to justify sending him out there. Manager Phil Dale will be hoping that he can either provide stellar D or get the bat going. Even better do both!

Edge:

Third Base

Lanky lefty Stefan Welch was expected to be a prime time contributor for the Bite in 2010/ 2011 and while the 7 home runs and 25 RBI’s suggest that he played his part, the .201 batting average, .298 OBP and league leading 42 strikeouts paint a different picture. Manager Harris looks to have settled on him in the 2 hole which may be a smart move as it will likely present him with better stuff to hit as opposing pitchers work to avoid putting him on in front of McOwen and Latimore.

Josh Davies seems settled at third for the Aces and while he shared the lead league in errors (14) his bat played reasonably well. Hitting .307 he drove in 27 while scoring 28. An aversion to taking a free pass saw his OBP sit at .335 and his high strikeout tally (41) can end a big inning.

Edge: 

Shortstop

Much like Cakebread, the Defensive Specialist dogged Jeremy Cresswell fairly heavily last season from an offensive perspective. Being the big man that the Defensive Specialist is, now seems to be an appropriate time to acknowledge that Cresswell has been a revelation offensively this season. With McOwen being the big bat in the lineup, Cresswell’s resurgence at the plate allows Manager Harris to lead him off and use McOwen in the middle of the order. Cresswell led the league in runs scored, contributed 5 homeruns and drove in 23 while hitting .278. Defensively he was somewhat of a sieve at shortstop, leading the league in errors but if he continues to score runs at the rate he is, the miscues can be overlooked.

The Aces stocks at shortstop were enhanced with the return of James Beresford (Baseball America Article – also featuring Luke Hughes). Beresford slotted right into the leadoff position and has provided a spark by hitting .404 with 8 runs in 12 games).

Edge: Tie

Leftfield

Quincy Latimore blew the league up in the first month of the season but saw his production wane in January. You know you’re having a good season when you can hit .219 in January and still finish the season at .313. A late season hamstring strain saw the Q-tip miss some time and may lead to him appearing more at DH than in the field. If Latimore goes to DH, Ben Wigmore is thrust into the fray in left. Wigmore has always been a professional hitter and although his output was not as impressive as in years past, he is still a dangerous bat to have lower in the order. Defensively he is scary in leftfield and Manager Harris will hold his breath on balls hit out that way.

When the Aces Japanese contingent departed our fair shores, the hole left by Yoshiyuki Kamei in leftfield was substantial. Fortunately Manager Dale was able to recruit Paul Rutgers to fill the void. After a hot start Rutgers finished the regular season with a .311 average, 4 long balls and 17 RBI’s in 22 games.

Edge:

Centrefield

Elliot Biddle has staked ownership of the centrefield position for Melbourne. Appearing in 17 games he has scored an impressive 16 runs while hitting .313

MVP candidate McOwen

The Bite have themselves a legitimate MVP candidate in centrefielder James McOwen who led the league in home runs while driving in 30 and scoring 29. McOwen’s en fuego January has forced his manager to move him from the lead off position to the 3-hole in order to capitalise on his production, which makes the Adelaide line-up even more damaging.

Edge:

MVP candidate Russell

Rightfield

Tom Brice seems to have found his niche on rightfield for the Bite and it’s amazing what you can do when you find your happy place! A .314 clip with 7 homeruns, 26 RBI’s and a .439 OBP is just what you want from your right fielder.

If James McOwen is the Bites MVP candidate, Andrew Russell flies the flag for the Aces. Buoyed by a ridiculously hot December, Russell cranked out 46 hits in 2010 /2011 with 9 doubles and 7 bombs along with 27 RBI’s and 25 runs.

Edge:

Designated Hitter

It looks like Latimore will take the majority of at bats here, but if he’s good to go health wise look for Harris to hide Wigmore’s glove and insert him here.

The Melbourne designated hitter role looks likely to be filled by left handed hitter Scott Wearne. The nuggetty infielder hit .270 on the season with 4 home runs and 25 runs.

