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!

Laser Show

As you could probably tell from the absolute lack of activity here at Deep in the Hole, the Defensive Specialist has been suffering from a serious motivational issue. When you’ve been at the top of your game for a countless number of years, it’s tough to keep finding challenges to spur you on. If anything was going to get your old pal back behind the keyboard, it was a visit to Sydney by the league champs – the Perth Heat.

The Defensive Specialist has been hearing the hype regarding the offensive juggernaut brewing over in the West so this was a chance to get a look first hand, especially since they’d be squaring off against the usually pitching rich Sydney Blue Sox. The Defensive Specialist definitely got to see the Perth boys roll the pole as they exploded in game 1 of the Saturday double header for 24 hits, and then backed it up in the Sunday session with another lazy 20 knocks. Instead of a comprehensive review, the Defensive Specialist is going to keep it fresh and real with a number of key insights: 

Key Insight 1

There wasn’t a great deal happening during the offseason regarding the ABL – well unless you count fraudulent player movements as interesting, but one thing that caught the Defensive Specialist’s attention was the news that the Heat had snagged last year’s MVP Jamie McOwen. Either McOwen was a clubhouse cancer with a body odour problem or the Heat paid a king’s ransom to get him – how else could you explain the Bite allowing him to move? Turns out McOwen is a good dude who paid his own way down under just so he could keep playing during his off season. It’s a good thing table setting lead off hitters grow on trees……. The Defensive Specialist was left scratching his head as to what the Adelaide brains trust was thinking especially as McOwen scored 8 runs in 4 games. Rumour has it they had no spots available with a new set of imports being sent down, so McOwen was forced to shop himself around and foot the bill.

Have MVP award will travel

Key Insight 2

After handing out a pasting last year regarding some of the uniforms, it was great to see Major League Baseball take the Defensive Specialist’s sartorial advice and splurge on some new sets. The Blue Sox looked virginal in their all white home uni’s and the new red road jerseys the Heat were sporting looked pretty damn good!

The virginal Blue Sox

The Heat rocking the red

Key Insight 3

Regular readers will recall the Defensive Specialist lamenting the lack of offensive firepower from the Sydney line up last year. In a busy off season they went out and added…..1 bat. Granted, Mitch Dening has not returned to active duty but his bat alone is not going to dig the Blue Sox out of the offensive quagmire they currently reside in. There was not a single Blue Sox player who could have cracked the Heat line up over the course of the weekend. There – the Defensive Specialist said it!

While the Defensive Specialist is all for allowing the Aussies to play, surely Sydney could find a big league club prepared to send down at least a few prospects to beef up their line-up? With every club adding international talent, it’s baffling to see Sydney stick with locals who don’t necessarily match up to the level of talent on offer from other teams.

Key Insight 4

Speaking of the Heat line up, it’s stacked. The team bangs 1 through 9 especially with the addition of Brenden Webb who arrived just in time to play in game 1 of the series. In fact Webb was lucky to play at all since no one was at the airport to pick him up from the US. A charming smile enabled him access to a hire care computer terminal where he used the internet to locate the ABL phone number and managed to make contact with someone who then arranged a pick up - after a 3 hour wait.

To make matters worse for opposing ball clubs, Luke Hughes is still to play meaning that the Heat are able to add a major weapon to an already potent line up. It will be interesting to see how manager Brooke Knight manages his men with so many bats at his disposal.

Key Insight 5

The Blue Sox have made some reasonably major changes to their field with the addition of primo seating directly behind home plate and down the foul lines. The new seats are a really nice addition that allows fans to get much closer to the action and the Blue Sox to expand their fan base with additional vantage points. Of course if the Sox continue to get swept on their home turf, they may need to take them out quick smart because there will be a lot of spare seats.

Key Insight 6

With last year’s no-hitting ace David Welch no longer on the roster and stalwart Chris Oxspring working out of the pen, the Sydney rotation is currently thinner than rice paper. The Heat essentially took batting practice in games 2 and 4, lacing balls all over the yard and taking advantage of a series of arms lacking velocity and control (not a good combination). A rotation headed by Oxspring and Wayne Lundgren will allow the Blue Sox to be competitive but they need another big arm if they hope to get through the season in any sort of winning form.

