I really didn't want to use this preview as a forum for such a discussion as it is slightly unfair to the New South Wales team and players who are hardly responsible for the circumstance, although they must be delighting in their good fortune! However, what sparks this outburst is our understanding that there is NO INTENTION at Baseball Australia to do anything about restoring the glory of the competition. Yes folks, incredible as it may sound, we hear that the event will be staying at Blacktown for the foreseeable future. Like too many things in our beloved Australian baseball it seems that any attempt to host the event elsewhere has been stacked on top of the already overflowing "too hard basket". Might we remind anyone who is listening at Baseball Australia that sometimes things MUST be done, even if they take a little more effort!

And, before I step down from my soap box, there is also the small matter of the significant advantages the NSW team derives from hosting the event. It starts with the advantage of enticing their best players to compete, then they have the familiarity of the venue that they can also use as a pre-tournament training facility. On top of this there is the not to be underestimated advantage of playing the showcase nightcap games every day in front of a parochial home support. These are things that EVERY team is entitled to enjoy on a STRICTLY ROTATIONAL BASIS. It is a little unfair to the NSW team that these facts do erode the principles of the competition and it must place an "asterisk" next to their achievements during this sorry period in our baseball history... much like the Brisbane Lions with their salary cap advantage in the AFL!

Maybe more unfortunate for the NSW Patriots is the undeniable fact that they have a tremendous team right at the moment and they hardly need any extra advantage to achieve success. In truth, these players certainly deserve the chance to prove their dominance on foreign soil as a genuine indicator of their abilities... it's not to be! As we said at the time, the succession of home fixtures should not detract from their long-awaited Championship success last season and we are fully expecting them to repeat the dose this year. Let me make this absolutely clear, New South Wales would be favoured to win the event if it was played in Antarctica... this is simply not the point of the exercise!

Moving on, although perhaps partly related to the above issues, the New South Wales team will also be returning to Blacktown in 2005 to defend their title with fewer adjustments to their squad than rival states and, considering the strength of their original squad, this must be another significant advantage. The obvious standout among those who will not be there is recent Minnesota Twins major leaguer Brad Thomas who has moved on to the Boston Red Sox but he owns a lifetime 5-3, 4.76ERA AMLB record that does not particularly flatter his talents. Other teams would really miss any player of this undoubted quality but New South Wales should cover his absence without too much bother.

Also missing from their 2005 pitching staff will be recent young professionals in David Thorne, Scott McAdam and Justin Fletcher... we have no idea whether they made themselves unavailable or whether they were overlooked for selection... either way the Patriots will not be short of talented arms once again. Thorne, who played 'A' ball with the Montreal Expos organisation in 2004, owns a very good 1-1, 4.12ERA record from AMLB but they could only find him one relief appearance in 2004. McAdam, who was reached 'A' level with the Expos in 2003, has a 0-1, 9.39ERA record from five games in 2001 and 2004. Fletcher owns a 1-1, 1.69ERA record from three games for NSW in 2003 and 2004. McAdam and Fletcher were only drafted into the 2004 NSW Claxton Shield team after major leaguers Grant Balfour and John Stephens withdrew on the eve of the event.

On the offensive side, we also expect NSW to adequately do without the light hitting Jason Pospishil an Shane Summersford. Twins rookie league player Pospishil has batted .219 in 16 games since 2002 and he may have paid the price for striking out five times from his eleven at bats at Claxton 2004. Summersford has been used as a "spare parts player" by the Patriots in recent seasons and this would partly explain his .233 average from his ten appearances.

The highly rated Joshua Hill is the only non-rookie promoted into the squad for 2005. Hill is an interesting proposition having batted .364 in the 2001 IBLA (from only three games), yet he returns to the AMLB spotlight as a pitcher who has been plying his trade with the Minnesota Twins owning a combined 12-8, 3.32ERA record from Rookie and 'A' ball. Other young professionals to join the team are catcher Andrew Graham and outfielder Tim Auty. Graham batted .259 with two Detroit Tigers 'A' teams in 2004, while Auty has signed with the Seattle Mariners but has yet to make his pro debut.

We know precious little about Vaughan Harris and Ben Williams, but we are prepared to bet plenty that if they are good enough to force their way onto this 21-Man roster, then they must be pretty good players as both are in their early to mid twenties and they have had plenty of time to prove their capabilities. We would not expect these guys to let the Patriots down if they are fortunate enough to earn any serious playing time.

