'Some people would rather die than think' - Bertrand Russell

Look, Bertrand makes a pretty good point in the above quote and hopefully it inspires everyone to get a library membership, check out a couple of book and attempt to get your grey matter churning. On the other hand, when you have a baseball academic like the Defensive Specialist doing all the heavy lifting, who needs to think? So sit back, soak up what the Defensive Specialist is breaking down and get smarter by osmosis – its that simple.

There are always a few doubters out there, people who for whatever reason and despite all evidence refuse to believe. As a means to prove the Defensive Specialists brain power perhaps now is an opportune time to discuss the series predictions the Defensive Specialist threw out before the first round of fixtures: 

• Perth Heat Vs. Brisbane Bandits- you’re old pal predicted a 3-1 series win to the Heat. And the actual result? Yep you guessed it, 3-1 to the Heat. TICK. The Heat went to Brisvegas, dropped game 1 then reeled off 3 consecutive wins to take the series.
• Melbourne Aces Vs. Adelaide Bite – continuing the Midas touch, the Defensive Specialist called a 3-1 series win to the Bite. TICK……. Oh wait, the Defensive Specialist capitulated and hedged his bets by calling a 2-2 series result. Mental Midget. Didn't matter, the Bite swept the series.
• Canberra Multiculturalists Vs. Sydney Blue Sox – ok, this whole exercise is doing the Defensive Specialist no favours by this stage. The prediction was a 3-1 series victory to the Blue Sox and it almost looked like it may happen in the last game as the Multiculturalists came out firing. Unfortunately for the Defensive Specialist’s credibility, the Blue Sox had too much firepower and too much pitching which resulted in a win and a series sweep. 

So that didn’t help, but as Theodore de Bouville said “Those who do nothing are never wrong”. With that in mind, lets do something, lets delve deeper into the Defensive Specialist’s game notes and come up with a couple of key insights in a post we here at Deep in the Hole like to call “What has the Defensive Specialist Learnt?”

1. Having an Ace is important. Yeah, the Defensive Specialist knows this was a key learning from last week, but as Chris Oxspring demonstrated again, having a big arm that can chew up a chunk of innings not only gives your ball club a chance to win each time out but also spares the bullpen, which is critical over a 4 game series. You need only look at recent World Series victors the San Francisco Giants, who rode their 3 guns to a championship with rag tag offensive support, to understand how important good starting pitching is. Oxspring was a little rocky early on, giving up a big fly to Nick Kimpton but once he settled he was lights out and in command through 8 innings. He maintained his velocity and even flirted with 92 mph twice during the game.

As an additional highlight for readers, the Defensive Specialist stumbled across this pretty cool video detailing the Multiculturalists opening game. However it gets even better at the 7.51 minute mark when Multiculturalist manager Steve Schrenk says to an unidentified player (who very much resembles Nick Kimpton):

“That Oxspring is probably the best pitcher in the league.”

To which Kimpton replies:

“You know what, he’s not that good.”

Ahh Nick, you may have taken him yard, but he’s just shoved the bat up your team’s rectum on two occasions now. It’s safe to assume that Oxspring may have that little sound bite stored in his memory bank for future reference.

2. The Multiculturalists need to get their staff in order. Look it’s early in the season and you’d expect teams to be a little rough and tumble early on, but as the Canberra team demonstrated, if you don’t get solid starting pitching early on a series can unravel mightily quickly. Steve Kent has the potential to be an ace, but if he can’t go more than two innings per outing he is leaving the bullpen exposed over the course of a contest. As the Defensive Specialist mentioned in an earlier post, perhaps his best use would be out of the pen to lock down any leads the Multiculturalists may have.

3. A position battle may be brewing in the Blue Sox camp. A reader launched a vociferous campaign in support of Alex Johnson who made his ABL debut in game 3 of the series and hit a big 3 run bomb in game 4. The basis of the argument was that he provides more with the bat that Pat ‘Stone Hands’ Maat which definitely was the case in this series just gone. Stone Hand’s bat looked slow and sluggish and he really laboured to catch up to mid 80’s fastballs. Johnson on the other hand looked dialed in during his AB’s with consistently hard contact. Adding to his case, he looked serviceable at first base. In Stone Hand’s defence (and that term is used very loosely when discussing Stone Hands), he has a proven track record at this level and surprised the Defensive Specialist with his outing behind the plate, displaying good receiving skills and a strong arm.