Key Insight 7

The Heat are trying something unique with their imports this season. As the Defensive Specialist discussed last year, having pro arms can be more troubling than it is useful with pitchers on strict inning counts and often not available come playoffs. The Heat have obviously read the Deep in the Hole SWOT analysis and this year invested their import allotment towards the offensive side of the game. With 5 bats in the line up they are set to score a plethora of runs. The approach to pitching is right out of the Defensive Specialist playbook – find a bunch of solid non pro arms and ride them to the play offs. The Heat managed to bring back Trevor Caughey and Matt Zachary to play for them and then work their relationships with local clubs to borrow the likes of Jacob Clem and Geoff Brown. When you add these pitchers to local arms like Daniel Schmidt and Warwick Saupold you have a bunch of solid inning eaters that are available all year and who keep their team in the contest.

All in all it was an interesting series to attend, mainly to see the stacked Heat line-up go to work. The old adage goes “good pitching beats good hitting” but the Defensive Specialist is prepared to suggest that there may not be enough pitching in this league to stop the Heat bats in a 3 game finals series.

The Rumour Mill

The hustle and bustle of living a double life is absolutely impacting the Defensive Specialist’s ability to provide content – who’d have thought being a highly successfully business man would take up so much time? Anyway, a couple of interesting rumours have come to the Defensive Specialist’s attention that may make for interesting discussion.

• Despite a long relationship with the Baltimore Orioles, it appears that the talent pipeline has been severed and the Perth Heat will be looking for a new source of imports. This will be a disappointment to the fan base who have enjoyed watching high level talent come through Perth via the Oriole organization. The team suffers as they relied heavily on the output generated by Widlansky, Curry and Welty. Many will speculate that Don Kyle’s move back to the corporate sector was the trigger for the relationship breakdown but the Defensive Specialist was informed ‘off the record’ that the ABL requested more funding from the Orioles (likely to assist with housing and supporting the players) and the Orioles decided to spend their money elsewhere. Whatever the reason it’s a huge blow to the reigning champions who’ll either have to find another source of professional talent or rely on an array of former pro’s to fill the gaps.
• Word on the street is that the Sydney Blue Sox will be appointing a new manager for the upcoming season. The Defensive Specialist is  unsure as to why Glenn Williams is not continuing but the replacement manager is likely to be Kevin Boles who’s currently managing the Portland Sea Dogs – the Double A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. The upside to such a move for the Blue Sox and their fans is greater access to Red Sox affiliated professionals who may aid in boosting last seasons anemic offense.

The Defensive Specialist should reiterate that these nuggets come from a series of networks that have no true link to either franchise so make sure you have ample water available to assist with the ingestion of the grain of salt.

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.

NO!

Under normal circumstances the Defensive Specialist would bang out this post on Saturday morning. Tonight wasn’t a normal circumstance.  How often do you get to witness a no hitter? More importantly, how often do you get to witness a no hitter during a playoff game (don’t answer that Phillie fans)?

Sitting at Blacktown Olympic Park it truly felt like the Defensive Specialist was inside a barbeque with all 4 burners on high heat. Seriously, it was ridiculously hot with stifling humidity to boot. Perhaps it was the weather but the crowd for a playoff game was once again disappointing with numerous empty seats along the third base line section of the stands. The conditions seemed to be taking a toll on the home side as well. They contributed one of the sloppiest pre games the Defensive Specialist had seen in a long time, which didn’t bode well.

Your old pal was left scratching his head at the wholesale changes that Manager Glenn Williams had made to his Blue Sox line-up. Gone was the uber hot January bat of Trent Schmutter, replaced with Moko Moanaroa. Gone was Mark Holland, replaced at second by Trent D’Antonio. Josh Dean was added to the line-up at third and rightfielder David Kandilas was promoted to the two-hole.  Drastic alterations like these are often deemed panic moves and not what you’d expect from a league leading team in a playoff series.

Fortunately the one constant all season for the Sydney team has been starting pitching and no one has been steadier than David Welch. The lefty had an outstanding season and was expected to shoulder the load for a Blue Sox team that just couldn’t find a way to manufacture any runs.