Edge:

Starting Pitching

The Defensive Specialist has discussed the Adelaide staff in this forum before and most would agree that it has been somewhat of a let down from pre season expectations. Red hot Brandon Maurer capped an outstanding January with a 1 hit shut out of Brisbane over 7 innings (the one hit came on the first batter of the game).  He’d have to be considered a sure thing in the Bite playoff rotation, which leaves Mark Brackman, Dushan Ruzic and Paul Mildren battling for the last 2 spots. Mildren has taken the ball every series and the veteran would surely be inserted into the playoff rotation based on his history and previous performance. His 2010/2011 season has been a let down with a 2- record and 4.58 ERA but he is a proven guy and wont be phased under playoff pressure. That leaves Dushan Ruzic and Mark Brackman to fight it out for the last start. Ruzoc went 5-2 with a 4.07 ERA while Brackman posted a 2-1 record with a 3.40 ERA.

Its not like the Aces don’t have much to choose from – after all they did wheel out 25 different arms to the mound this season. Tetsu Nishikawa has been handed the ball regularly towards the end of the season and you’d assume he’d get a start in the post season after going 2-0 with almost a K per inning. Lefty Adam Blackley led the team in innings pitched and managed a 3-3 record although his 5.31 ERA would have to disappoint him. Import Jeff Jamnik has taken the ball late in the season but his stuff has been cannon fodder as his 1-3 record and 8 ERA attests to. Greg Wilstshire is 4-0 for the Aces but he too has been rather expensive, giving up 22 earned runs in 34 innings and Shane Lindsay has made a couple of starts lately with limited success.

Edge:

Bullpen

The Melbourne bullpen is a wasteland of bloated ERA’s and walk totals (which may have a lot to do with the fact that they play in a shoebox for half their games). Manager Dale really doesn’t have a go-to arm, especially with Adam Bright no longer available. If Wiltshire, Jamnik or Lindsay miss out on a start they’ll obviously feature heavily in the pen along with Nicholas Martin and the recently appearing Russ Spear.

The ageless Darren Fidge started the season in the rotation but his durability has proven to be an advantage out of the pen for Manager Harris. With a leftover starter available for relief duties the Adelaide relief corp is definitely strengthened and much deeper. The late season addition of Adrian Burnside and Tom Becker helps but the remainder of the arms down there have had less than stellar seasons.

Edge:

With the Bite having the edge in 7 of the 11 categories (with 2 ties) it’s almost a no brainer to state that they’ll win this series. The Melbourne pitching is in such a state of flux that is hard for the Defensive Specialist to imagine that it can contain the potentially explosive Adelaide line up. If the Bite hurlers can contain the top of the Aces line up its hard to see the Aces being able to put one in the win column.

Of course with all of the Defensive Specialist’s predictions, take this one with a fairly large grain of salt!

What we learn with pleasure we never forget. - Alfred Mercier

This may come as a big statement but let’s face it, the Defensive Specialist has never backed down from grandeur. Deep in the Hole brings pleasure, which means that you’ll never forget what you read here. Quite stunning when you stop and think about it really. Rest assured, the Defensive Specialist understands the impact that he’s having on your life and the lives of your friends and family who also tune in and that’s why, even after only catching one game this past weekend, your old pal is providing an abridged version of “What the Defensive Specialist Learnt”.

The Blue Sox affirmed what we all thought before the season commenced – they’re legitimate title contenders - by handily sweeping away the spirited yet undermanned Adelaide Bite. While that may sound cut and dry in print, when you lift the hood and peer in at the inner workings of the series you’ll see that things were much closer than the 4-0 result indicates. Both teams take positives and negatives from the series – let the Defensive Specialist spell a few of them out

1. Adelaide Manager Tony Harris has to be sitting in his office with a set of Rosary beads rocking back and forth, praying that the Q-Tip and James McOwen are available for the upcoming series against Brisbane. The heart of the Adelaide lineup was toothless with those two bats missing as Brandon Bantz and Stefan Welch combined to go 5-36 in the series. McOwen leading off allows the surprisingly frisky Jeremy Cresswell to slide back into the 2 hole where his bat plays much better, and the Q-Tip not only brings a power bat back into the lineup but also reduces the burden on Bantz and Welch. Adelaide has no chance of a championship if those two guys don’t play - simple as that.