The Conclusion: 

Even ignoring the advantages mentioned, this is a New South Wales Patriots team that should intimidate most of the opposing teams at Claxton 2005. You need look no further than their representation from Australia's historic Silver Medal winning team at the 2004 Athens Olympic games.

Names like Craig Anderson, Gavin Fingleson, Brendan Kingman, Craig Lewis, Trent Oeltjen, Chris Oxspring, Ryan Rowland-Smith, Richard Thompson, Rodney Van Buizen and Glenn Williams would need no further introduction to any serious Australian baseball fan... it is almost a team in its own right! Add to them 'Flintoff & Dunn' Hall-of-Fame great Gary White and established young pitchers Matt Bennett and James Darby, along with emerging stars of the future in Mangioni and Krajancic... PHEW! Whoever beats this bunch will deserve to be the Australian Champions!

While other teams are liberally sprinkled with emerging young players who may feel the pressure of the big Claxton Shield stage, there should be no such problems for New South Wales as they will turn out a team of vast experience onto their most familiar Blacktown soil. Our prediction CHAMPIONS again... and on paper it should come even easier than last season! This Patriots' unit must rank with the finest group of talent ever assembled in a single Claxton Shield roster. 

It really is a pity that this team will not deserve the "asterisk" we have explained above!!!!

Apart from evaluating the quality of the squads, it is fair to say that the South Australian team have probably fared better in terms of who is out of their well performed squad from 2004 and the calibre of the players who have replaced them. Yes, they have lost a few young players who have performed with promise in the past couple of seasons, but then only one of the players replacing them is an AMLB rookie and some have credentials at least as good.

The obvious big name to depart the list this year is the GREAT Shayne Bennett. Shayne had one last pop at making the Australian team for the Athens Olympics with his appearance at Blacktown last season, then he retired as a player later in 2004. In a similar vein to our sentiments about David Nilsson, the fact that we will not see Shayne Bennett on the Australian baseball stage again is also worthy of reflection for any baseball loving Aussie. Bennett, the seventh Australian to reach the US major leagues, ranks among the very best ever Australian baseballers. He pitched in 83 major league games for the Montreal Expos, while in AMLB he made 86 appearances for a very fine 23-17, 3.44ERA record with 276 strikeouts versus just 67 walks. Maybe more importantly, Shayne Bennett was a tremendous ambassador for Australian baseball both in this country and overseas. If there has ever been a nicer fellow in the game of baseball then we would be delighted to meet him. Thank you for everything you have done for the game in Australia Shayne!

None of the other players absent from the squad from 2004 are what we would call "big names" but Tyrone Hambly, Ben Dixon and Troy Cook have been pretty handy players and we doubt that we have seen the last of them in AMLB. Junior star Hambly has batted .306 in his 11 Claxton Shield appearances over the past two carnivals. Dixon, although he struggled a bit in 2004, still owns a .296 average from his 12 appearances since his 2002 debut. Cook batted .286 from his 14 at bats during Claxton 2004. Although he had only six at bats in 2004, we could not be surprised that Josh Cakebread has been overlooked after failing to register a hit on that occasion.

Also missing are three young pitchers who are perhaps "expendable" after their performances in 2004, but much like those hitters we have mentioned, there is no reason to think that they won't be seen again at this level in the future. Daniel Redden was "roughed up" in 2004, but he still owns a 1-0, 2.31ERA career record from three games. Danny Page owns a 1-1, 2.44ERA record from his seven appearances since 2001. Tristan Stevens was also hit hard in 2004 and this is mainly responsible for his 1-1, 12.41ERA record from his four games in the past two tournaments.

Headlining the inclusions is one of the most dangerous hitters in modern AMLB history Craig Watts whose 62 home runs are 12th all-time among all AMLB players. He owns a lifetime .280 average from his 342 game career starting way back in 1992 with the ABL's Adelaide Giants. He has represented both SA and WA in recent seasons and he had a "year off" from the 'big league' in 2004. Also returning as another stalwart from the Giants days is "the other Tainty brother" Andrew who owns a .265 average from 78 AMLB appearances. These men bring both experience and quality to the SA lineup.