Mark Brackman was given the starting assignment for the Bite and things did not get off to the start he or his manager were hoping for. D’Antonio led off with a crisp single to centre which was followed by a Kandilas walk. Mitch Dening then took 35 seconds to stroll to the plate but wasted no time in punching a 2 run double down the left field line. Alex Johnson punched out and clearly demonstrated that he and sliders can never be in a serious relationship. Brendan Kingman and his bandaged together body dumped a fist shot into right to put runners on first and third for Dean who grounded out to short to score Dening.

3-0 Blue Sox.

The second inning provided no respite for Brackman as Michael Lysaught singled to right with one out and D’Antonio mashed a homerun to straight away rightfield. Kandilas grounded out and Dening picked up his second knock before Johnson made the final out of the inning

5-0 Blue Sox.

Brackman went out for the third and after a Kingman groundout he surrendered a singled to Dean and a walk to Moanaroa before he was lifted for Dushan Ruzic. Ruzic immediately gave up a scorched double to the right centre gap off the bat of Stone Hands Maat. Dean scored on the double while Moanaroa advanced to third. Lysaught grounded out with the infield in and D’Antonio picked up his third knock with a line drive to right that scored Moanaroa. Assuming that Maat would be waved home (he wasn’t) , D’Antonio continued to second. He would have been out easily if the Bite first baseman had cut the ball but by this stage the Bite’s wheels had well and truly fallen off.

7-0 Blue Sox.

Both pitchers settled into a groove and began working their way through the innings. The Defensive Specialists sent his first “Welch = dealing” text message during the 5^th inning and by the 6^th the Defensive Specialist had moved to the edge of his seat sensing that Welch was on the cusp of something special. The 7^th inning was interesting because there was  a noticeable drop in Welch’s velocity (the stadium radar gun made a welcomed return!) which obviously indicated that the veteran was tiring (not surprising considering that he may have sweated 15-20 litres of body fluid).

The Blue Sox crowd started to dial in on the occasion by the 8^th when Welch forced Josh Cakebread into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.

The atmosphere in the park took on a whole new turn in the 9^th with Welch on the verge of a no no and the heart of the Adelaide line up at the plate. Jeremy Cresswell struck out to get things going. Stefan Welch then popped out to second. With Jamie McOwen striding to the dish, the crowd was on its feet. Welch managed to get McOwne flailing which resulted in a high chopper back to the mound. The pitcher leapt and snagged the ball as McOwen hustled down the line, desperate to break it up. Perhaps not realising he had more time or perhaps experiencing some severe sphincter tightness, Welch rushed himself and launched the ball down the line.

ERROR!

What should have been a routine final out to complete a no hitter all of a sudden became a farcical mistake that resulted in a runner on base and the big hitting righty Quincy Latimore at the dish. Welch was clearly running on empty as his fastball was now at 82 (he had it up to 88 earlier in the contest) and was almost solely reliant on his breaking ball. After falling behind 0-2, Welch pumped a slurve for a strike and then followed with another. With the count 2-2 he went to it again and Latimore pounced sending a towering fly ball to left that immediately sucked the sticky air out of the ballpark. Replacement leftfielder Trent Schmutter drifted back to the wall and the fans held their breath. And then all of a sudden the ball dropped from the sky into Schmutters glove on the warning track.

Game over – no hitter!

The Blue Sox mobbed their starter (who didn’t seem to know who to hug first - finally settling on his catcher Stone Hands) on the field, performing a very nice dog pile on the mound in celebration.

Obviously the Defensive Specialist Player of the Game goes to David Welch who not only tossed a complete game no hitter, but also racked up 10 strikeouts in a game that Sydney really had to have in order to get them off their recent schnide and put them in a commanding series position. All momentum sits in the Blue Sox dugout now as the mighty Adelaide line up must now find a way to get two wins on the road against Craig Anderson and Wayne Lundgren as well as a newly confident Sydney attack. Not an easy task by any stretch of the imagination!