2. Speaking of hitters, Blue Sox skipper Glenn Williams has to hope that Trent Oeltjen can get over his injury issues and get back onto the field because the Sydney line up could use one or two more rock solid bats in the middle. P.I.M.P Alex Johnson has shouldered a heavy load while Mitch Denning has been up and down. If Williams could insert Oeltjen in the 3 hole it allows Johnson to remain in the 4 spot and slides Denning to 5, giving the line up better balance and making it less susceptible to bullpen matchup’s late in the game. The lower 3^rd of the order is still a black hole – sucking outs into the scorebook, but with Oeltjen in place the top 6 looks good on paper with D’Antonio, Utter Club Nutter Schmutter, Oeltjen, Johnson, Denning & the Bossman / Dean.

3. As the old saying goes “If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, looks like a duck, it must be a duck”.  Well Yong Sup Kwak, the Bites’ Korean import is about to be a dead duck in terms of his spot in the line up with his anemic .109 average and non existent production. It’s hard to see Harris taking at bats away from some of his other role players  (Gladstone, Pett and Gossage) as he has in the past with Kwak swimming in circles and a position the playoffs up for grabs.

4. Although the Defensive Specialist rated it as a strength earlier in the season, the Adelaide pitching staff has to be considered somewhat of a disappointment. The bullpen is littered with 7+ ERA’s, which led the team to break open the trophy cabinet and remove Adrian Burnside and Tom Becker from the formaldehyde. The starters Paul Mildren, Dushan Ruzic and Brandon Maurer have been up and down all season although Maurer has been much better in his last 4 starts (3-0, 4 earned runs). While the Bite line up banged early in the season the pitching staff could afford to yield more runs than you’d ordinarily like. However, as we all know, pitching and defense win championships so for the Adelaide boys to contend, the staff is going to need to turn it up a notch.

Unless a sugar daddy slips a couple of airfares under the Defensive Specialist’s door that’s it for the regular season games. This weekend’s fixtures have some dramatic ramifications for the play off picture. The Heat take on the tail spinning Aces in Perth with the opportunity to put the Melbournians to the sword. The much-anticipated Peter Moylan appearance in the inaugural ABL season appears to have fizzed out with his Twitter updates indicating that he’s back in Atlanta. Brisbane and Adelaide square off in a little 6 game dance in Adelaide with serious repercussions for both teams. If Adelaide can bang out 2 wins they’re fairly secure in the top 4. If Brisbane can steal a few and Melbourne continue their bad run, there’s chance that the young upstarts could sneak into the playoffs. The Multiculturalists play host to the Blue Sox who’d love to sweep or win the series and give themselves a chance at first place and home field advantage.

'Complexity creates confusion, simplicity, focus.' Edward de Bono

We live in a world loaded with information thanks to the ease with which technology delivers it to us and if that sounds a little deep for you on a Monday night / Tuesday morning, take a deep swig of your drink / coffee and consider your old pal on Saturday night. The Defensive Specialist basked in a downpour of information as he sat and watched the Blue Sox take on the Heat. Thanks to the wonders of the modern world, the Defensive Specialist watched the ball game while writing a blog post, checking the scores of other games, registering on eHarmony, accessing real time stats and checking Facebook status updates. 

However, bombarding oneself with information isn’t for everyone – it creates confusion and clouds issues. And that’s where the Defensive Specialist comes in. After attending a series, the Defensive Specialist likes to collate all relevant data and then report key findings back to the loyal readers in a simple and efficient manner. The simplicity allows focus! And my word wasn’t there a plethora of facts, figures and themes to digest after the first placed Blue Sox squared off against the 4^th placed Heat.