Another of the lesser known Adelaide brothers are also back this year after being on and off the SA rosters for the last few seasons in the form of Dale and Jay Ziersch. Dale, who has also pitched one game, has batted .308 from six career games, while Jay pitched three games in 1999 for his 0-0, 5.79ERA record. Both boys are older and wiser than in their earliest days on the AMLB stage and they could prove very handy additions.

It is hard to expect too much from Lachlan Burrows who batted only .135 in his 17 games, starting as a 19yo back in the 2000 IBLA but he is now 23yo and he may have much more to offer. Similarly Scott Gladstone who was not on the original rosters for the 2004 Claxton Shield but he batted .200 for the team at Blacktown. Leigh Chynoweth is SA's only rookie for 2005 and, although it is an uncommon name, we do know a Chynoweth family in Melbourne baseball... in any case we'd be lying if we said we knew anything about Leigh. Best of luck to him.

Leigh Norman is also an interesting addition to the pitching staff having been on Adelaide Giants' rosters in the past and having played in the Netherlands. He was hit hard with a blown save against WA at Claxton 2003 and this comprises the entirety of his 0-1, 27.00ERA record.

The Conclusion: 

Thankfully our WA readers don't seem quite as hostile about where we have ranked them this season... or perhaps they have stopped visiting our web site in protest? One thing is certain in that they hate to be ranked below Victoria or SA and we certainly respect their right to be parochial about their own team... this is what sport is all about!

Anyway, it doesn't (and wouldn't) influence our honest view that SA appears to have a slight edge on both the Victorians and the 'Sandgropers' for the 2005 Claxton Shield. With Fidge, Becker, Challinor, Burnside and Mildren among their fine pitching staff, they appear to have more experience and depth than all of the teams... excluding New South Wales.

Then, with Craig Watts joining their Olympic Silver medallist "bash brothers" Ben Wigmore and Tom Brice, they also have plenty of offensive arsenal to back up their pitching. The only concern for the South Australians, in our view, would be if the likes of Wigmore and Brice finally have an "off tournament" then they may be vulnerable offensively... but then I'd rather be waiting for Elle McPherson to return one of my phone calls than to be waiting for Ben Wigmore to struggle!

We're tipping SA to provide worthy opponent for NSW in the 2005 Claxton Shield Championship game... and you know the old saying that "you have to be in it to win it"!

Certainly we could justifiably be taken to task for elevating them into the semi-finals when we have already questioned Queensland for making eleven changes... Victoria have made TWELVE! The difference here folks is that Victoria finished the 2004 competition in an unprecedented and embarrassing LAST position, while the Rams made the Grand Final again! We would have expected nothing less than a shake-up in the Victorian camp after the misery of 2004 and with a new coaching and selection panel it was always going to be thus... more on them later!

Another thing that we must be honest about is the fact that, although the Aces clearly needed to shake-up their roster, this does not mean that they have not also been severely hit by the absence of players who would surely have retained their place in the team, this especially applies to recent professional pitchers Rikki Johnston, David McWatters and the younger Adam Blackley... not to mention our most recent major leaguer, his brother Travis Blackley.

Johnston (27 games, 4-1, 5.43ERA) and McWatters (16 games, 3-6, 5.05ERA) both started as teenagers with the ABL's Melbourne Reds in 1997 and their career numbers carry the burden of those early years, while they have both been tremendous pitchers in Claxton Shield competition more recently. We don't know why former 'AA' professional Rikki Johnston will not be at Blacktown, but we know that McWatters splits his time between Australia and the USA where he continues to be a pitching ace in an Independent League. The younger Blackley made progress as a 'A' pro with the Boston Red Sox in 2004 and he too would have been very handy in the bullpen.

Not quite so damaging as losses to Victoria's pitching corps are other young players with professional experience in Adam Bright (2 games, 0-0, 21.00ERA), Andrew Dewar (14 games, 0-4, 4.78ERA) or Paul Weichard (1-0, 27.00ERA). Bright continues to be a much better performer as an 'A' ball pitcher with the Colorado Rockies, while Dewar and Weichard are no longer with the Atlanta Braves organisation. Weichard, converted from a professional outfielder, will be given another opportunity at Claxton Shield level with the Australian Provincials in 2005.