So what’s a manager to do? Well skipper Glenn Williams really has 4 of the same sort of player – that is, big corn-fed mules. Andy Graham, Stone Hands, Johnson and the Bossman are all solid units who look to pull fastballs and contribute limited amounts on defence (Graham contributes a bit more behind the plate admittedly). At the moment Johnson and the Bossman are the ones bringing it offensively (although it looks like Moanaroa will hit sporadically against lefties) so you’d have to say both have earned longer looks. Perhaps you platoon Stone Hands and the Bossman and let Johnson play out his hot hand. It’s not the worst scenario for a manager to have – 4 guys competing for 3 spots (C, 1B, DH).

4. If the Korean imports don’t start to hit, the Multiculturalists may need to send an envoy to the local embassy to keep the peace because there could be some foreign relation disasters after they get sent packing. Moon, Lee and Jang all had a woeful series with Moon registering 2 hits, Lee 1 and Jang taking the schnide. All 3 guys bail out on almost every swing meaning that from time to time they may run into something and hit it hard but for the most part they’re out in front rolling over the ball or missing it altogether. Lee and Moon seem to run ok, but its not like they’re even putting the ball in play consistently. If the Multiculturalists want to get anywhere, they need their Korean connection to figure it out and start hitting.

5. The catcher pop up may be dying art. The Defensive Specialist woke up on Sunday morning with a crick in his neck as a result of cringing too hard when both coaches butchered every attempt at the dime piece. It’s like everything in life really – practice makes perfect. Get a crate of balls, stand at home plate and don’t leave until your hands are bleeding and you’re consistently drilling balls 200 feet in the air and bouncing them on home plate. The Defensive Specialist is looking to clear his schedule in order to conduct a one on one workshop on the art of the pop up. Details and pricing to come.

6. Although their pitching has a lot of question marks, the Multiculturalists have the makings of a decent offensive ballclub. The addition of Michael Collins was always going to be big and he demonstrated his worth immediately going a lazy 6 for 11. Kimpton is a tough hitter and as the video demonstrates a confident one who’ll provide solid output in the middle of the order. If Didi Gregorious manages to put the ball in play and get on base he’ll do some damage with his speed. Until Moon figures out how to hit, the Defensive Specialist would be tempted to plug Andrew Schmidt into the 2 hole as he seems to be a scrapper who’ll find a way to get on. Donald Lutz has some pop, and Tom Vincent proved he can knock it around. And don’t forget D Wash is hidden on their roster, just waiting for an opportunity!

7. The Defensive Specialist wasn’t in attendance and usually doesn’t include 3^rd party information in “What has the Defensive Specialist Learnt”, but after seeing the result of the Adelaide Melbourne series, you’d have to say that either the Bite are the second coming of the Bronx Bombers or the Aces are a little underdone on the mound. The Bite put a legitimate beat down on the Aces and while the Defensive Specialist would like to think that we may have an offensive juggernaut on our hands this season, word from those in attendance suggests that the Aces just couldn’t compete on the mound. It will be interesting to see what the Aces can do to right the ship because no one would have predicted that last year’s champ would have been beaten like a rented mule in the first series of the season.

The Defensive Specialist will not be in attendance at any series next weekend due to Deep in the Hole budgetary constraints so if there are any philanthropists out there who enjoy reading unbelievably comprehensive baseball reviews, the Defensive Specialist is more than happy to accept your donation and make the trip. But do not fret, even if no sugar daddy steps forward with access to their private jet, the Defensive Specialist will still conjure some magic and provide your weekly baseball fix! 

Here we go again!

Imagine this conversation taking place sometime in 2007/ 2008 in the 78^th floor New York offices of Major League Baseball:

MLB Executive 1: “Geez, Bud’s all over our asses to come up with something interesting to promote and grow the game.

MLB Executive 2: “Relax, I’ve got this. Let’s start up a professional baseball league in Australia.”

MLB Executive 1: “Throw another shrimp on the barbie.”

MLB Executive 2: “Seriously, a league where we can send our prospects and develop more Aussie talent.”

MLB Executive 1: “Do they even have baseball down there?”

MLB Executive 2: “Dumb ass – Nilsson, Lloyd, Moylan, Balfour”

MLB Executive 1: “What about the weather?”

MLB Executive 2: “That’s the best bit, our winter is their summer. The weather is perfect!”

MLB Executive 1: “Surely Bud’ll fly us down there business class! Lets do it!”

Now cut back to Saturday November 6^th 2010

Game time weather report – 16 degrees Celsius, overcast and drizzling.

Sydney Blue Sox Vs. Canberra Multiculturalists

Despite the wet and blustery conditions, the Defensive Specialist was joined by 1999 other baseball fans for the inaugural game of the new ABL. The Defensive Specialist isn’t going to lie to you, it was pretty damn exciting to be there!