The Defensive Specialist has mentioned it numerous times before but it stands to reason to raise it again. In general, teams look to win the series at home (3 out of 4) and to split on the road (2 out of 2) (obviously this changes when playing lesser opponents). It’s not easy to win a series outright and even tougher to go on the road and do it. So when the Blue Sox travelled to Perth and blew the Heat away 4-0, eyebrows were raised around the league and surely doubts began to creep into the Heat camp. Then, just as they had their backs to the wall, the Heat roared back and stole 4 games from the Blue Sox at Olympic Park. When something like this transpires, you know the Defensive Specialist will have a take on it. So with no further ado, your old pal presents “What the Defensive Specialist Learnt”.


1. You can run on the Blue Sox. Andy Graham’s throwing has regressed from years past and while Stone Hands Maat has a decent arm, his catch, release and footwork slows things down. However, blame is not entirely leveled on the Sydney catchers! Oxspring is ridiculously quick to the plate (in the 1.3 range) but for the most part the rest of the Sydney staff can be run on. When you couple that with the arms behind the plate, teams are definitely able to exploit the chink in the Blue Sox armour. The most telling example occurred in game 2 with David Welch on the mound. Obviously with a lefty on the hill, the runner is going on first move and takes the risk that the pitcher will not pick off. On a couple of occasions, Heat runners got such great jumps that no throw was even made to second base. Welch was forced to speed up his motion, which may have unsettled his rhythm and definitely reduced his velocity and control.


2. Is there such a thing as home field advantage? Usually playing at home presents a huge advantage to teams as they have familiar surroundings, better fan support and creature comforts. Yet over the course of 2 weeks we have seen two strong teams hit the road and sweep a series. The Defensive Specialist began to think that there may in fact be an advantage to being on the road – think about it, in the ABL the vast majority of players actually have to maintain some form of gainful employment to supplement the meagre earnings they make playing baseball. When at home, players are rushing to the yard from work, trying to wedge baseball into their lives and fulfil various other commitments like friends, family and loved ones.  On the other hand, the minute the team boards the plane to travel interstate, all of those other issues go out the window and the focus is totally on baseball and the games ahead (oh and where to have a drink once the series is over).To confirm the Defensive Specialist’s hypothesis, the theory was raised to Heat manager Brooke Knight:

“I really like our team on the road. We’re cohesive, we don’t have distractions, and we’re at the yard working on our game as a team. There are definitely advantages to travelling in this league”.

Don’t get the Defensive Specialist wrong, it’s highly unlikely that any team would turn down the chance of a home final, but there is something to be said for getting your team together as a unit and going to battle for 4 concentrated days.

3. The ABL really could be the Second Chance Saloon. Already we’ve seen pitchers Oxspring and Adam Bright salvaged off the pitching scrap heap following outstanding performances Down Under. After seeing the Heat’s Daniel Schmidt dial his fastball up to 90 against the Blue Sox with significant run and control, you’d have to think that he’d have a chance to catch on somewhere since effective lefties don’t grow on trees and he’s still relatively young at only 22.

4. The Heat pitching staff is perched precariously on the ledge. Imports Trevor Caughey and Matt Zachary both made huge contributions for the Heat on Thursday and Sunday respectively. Unfortunately the reason they are in Australia is to play club baseball, which means once their local competition starts up again, their availability will be severely compromised and the Heat pitching staff further weakened. Schmidt and Cole McCurry provide arms at the front of the rotation but the Heat bullpen is lessened if Liam Baron and his rubber arm is forced back in to the rotation. Manager Knight will likely have to closely monitor the local competition and snap up imports as their rotations permit (in WA, imports can only pitch every second game). Not an optimal situation to say the least.

5. The Sydney Big 4 is still vaunted; it’s the guys behind them that’s the concern. Oxspring, Welch, Lundgren and Anderson form a dominant rotation, giving their team a chance to win every time out. Dae-Sung Koo is a crafty veteran who knows how to pitch. After that, there is a whole bunch of uncertainty in the Blue Sox pen. Obviously with such a solid frontline staff the pen will rarely be exposed but as the weekend showed, once a team gets in there, trouble can ensue. There’s word on the street that Matt Williams may be shut down for the remainder of the season, which removes another pro arm from manager Glenn Williams arsenal. You’d like to think that Rich Thompson will be more effective than he showed on the weekend, to give Williams another big arm to call upon.