Wait til I get my money right

Things have gotten so bad that playoff team members and supporters have been writing in to Deep in the Hole asking the Defensive Specialist to pick against them in the playoffs because if things hold true to form they’ll end up winning. For a certified “expert” at picking horseflesh, you have to know that this run of bad form truly troubles the Defensive Specialist. Your old pal has spent countless hours evaluating the process:

• Rock solid analysis: CHECK
• In-depth research: CHECK
• Numerous hours of study: CHECK
• A healthy dose of gut instinct: CHECK

Baseball is one of those sports that can totally derail a player if he can’t ride the storm and keep his emotions in order. As you can imagine the Defensive Specialist is unwavering in his self-belief but still turned to a mentor to get an assessment of the state of play:

Defensive Specialist: “I’m concerned that my analysis is off the mark”

Mentor: “It’s not”

Defensive Specialist: “But I’ve faltered on numerous occasions this season”

Mentor: “You’ve got to keep swinging the bat my young apprentice”

Defensive Specialist: “I could be in a slump”

Mentor: “Stop that. In the words of the great Kanye West – Wait til you get your money right”.

And with that, the Defensive Specialist felt a sense of calm. If the Defensive Specialist keeps doing the hard yards, the universe will correct itself and the Defensive Specialist will be an unstoppable force once again.

With Adelaide visiting Sydney this weekend, let the Defensive Specialist channel Kanye and tell you why each team can win and lose this contest.

Why Sydney will win:

Starting pitching. The Defensive Specialist feels like a broken record having spoken about the combination of Oxspring, Welch, Lundgren and Anderson ad infinitum this season but the fact is, no team can line up 4 front line guys like them. Of course the spanner in the works here is that Oxspring has been pushed into the bullpen in an effort to prepare himself for spring training. His departure dents things somewhat for the Blue Sox but the vast majority of teams would take a three headed monster featuring Welch, Lundgren and Anderson. Welch really is the key this series as he presents the best chance of a win for the Blue Sox. His season has been flat out dominant and he has shown that he can lock down even the best hitting teams. Manager Glenn Williams will be counting on Welch getting a win and eating innings so that he can throw the rest of his staff at the Bite in games 2 and potentially 3.

David Welch

Why Adelaide will win:

Because they’ve got an edge and they’re hungry. The Bite are riding a solid wave of momentum after pounding Melbourne at home in the minor semi final and winning 7 of their last 8 games. Momentum can be a powerful force, especially during the playoffs (and if anyone doubts that, take a look at the San Francisco Giants and Texas Rangers who both ended up in the World Series despite being severe underdogs entering the playoffs). Numerous readers have commented that the Bite just appear determined and edgy. It’s obvious that they can taste a championship and will do what it takes to achieve that goal (and yes, don’t be surprised if we see some physical fireworks) which means we will see some boys selling out physically to win ball games which makes for compelling viewing.

Why Adelaide will win:

The Bite bang the ball around the yard. With James McOwen in the 3 hole and Quincy Latimore in the clean up position the Adelaide team has some serious punch. Stefan Welch finally seems to have found some form with the bat and with Jeremy Cresswell leading off, the Bite have runners on board in front of their boppers. Brandon Bantz and Tom Brice have both been hot of late which means the Adelaide line up is dangerous 1-6 at the very least.

A frequently occurring event for the Bite offensively

Why Sydney will lose:

They just can’t hit. Ok, that’s a bit hard but why beat around the bush? Mitch Denning got it going against Perth (4-7), which is absolutely critical to the cause but the Blue Sox need Alex Johnson supplying some thunder and more importantly Trent D’Antonio and Trent Schmutter have to find a way to get on base in front of these two. After the top four it’s all question marks although Brendan Kingman has managed to run into a couple of balls for clutch homeruns. If Dening or Johnson can be shut down, the Defensive Specialist doesn’t see anyone else shouldering the burden.

Holy white man line beard!

Why Adelaide will lose:

Inconsistency in the starting pitching. Brandon Maurer really found his groove late in the year and despite not having his best stuff in his first play off appearance still managed to punch out 8 in 6 innings while giving up 3 runs. Mark Brackman will take the ball in game 1 and the big man will need to replicate his performance against Melbourne, especially when you consider that he’s going up against the miserly Welch. Knowing that his opponent wont give up many, Brackman will need to be dialled in and prepared to keep the Blue Sox to 2 runs or less. After those two, Manager Tony Harris has a quandary – does he use Paul Mildren (who’s been buried on the shelf for 2 weeks after a poor outing against Brisbane on January 20^th) or Dushan Ruzic (who could be a weapon out of the pen, especially against righties) should a game 3 start eventuate? The Bite pitching has been up and down this season and the worse case scenario for their skipper is a bumpy outing from a starter that forces the pen into action early in the series.