The Aces also appear to have taken some damage on the offensive side, but we suspect that this is more "on paper" than in actuality? Possibly top of the list is Minnesota Twins 'A' league player Brett Tamburrino who was the 2002 Championship game MVP, but his .240 average from 29 games in AMLB is relatively disappointing. Former Melbourne Monarchs veteran Dean Marnell has batted .265 from his 203 career games, while former Melbourne Reds outfielder Hayden Chinn owns a lifetime .263 average from his 44 AMLB games. While these players have been solid and valuable battlers, perhaps others deserve the chance to see if they can do better at this level?

Former ABL import player Dereck Shumpert owns a .299 average from his 45 AMLB appearances, although his best form came too late to help the Vics last year after he struggled early in the tournament. On the contrary, young infielder Josh Davies looked a fine prospect with .263 for the Aces last season and he might be entitled to be disappointed that he has been "relegated" to a game with the Australian Provincial team this year... we suspect that he will be back.

With top catchers Justin Huber and Mathew Kent unavailable last season, little known Tristan McDonald and teenage rookie league professional Grant Karlsen were elevated to the team. With Kent returning, both have been overlooked this year. Unfortunate to be recently cut by the Phillies, Karlsen remains a tremendous catching prospect and it shouldn't be too long before he gets an extended opportunity at Claxton Shield level.

OK, now for our next "smoke and mirrors" trick... how could we possibly have any realistic confidence in a team that has included no less that NINE Claxton Shield ROOKIES in its squad... well, here is where our knowledge of these players comes to the fore and it needs to be noted that these are not all fresh faced juniors coming into the team! A few of these guys have been the unfortunate victims of some "questionable" selection policies down south in Victoria over recent seasons... we will not delve any further into these discussions as we dot have enough "web space" to discuss it in full detail. Suffice to say that a few of these new boys will savour the long-awaited opportunity to show their wares.

Of the non-rookies, Victoria will welcome the return of catcher Kent who missed last year with an injury from Independent League baseball, experienced pitcher Cameron Forbes and experienced utility infielder Peter Moylan. Kent started as a youngster with the Melbourne Reds in 1999 before hitting .348 as a more mature player for Victoria in 2003. Forbes is a veteran of 73 AMLB appearances on the mound and he is much more valuable than his 1-3, 7.60ERA record would suggest. Moylan, who was also injured last season, has both pitched and hit in AMLB competition with some aplomb.

Teenage pitchers Dean Barker, Kyle Edlich and Donavon Hendricks are each extremely promising fresh arms that are ready to take on the AMLB 'big league'... or so they hope? Hendricks has just completed a promising 2-0, 5.01ERA season as an Atlanta Braves' rookie leaguer, while Edlich has been signed by the Minnesota Twins and he will be trying his luck as a new professional soon after the his Blacktown debut. 

16yo Dean Malthouse is a speculative selection with an eye to the future, but he shapes as a standout prospect at such a tender age. And, if you think that the new Victorian selectors have the courage of their convictions, our whisper is that they were also seriously keen about another "child prodigy" in utility pitcher / infielder James (brother of Simon) Beresford, that is until they found out that he was still only 15yo and too young according to the rules of the competition!?

Waverley trio Adam Bonaddio, Hayden Dingle and Glen 'Ferret' Mascoll are by no means pensioners, but they each have at least a few years experience at Division One level in Victoria and they have earned the opportunity despite the fact that they may not be in the "professional stream". The powerful Dingle, versatile Bonaddio and underrated Mascoll may prove to be inspired selections. So too the similarly placed Ryan Booth and David Tierney who have taken a while to catch the eye of the selectors and they must be champing at the bit to play at Blacktown.

Finally, a few words about Victoria's new coaching panel that comprises head coach David White, with assistants Dan McConnon, Scott Dawes and Gary McGuigan. 'Flintoff & Dunn' Hall-of-Fame pitcher, ex-pat American David White brings a new forthright broom to the job along with one of the AMLB's most experienced catchers and clutch performers Dawes. Another ex-pat American Dan McConnon is one of the sharpest minds in Australian baseball and only he could have made a competitive team out of the Melbourne Bushrangers as he did in the ABL all those moons ago. We expect these guys to shape a new era for Aces baseball. It is obvious from their selections that they have the future very much in mind... what happens at Blacktown in 2005 will be very much a bonus!

The Conclusion: Once again we cannot seriously claim any conviction about selecting the Aces for a THIRD placed finish at Claxton Shield 2005. As it is they won a coin-flip over WA, otherwise we'd be tipping fourth... and even then, they will need a lot of our "hunches and maybes" to come to fruition for them to have any success.