6. Never underestimate the effect of 27,000 beats per minute. Techno Tim Auty was left off the roster until he replaced Trent Oeltjen later in the series and the lack of lights, lasers, smoke machines and pulsating beats had the noticeable effect of deflating the crowd. Trent Schmutter tried unsuccessfully to accept the mantle but there is only one Techno Tim Auty. Perhaps Blue Sox management need a Techno Tim Auty night for the upcoming series against the Adelaide Bite to get the crowd performing “big fish, little fish, cardboard box” with vigor and restore life to the venue. Start with a stirring rendition of Barbara Streisand by Duck Sauce if necessary.

7. Speaking of music, the Blue Sox sound team tried every emasculating song in the book to break the Heat hitters down, but in this series the line up finally came to life. Almost 1 through 9 contributed across the series, which is what we’ve been expecting from the Perth boys all season. With Luke Hughes firmly entrenched in the line up, Knight was able to run out a fairly consistent squad – only playing lefty righty matchups with his left fielder (Brandon Dale and Ryne Price).  With the Heat pitching questionable, the hitters need to bang to keep them competitive. What is more telling is that the bats got going against the best staff in the league.

Right, the Defensive Specialist has kept things as simple as possible and hopes that the loyal readers have been able to maintain focus. Things get exciting this weekend as the Heat travel to Melbourne to face the up and down Aces . Interestingly, the Defensive Specialist happened to see a piece on the Blue Sox on the 7.30 Report as they played the Aces at the Showgrounds. My word, that playing surface looked absolutely disgraceful! The Defensive Specialist can appreciate that the Aces are lucky to have a new home base close to the CBD but that field did not look conducive to good baseball (happy to hear the thoughts of those who have attended games in Melbourne on the playing field). The Blue Sox play host the to league leading Adelaide Bite which will tell a lot about both teams. The Bandits have the chance to knock the Multiculturalists out of playoff contention and vault themselves into the 4.

Until then

Naughty or Nice

The Defensive Specialist isn’t going to lie to you; he’s had his feet up for the past couple of days taking a well earned break before the second half of the ABL season cranks up. It’s easy to get fat off the land when Christmas roles around but a series of emails from loyal readers bemoaning the lack of Christmas cheer from their favourite baseball blogger has spurred the Defensive Specialist into action –after all, tis the season of giving! Every team has specific needs heading into the second half so the Defensive Specialist negotiated with Australia Post to intercept each managers shopping list to Santa – what better time than Christmas Eve to evaluate the wish lists of each skipper to see what they need to succeed in 2011.

Perth Heat

Manager Brooke Knight’s list to Santa:

1. Pitching

2. Pitching

3. Pitching

4. And grey uniforms for when we play away

Although the grey uniforms are a no brainer they’ve been covered ad infinitum in this forum and in reality, it doesn’t matter what uniform you’re wearing if you don’t have anyone to pitch. The Heat is set to lose number 1 & 2 arms Liam Hendriks and Cole McCurry to inning restrictions while import reliever Brett Jacobsen was traded to the Minnesota Twins and recalled back to the states. On top of that, leading bullpen arm Tyler Anderson is set to head back to the US to work on completing his college degree. That’s 4 fairly key appendages that will be tough to replace. While there’s word that Brendan Wise may be available in the coming weeks (making up for the loss of Jacobsen) Knight will be scouring his little black book searching for live arms to fill the void in his rotation with only Liam Baron a local option. With the Heat regaining the services of Luke Hughes and apparently an import second baseman, the addition of front line arms would almost assure the Heat of a finals berth.