Initial thoughts?

·      The Blacktown Baseball Facility playing surface was a little rough. It looked like a dressage competition had been held on it a week prior. You know things aren’t in the best order when the grounds crew are using green paint to cover the ugly spots.

·      Maybe it was just for the season opener, but it looked like the Sydney promotional team was really laying on the fan experience. There was a bunch of stuff for the young fans to do and the game presentation was a hell of a lot more organised and professional (more on this to come) befitting a professional league. 

The first taste of baseball came when the teams took infield outfield. Loyal readers know how excited the Defensive Specialist gets over the coaches pop-up to the catcher and this would be the first chance to eyeball what the respective coaches were bringing to the table in 2010. The Multiculturalists took the field first and looked relatively slick with the only notable point of interest being the shiny red glove the Korean third baseman decided to break out. Coach Brett Phelan was handling the fungo for the Multiculturalists and when it came time to do the pop-up he looked agitated. It was obvious that he knew the Defensive Specialist was on hand and for his first time, he wanted to make an impression. The first attempt was woeful which would have rattled the cage of many. Instead Phelan steadied himself, took a deep breath and let rip. The second effort had solid height although it drifted down the third base line where the catcher took it.

The Sydney team stormed on to the field with the baseball loving Black Eyed Peas pumping on the sound system. Jason Pospishil was in charge for the Blue Sox (Graham Cassel was sporting a bandage on his hand as a result of a fungo accident earlier in the week which ruled him out) and handled the bat relatively well. Once again, he too seemed to notice the intense scrutiny that the Defensive Specialist placed upon him because his sphincter tightened when it came to the pop up and as a result he sailed both attempts out of play.

The Multiculturalists grab an early win!

With the new league kicking off the Defensive Specialist was expecting some pomp and ceremony. You’ll remember last year the Defensive Specialist was a little critical of the pregame and in game entertainment that came with the Claxton Shield. Bad choices of music, silly games between innings and ear splitting sound. How would a professional league address these issues? We were about to find out.

A well-clad gentleman confidently strode out onto the field with his run sheet and a wireless microphone. Then he went to speak……..and nothing. Microphone issues. The sound team scrambled and when he eventually went live after a few seconds he was LOUD and clear at approximately 500 decibels. Before the Defensive Specialist’s cochlear erupted, the mic cut out again. Then it came back on. Then it went off. The slick in game announcer (who was very good) scrambled and covered by telling the crowd to look out over the left field fence for a special guest.

The Defensive Specialist’s eagle eye spotted a light off in the distance. Was it a helicopter? The sound track to the Natural was playing and the Defensive Specialist must admit that he got goose bumps.  The fans waited and waited and waited. The announcer scrambled again realising that the helicopter was a little too far away and introduced the mascots. Eventually a different helicopter appeared from the sky and landed behind second base. The Defensive Specialist sat forward in his seat, expecting Grant Balfour or Peter Moylan to jump out, stride to the mound and pump a ceremonial first pitch fastball on the black at 90mph. Alas that wasn’t to be, but they did find a kid who was born on the day of the last game of the first ABL (13/1/99) who fired a strike. Interestingly, the helicopter in the distance was actually a police helicopter that had been dispatched to investigate the mysterious yellow chopper hovering over the baseball stadium and in close proximity to the Richmond airfield. How close did fans come to witnessing an 11-year-old baseball fan getting blown out of the sky by the authorities who’d perceived a threat on national security? We’ll never know!

Some Australian Idol contestant belted out a disjointed national anthem and the fireworks gave off more second hand smoke than a natural medicine convention in Nimbin. Sure there were speed bumps but all in all it was a pretty solid first up effort by the Blue Sox promotions team and surely will get slicker.

You don’t necessarily come to Deep in the Hole to hear about fungos and firework so lets get into the game activity.

33-year-old right hander Chris Oxpsring got the opening day start for the Blue Sox and was set to face Multiculturalists shortstop Didi Gregorious who is an early contender for name of the year. The sound guy blasted Justin Bieber as he walked to the plate in a deliberate attempt to emasculate him. Oxspring established the tone immediately, pumping a first pitch fastball for strike one. Didi flew out meekly to centrefield and the season was off and running.

Lefty Steve Kent took the ball for the Multiculturalists and made short work of Blue Sox lead off hitter Trent D’Antonio. As soon as the out was made, the stadium lights were cut off and the field descended into darkness. As fans began to worry about their safety, green lasers pierced the night air, dry ice drifted in from the bullpens and 9000 beats per minute came over the loud speakers. Yes that’s right, it was Techno Tim Auty. The crowd leapt to their feet and waved their glow sticks, which clearly inspired Techno Tim as he laced a line drive over second base for the first hit of the 2010 season. Mitch Dening then erased Techno’s good work by grounding into a double play 4-6-3.