Why Sydney will win:

Home field advantage! Ok, so that was a cheap shot. Aside from being swept in the first round of the playoffs at home, the crowd support was less than optimal with large sections of the seating area empty for game 1 last week. Adelaide reportedly had 3000 people at their 2^nd playoff game while Sydney struggled to crack 1000. Without rapid home support, the Adelaide momentum will be allowed to run unchecked.

Why Adelaide will lose:

Good pitching beats good hitting. If the Blue Sox staff performs at its expected level they’re a tough group of arms to contest.  Remember a few weeks back when the Blue Sox shut down the Bite in 4 games (granted Latimore and McOwen were missing). If the Bite can’t manufacture runs early and grind it out they’ll face a tough challenge offensively because Williams can employ the lights out and rubber armed Dae Song Koo to close things out.

Why Sydney will win:

They’re the regular season league leaders who pulled Adelaide’s pants down in their last meeting. The Blue Sox finished in first place for a reason and may relish the fact that they enter this series as underdogs with the vast majority of baseball fans jumping on the Bite bandwagon for this preliminary final. The underwhelming expectations for the team may lift some of the pressure and allow them to play better baseball. Stranger things have happened!

So does the Defensive Specialist have his money right? Adelaide momentum + big bats Vs Sydney pitching + home field advantage. In the Defensive Specialist’s esteemed opinion, Adelaide wants it too much and will take the series convincingly, setting up a grand final contest between the Heat and the Bite.

(Sydney fans now rejoice and start wagering heavily on their team to win!)

Ace in the Hole

With a big couple of weeks on the cards, the Defensive Specialist thought he’d kick things off by dipping into the Deep in the Hole mailbag. The Defensive Specialist has already mentioned that pitching is often the key in playoff baseball and for an offensively challenged ballclub like the Blue Sox it’s going to be critical – especially as they square up against one of the scarier clubs in the competition, the big hitting Adelaide Bite. Today’s question centres on one of the Blue Sox real strengths, having an Ace (or Aces) leading the staff.

Defensive Specialist,

I’ve been reading your website for a while now and you’ve referred to guys like Welch and Oxpsring as aces on a number of occasions. As a father of a baseball mad son, I was interested to know what makes an ace and what my boy can do to build arm strength and develop other pitchers like sliders and curveballs.

Cheers

BT

BT,

Thanks for writing in. It’s timely that you raise the topic of aces, as those in Sydney will have the chance to see a couple this weekend. While the Defensive Specialist is generally a font of knowledge, it seemed appropriate to tap into your old pal’s extensive network to provide a more “pitcher centric” take on the above question. The Defensive Specialist dialled up the US Correspondent for his thoughts:

Solid question BT, let me break it into 2 parts:

1) What makes an ace?

Felix Hernandez

Cliff Lee

Personally I don't think an Ace pitcher can be "made". Traditionally a team’s Ace is the best guy on the staff, notice I didn't necessarily say the guy with the best "stuff". I honestly believe that being a true Ace is just as much a mental mindset as it is having a set of physical skills. As coaches we identify guys who we believe fit the mould of staff Ace and try to make them into that pitcher. But an Ace in my opinion truly separates himself with his leadership skills and his ability to be mentally tougher than his opponent and competition. With that being said an "Ace" does need to possess a certain set of skills that will separate him from the rest of the pack - whether that is unbelievable command like Cliff Lee, or flat out dominating stuff like a Felix Hernandez (or a combination of both like Roy Halladay!). On the flip side there are plenty of big leaguers who have potentially better stuff but can't reach the elite status of being relied on as staff Ace. AJ Burnett doesn't have many peers in terms of how hard he throws and the movement he gets on his offfspeed stuff, but what separates him from being a 10-15 pitcher on one of the best teams in baseball compared with becoming the dominant ace that everyone would expect? You’d have to say what’s between his ears.

The same concept translates over to the amateur ranks. We've all played with, coached, or watched a game where you can immediately recognize the guy you want to have the ball when a game must be won. Staff Ace's possess the aura that immediately lets their teammates and opponents know that they are confident in their skills and are going to give their team the best chance to win that day. Whether that mentality is something that is taught or something that individual is born with is the big question.