Melbourne Aces

Manager Phil Dale’s list to Santa:

1) Better foreign relations

2) Smaller coaching staff

It would surprise some that Dale would request a smaller coaching staff, but do you realise how hard it must be to remember that many names? The first point about foreign relations relates to the fact that the Aces’ Japanese contingent are said to be shipping back to their motherland in preparation for their spring training / season. Just as the Aces started to hit their straps (winning 9 of their last 11), word comes that their imports need to pack up shop and leave. These departures leave quite the void:

Yoshiyuki Kamei has been an offensive monster hitting .438 with 7 bombs, 25 RBI’s, 20 runs and an OPS of 1300. Sick numbers! Dale should find some way to hide his passport. While Dale is being devious, perhaps he should think about hiding a sizeable quantity of marijuana in the boogie board bags of Norihito Kaneto (2-2 with an ERA of 4.35 over 30 innings), Jumpei Ono (awesome name, 1-1 and 2.12 ERA), Masumi Hoshino (1-0 3.38 ERA) and Tetsu Nishikawa (1-0, 4.85 ERA) in order to keep them in our fair land.

On the upside, the Aces are dropping bombs and scoring runs at an alarming rate of late, lead by Andrew Russell who has vaulted into contention for Deep in the Hole “Dude of the Month”. The beat down has continued recently as the Aces man handled the Bandits in their latest series.

Adelaide Bite

Manager Tony Harris’ list to Santa:

1) A Stud

Harris has always been known as a simple man and his wish list reflects just that, yearning for only one thing. Unfortunately the one thing he desperately desires is the one thing that Santa doesn’t dish out willy nilly –staff aces. The Bite have an offensive line up that bangs with anyone in the league, meaning they’re always going to be able to put up numbers. What they lack is a guy who takes the ball and almost always guarantees a win. While they do have a group of steady pitchers, none has stepped forward and demonstrated the ability to be the guy. Paul Mildren doesn’t have the over powering stuff, Darren Fidge is almost a pensioner and their import Brandon Maurer has been inconsistent. Dushan Ruzic has had some exceptional outings but Harris will be imploring his GM to reach out into the baseball universe to find a staff leader that would completely reshape his pitching staff by providing stability at the front and allowing an arm like Fidge to become a go-to bullpen guy.

Canberra Multiculturalists

Manager Steve Schrenk’s list to Santa:

1) The ABL to only schedule home games

Being a new parent himself, the Defensive Specialist is keenly aware of the developmental cycles of young children. Right now, the Defensive Specialist’s young child is in the phase where kids tend to experience separation anxiety (time away from parents upsetingt them). The more the Defensive Specialist observes the Multiculturalists, the more he sees the signs of separation anxiety. The team plays with confidence and joy at home but goes to water whenever they leave the friendly confines of the nation’s capital. The solution? Perhaps take their parents along for the road trip while loading up on the porn and fireworks to make the lads feel as at home as possible.

Sydney Blue Sox

Manager Glenn William’s list to Santa:

1) A Banger

No Williams isn’t looking for a new relationship! What he’s after is a middle of the order thumper who can put fear into opposing pitching staffs and drive in a plethora of runs. Prior to the season commencing there were a number of guys ear marked to fill this role locally but to this point no one has stepped forward to be the MAN. We keep hearing that Trent Oeltjen will eventually strap on the powder blue uni and while he may not be your prototype banger, he definitely provides a premium bat that should be able to carry a large proportion of the load in the middle of the order

Brisbane Bandits

Manager Dave Nilsson’s list to Santa:

1) Snowstorms in Japan

2) Lubrication

The lube is more of a stocking gift but definitely well needed as the Aces have been legitimately sticking it to the Bandits in their pre Christmas series. The Bandits were pumped 18-8, 12-10, 10-0 and 16-3. That’s some serious friction!

Much like Melbourne, the Bandits are rumoured to be losing their Japanese imports in the coming weeks. The two keys losses will be Shuhei Fukuda who joint leads the team with 4 homeruns, while driving in 6 and scoring 11. He has also proved to be a reliable and versatile defender. From a pitching perspective, the big loss is Hiroki Yamada who has started in every series and struck out almost a hitter per inning while compiling a record of 2-2 with a 4.91 ERA. Neither import has put up “stop the press” numbers but having been steady contributors that Nilsson has relied upon as the season has progressed.

Unfortunately the Defensive Specialist has to cut this post short as he still has 2438 baseballs to autograph as Christmas presents. Thank you very much for reading Deep in the Hole and have a great and safe Christmas. The Defensive Specialist will next check in from the Heat VS. Blue Sox series on December 30th.