Some players just love the big stage and our boy Techno Tim is one of those guys. The second inning saw S.Y Lee slice a fading line drive to left field that Techno Tim got horizontal on and snared just in fair territory. The catch had the crowd doing ‘big fish, little fish, cardboard box’ in unison and was enough to earn him Defensive Specialist “Play of the Game” honours.

Oxspring and Kent both rolled through the second with the only speed bump for Kent being a base on balls to Boss Moanaroa (also a contender for name of the year). As predicted, Kent was on a short leash and was gone by the third inning, replaced by Michael Lennox.

The Multiculturalists mounted an attack on Oxspring in the 4^th with K. H Moon singling to right. Nick Kimpton then hit a 97 hopper through the infield to right, Moon got on his horse and rounded second as right fielder David Kandilas charged the ball and unleashed an absolute rocket to third base on a line to shoot the Moon down. Rally dead.

The 6^th inning saw Boss Moanaroa absolutely butcher an infield pop up that had the Defensive Specialist pining for Pat ‘Stone Hands” Maat  (who was DH’ing). Fortunately it didn’t lead to any damage. The Blue Sox got some offense going in the bottom of the 6^th against Korean import J.M Lee. Kandilas walked, D’Antonio singled crisply to left. Techno Tim dropped down a perfect sac bunt 5-3. Dening was intentionally put on base as Multiculturalist skipper Steve Shrenk went to the mound to talk to his Korean pitcher and catcher. That would have been an interesting conversation because nowhere on Shrenk’s resume does it state that he speaks Korean. Perhaps they used the international language of love? Whatever they said, it worked as Lee punched out Stone Hands and then got a feeble come backer from Andrew Graham to extinguish the threat.

Oxspring was relieved in the 7^th by lefty David Welch. Pretty impressive outing by Oxspring, 6 innings, 3 hits, 1 BB, 8 strike outs. With a total lack of offense the Defensive Specialist was steeling himself for a long night featuring extra innings. The Blue Sox had different ideas. With two out in the bottom of the 8^th, Techno Tim Auty realising that the dance clubs would be opening in about 5 hours dropped a single into left field. The Defensive Specialist cannot be sure, but Techno Tim may have been distracted by the first base coach whispering in his ear about a hot new club, because he was all over the shop when Dening took the count to 3-2.  Techno took off running like he believed it was a full count and was only safe because of a bad throw by the catcher. Dening then dumped a soft single into centre as Auty crumped into home plate for the first run of the season. Dening stole second and then Stone Hands laced a ball into centre that Kimpton made an excellent catch on to end the inning.

The Blue Sox sent Matt Williams out to start the 9^th inning and he nailed down the first two outs. With the dangerous Kimpton due up next, manager Glenn Williams called upon geriatric Korean Dae Song Koo to close it out. The 41 year old lefty is going to be murder on left handed hitters this year and showcased this by striking out Kimpton for the save and the Blue Sox first win of the campaign.

Sydney 1- Canberra 0

If game 1 is anything to go by, we’re going to see some decent arms rolled out to the mound each and every week and the offense may struggle somewhat. Granted its early in the season and pitching tends to be ahead of hitting but the Defensive Specialist suspects that the upgrade in pitching is going to mean some low scoring affairs.

As much as the Defensive Specialist wants to hand the Deep in the Hole player of the game trophy to Techno Tim Auty for his 2 hit, game winning run and stellar catch performance, you really cant go past Chris Oxspring who was dominant in his first outing and set the tone for the Blue Sox season. All in all it was a great opening to the ABL season both on and off the field and the Defensive Specialist is proud to say he was there.

Having almost cracked the 2000 word mark, the Defensive Specialist needs to sign off. Do not fret though; Deep in the Hole will be alive later this week

with a “What has the Defensive Specialist learned” and other assorted baseball related thoughts.

Time to lay them on the line.