As a coach I think the important thing is being able to put individuals who you identify as potential "Aces" in competitive/challenging situations that will show how they separate themselves from the rest of the pack both from a mental and competitive standpoint. These challenges/competitions can be conducted in a baseball setting but it’s also good to see how these individuals attitude and competitive nature translates to a non-baseball situation (i.e. in the weight room, during conditioning and even in school and jobs). Everyone has heard about Roy Halladay’s work ethic and desire to keep getting better – that’s part of his makeup. As a coach I think it’s our responsibility to identify the “Aces” out there and put them in positions where they can demonstrate the qualities that we want in the role. Unfortunately, I don’t think you can just appoint a kid as an Ace and then teach them how to be one.

2) How do you build arm strength and refine secondary stuff (curveballs, sliders etc)?

I think these two topics are directly correlated with each other. Building arm strength is one of the biggest components to having a successful pitching staff. Arm strength obviously has many benefits with the two primary reasons being 1) it allows pitchers to throw harder and for a longer duration of time and 2) it helps prevent injury. With that in mind, refining secondary pitches is all about getting repetitions and practicing that skill. In order to do that, your arm needs to be in the type of shape that allows you to actually use it on a regular basis.

You get better at baseball by playing it as often as possible - big revelation there (that’s why the big leagues play 162 games). This can be a double-edged sword for pitchers, as pitchers can only tax their arm so much. Unlike hitters and fielders who can take hundreds of repetitions a day (ground balls/batting practice) and then come back out and do it again the next day, pitchers can realistically only get on the mound 2-3 times a week for an extended amount of time, especially when you’re in-season and you’re preparing to be at your best every 5-7 days.

This is where the role of building arm strength is the core of a pitchers preparation. I certainly believe playing long toss is the number one component to building arm strength and maximizing the abilities your body has (whether that’s 85mph or 95mph). Many people have throwing programs that spell out how far and how many times you should throw the ball per session, but bottom line is throwing the ball as hard and far as you can with proper mechanics will help build the muscles that you actually use in throwing a baseball. People argue the specifics of long toss (is it okay to put a rainbow on it or do I need to keep it on a line?) and I honestly can't say which one is better. What I do know is that throwing the ball to max capacity will help condition your arm to do that in a game setting. As a starting pitcher you are training to throw the ball at max capacity presumably 90-120 times per game.

Some people will argue that weight training builds more arm strength but throwing a baseball requires specific muscles that are very individual to that specific skill. I think weight training supplements a good throwing program but if weight training is the sole indicator to throwing hard and building arm strength then why isn't Major League Baseball littered with 300 pound lifting champions? I am a huge believer in doing shoulder exercise routines (tubes, light weights, etc.), building a strong core through different exercises and being as functionally strong as possible, but would encourage young pitchers looking to make a jump to play as much long toss as possible in their training.

As far as refining secondary pitches I think the more time you can spend doing them the better, which is why arm strength is directly correlated to the topic. Your arm needs to be in shape so you can use it, and not be on the shelf for 3 days after you throw. I believe getting on the mound as much as possible is a big contributor to enhancing your pitches whether that’s a change, slider, split, curve, etc. That doesn't necessarily mean you have to throw a full 60 feet every time - having the catcher in front of the plate is beneficial too, as it really makes you get out front with your release point. If getting on the mound is not an option then flat ground (pitching just on a flat surface, 50-60 ft apart) is another way to work on these pitches. One of the biggest factors in making your offspeed pitches effective is ensuring it looks like your fastball (from a release point, arm slot, arm speed perspective) so practicing throwing your off speed with that in mind will help blend all those components together. Hopefully the end result will be that your mechanics look identical with the only difference being your grip – that creates real deception for hitters who cant pick up early what’s on the way to the plate..

Pitching like any other skill is something you get more confidence in the more you do it. Malcolm Gladwell theorises in his book "Outliers" that you can’t master a skill until you perform it for 10,000 hours. So being in peak physical condition (arm strength and health) will at least give you the opportunity to master your craft.

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…….

Matte Finish

Upon arriving at the Blacktown Olympic Baseball facility the Defensive Specialist was faced with 2 immutable facts:

1) It was hotter and steamier than 2 rats making love in a wool sock

&

2) Sydney ace Chris Oxspring was not in the Blue Sox rotation.

The heat and humidity was obviously going to affect both ball clubs but the prime time Sydney pitcher not being available to take the ball at the start of the game could put a severe crimp in the Blue Sox’s title chances. Logic suggests that with his first spring training approaching in a couple of weeks, Oxspring was looking to shift down his work load so that he’ll be reasonably fresh and ready to impress when he gets to the US (and yes that sentence had unintentional rhyming awesomeness).

With a lacklustre crowd in attendance (the vast majority of third base line seating was empty), Sydney number 2 David Welch took the ball with the goal of shutting down the Heat and propelling his team directly into the grand final. Southpaw Daniel Schmidt got the nod from skipper Brooke Knight for the Heat who were looking to steal another series on the road and set themselves up for a grand final at their home yard. Both pitchers settled in after giving up early doubles in the first inning (Luke Hughes with a ground rule double to right centre and Mitch Dening a gap shot to left) and proceeded to make short work of the opposing hitters.

The Defensive Specialist has waxed lyrical about the firepower contained within the Heat line up and in the 4^th inning the bats got going. Allan De San Miguel drove a ball to the right centre gap that Dening appeared to have a bead on. Just as he closed on it, rightfielder David Kandilas ploughed into him causing the ball to rattle away and allowing De San Miguel to rumble into third. Kandilas was shaken up after the collision but remained in the game. Luke Hughes then hit a sac fly to right to plate De San Miguel, and Robbie Widlansky stroked a ball into left to keep the inning going. With Evan McArthur at the dish Widlansky broke for second as Welch picked over to first. Geriatric first baseman Brendan Kingman double pumped and threw to Michael Lysaught covering second. Widlansky appeared to block Lysaught’s view as the ball caromed off his larynx allowing Widlansky safe passage into second. Lysaught was briefly rattled but also remained in the game. McArthur then drove a ball into leftfield to push Widlansky in for the second run.

Schmidt had the ball on a string, surrendering only 1 hit through 6. After the rough 4^th Welch managed to quell the Heat bats. He was relieved by Oxspring in the top of the 7^th which struck the Defensive Specialist as an interesting move. On one hand manager Glenn Williams wants to keep the game close and which better guy to do so. On the other hand you’ve now burned your best pitcher for the remainder of the series in a losing contest.

The game wasn’t a losing contest for much longer as Dening scorched a 1 out double to right in the bottom of the 7^th. After an Alex Johnson ground out, Kingman limped to the plate like Kirk Gibson in the 1988 World Series. On the first pitch he made like Gibson by smashing a fastball for a game tying 2 run blast to leftfield.

Game tied 2-2.

With Dae-Song Koo rolling it over in the Sydney pen, Oxpsring trotted out for the 9^th inning after racking up 5 K’s in 2 innings of work. He started the 9^th by punching out McArthur but Ronnie Welty poked a ground ball through the infield to right to put a runner on for the Heat. Matthew Kennelly then got radical on an inside fastball and murdered it to leftfield for a 2 run blast that put the Heat up 4-2.

Heat closer Brendan Wise was summoned from the pen to shut things down in the 9^th. After a quick out he walked Dening but then induced a chopper to third that McArthur fed to Hughes who deftly turned it over to first with a hustling Dening on his hammer to end the game.

*The Defensive Specialist apologies for waffling less than he usually does but with game 2 fast approaching it seemed prudent to knock out the comprehensive review immediately after the game rather than trying to double up on Friday.

The Deep in the Hole player of the game could easily go to Daniel Schmidt who went 7 innings allowing only 2 runs on 3 hits while striking out 4 but for his 9^th inning long ball heroics Matthew Kennelly gets the nod – congratulations!

Things are suddenly a little dicey for the Blue Sox with both of their aces spent and a series deficit in place. They’ll turn to either Craig Anderson or Wayne Lundgren to try and turn things around in game 2. Once again attention has to be turned to the stagnant Blue Sox offense that managed only 4 hits (2 by Dening) and never seemed to threaten.

For the Heat things are on the up and up. With a severely depleted starting rotation they’ll sent beanpole Trevor Caughey to the mound. Fans will remember that he shut the Blue Sox down in his last start. The offense will take heart that they pulled a W against arguably the two best pitchers in the league and will be raring to finish the series off on Friday night so that they can sample all that the Penrith night life has to offer before heading back to Perth and preparing for the Grand Final series.