Well by the time most humanoids read this, we’ll be one day away from the opening game of the inaugural “new ABL”. Being a stickler for detail, the Defensive Specialist has his equipment bag packed and his uniform on in preparation for game day. Many have asked what goes into making the Defensive Specialist’s comprehensive reviews and up until recently this has always been something that your old pal has kept close to his chest for fear of imitation. With age comes a sense of comfort in one’s own ability so for the first time ever, the Defensive Specialist is prepared to announce what goes into his game day equipment bag:

·       1 radar gun with a back up battery

·       2 stop watches

·       1 pitch counter

·       A comprehensive range of offensive and defensive charts

·       12 fish oil tablets (to keep the joints loose)

·       UVF 100+

·       Eye black

·       Wide brimmed hat

·       Vaseline (to avoid chaffing)

·       15 pens

·       Glove lacing tool

·       Lap top

·       Back up laptop

·       4 litres of H2O

As you can see, the Defensive Specialist is nothing short of prepared, but all the preparation in the world cannot make up for a keen eye and a sound understanding of the game. It’s with this innate sense of the game that the Defensive Specialist is pleased to bring you the opening game preview!

Before the Defensive Specialist launches into it, a quick update has to be made to yesterday’s uniform review. Word reached the Defensive Specialist today that the Heat will only be wearing a white uniform this season and that the players actually decided that they would be wearing black undershirts rather than red. Great news on the black sleeves, but a massive disappointment on the white uniforms. The rating had to be dropped to a 7/10 for that error in fashion judgement.

Ok on to the preview.

Well actually it’s not going to be that simple since the Defensive Specialist wasn’t able to get a line up for the Canberra Multiculturalists, and the Blue Sox 22 man roster wasn’t posted anywhere it could be easily accessed. Not to worry, lets cover what we do know.

Sydney Blue Sox

P- Chris Oxspring

C – Ben Graham

1b – Patrick “Stone Hands” Maat

2b- Mark Holland

3b- ?

SS- Michael Lysaught

LF- ?

CF- Mitch Dening

RF- David Kandilas

DH- ?

The Defensive Specialist chatted briefly with Glenn Williams today who indicated that AAA import Scott Campbell has had his season kyboshed by the Toronto Blue Jays who’d prefer to mothball him until spring training as he rehabs a hip injury sustained during the season. That obviously creates a hole at third base that may be filled by Trent D’Antonio. DH and leftfield are also question marks at this stage and at the time of press the Defensive Specialist really had no idea who’d fill the holes. If baseball fans are lucky, Williams will do the right thing and insert Deep in the Hole favourite ‘Techno’ Tim Auty and his day glow batting gloves in to the line up. Nothing will announce the opening of the ABL like Techno Tim’s 6000 beats per minute walk-up music that will have the sell out crowd pushing up lasers in unison.

Offensively the team is very similar to last year’s squad. Lysaught will likely lead off with a middle order of D’Antonio, Dening, Stone Hands Maat, Graham and Kandilas. The pitching staff appears to be the real strong point with a number of pro players making themselves available in 2010. Oxspring is an unknown quantity after a year off but the old pro should gobble up innings and allow the bullpen to go to work.

Canberra Multiculturalists

As mentioned, the Defensive Specialist wasn’t able to use his considerable charm and get a starting line up but was relieved when he saw that the 22 man roster had been posted on the website. Eagerly clicking on the link, the Defensive Specialist was pumped to see 9 Australians! Seriously without a line up, this

will be a total crap shoot:

P- Steve Kent

C - ?

1b -?

2b- ?

3b- ?

SS- ?

LF- Tom Vincent

CF- Nick Kimpton

RF- ?

DH-?

You’d have to assume that the Korean players will get every opportunity to play, which is exciting because its been a long time since the Defensive Specialist has seen high leg kicks (an Asian baseball hitting specialty). You’d expect Kimpton to lead off, but with Collins missing his bat may be needed in the 3 hole. Andrew Schmidt is an interesting story (ignore the fact that he isn’t wearing a belt in the photo) and everyone’s favourite David Washington (D Wash) is on the team as an infielder so perhaps we’ll see him at second base and tearing up the base paths.

ACT native Steve Kent gets the ball for his hometown team and should keep the Multiculturalists in the contest early, but he’ll likely be on a short leash inning wise. Once it gets to the bullpen its anyone’s guess really as the Defensive Specialist doesn’t see a whole lot of names that jump out at him.

As for a bold prediction? Well the Blue Sox are most definitely not the best collection of Australian talent to ever take the diamond as Mark Peters suggested, but they are a solid team and the Defensive Specialist expects them to put the Multiculturalists to the sword to kick off the season. Despite not knowing the vast majority of the Canberra roster, the Defensive Specialist is eager to see how their eclectic mix of talents and culture mesh.

The Defensive Specialist needs to hit the sack and get at least 18 hours sleep to ensure that he is fresh and mentally alert for his 9am arrival at the Blacktown Baseball facility on game day and the likelihood that he’ll be called upon to throw out the first pitch of the season!