We reckon the Aces are capable of more scoring potency than some of the teams this time around and they should be very solid defensively, it should all boil down to how effective those talented young arms can be at this level of competition and at this stage of their careers? One thing we can be certain about is that if David White has selected these guys to pitch for him, ahead of himself (?), then he must be very confident that they will get the job done!?

To be absolutely honest, we would be surprised if they could snatch a Grand Final berth, but it would not be such a shock to find them closer to the bottom of the table... time will tell.

It will be very, very interesting to find out!

Quite seriously subscribers, it was bloody hard to find any realistic rationale for separating any of the teams in 2005, other than our prediction to win the Championship, based solely on the rosters. We don't want to say too much about Victoria in this preview, but it basically came down to whether our queries about Victoria's (young) pitching were any more or less concerning than our queries about the Heelers' offence for the 2005 carnival. Let's concentrate on WA here.

Missing from the WA roster this time around are two of the great stalwarts of WA baseball in the modern AMLB era in former Perth Heat and Australian National team players Jason Hewitt and John Moore. With 700 AMLB games between them, Hewitt owns a lifetime .290 average from 325 games since 1992, while the dangerous Moore was an ABL original with 387 games since the 1990 season and he owns a lifetime .276 average.

Also among the more experienced current-day players, 29yo Clinton Balgera has also been a constant in recent WA teams with 74 appearances and a very respectable .288 batting average as a versatile utility fielder. No doubt he will also be missed. Add to these the absence of a couple of their younger recent professional players in Toby Barnett (Philadelphia Phillies) and Daniel Floyd (Seattle Mariners) and the WA Heelers have taken some very nasty losses from their offensive lineup. Floyd was the 2000 Rookie of the Year and he has batted .248 in 27 appearances, while Barnett batted .278 in his five games during the 2004 carnival. 

Youngster Ryan Hastie will also be missing from their 2005 campaign, although he has only managed a .091 average in five appearances since 2002.

On paper WA have not been too badly hit on the pitching side with only a handful of appearances between Nick Forkin and Scott Mitchinson, however, Mitchinson is one of the brightest young pitching prospects in the country. The Philadelphia Phillies Minor League Pitcher of the Year owned a 7-0, 1.75ERA professional record from 2004 while, wait for it... striking out 60 and walking only ONE... how about that for a ratio!? Not to be mentioned in the same breath (sorry Nick!) Forkin owns a 0-0, 20.25ERA record from the 2004 Claxton Shield.

A glance at the players joining the roster for 2005 does not provide too much excitement for WA followers. On face value you would be comforted to see the very familiar names of Gavin Edmondson and Brett Walters on the roster. Edmondson is a veteran of 330 AMLB games for the Heat and WA since 1992 and he had batted a decent .276... he will no doubt provide a terrific stabilising influence behind the dish for WA at Blacktown 2005!? Walters, as we have discovered, has made a transformation from one of WA's top pitchers of the AMLB era to an everyday player. From 56 appearances as a pitcher since 1993, Brett complied the very good 18-11, 3.75ERA record as a pitcher, but he was also pretty handy with the bat in 2003 with his .286 average!

Their offence will be "bolstered" (they hope) by the inclusion of players with sparing AMLB experience from recent seasons in the shape of Brandon Dale, Andrew Kyle and Stuart Scott. Dale has played two games, one each in 1999 and 2000, for his .286 average, while Scott batted .300 from his five appearances at the 2003 carnival. Kyle has only managed to bat .157 from his 22 appearances since 1999. In each case the number of 'at bats' in insufficient to draw conclusions.

20yo RHP Ben Rowe is a most interesting addition to the WA squad. As a 17yo, Rowe featured in the IBLA with the Australian team and he distinguished himself with a 3-0, 1.37ERA record from six relief appearances. We would like to know where he has been since, but if he can reproduce anything like that form he will be very useful indeed! Sorry, can't discuss Michael Ismail at this stage as he is a new one on us.

The Conclusion: 

As mentioned, we really cannot have any confidence about selecting the WA Heelers for a relatively lowly FOURTH place finish, especially given their fine pedigree in this competition over the years. If their GREAT pitching stalwarts in 'Flintoff & Dunn' Hall-of-Famer Simon Eissens and Shane Tonkin (who we seriously considered this year) continue to shackle opponents as they have for so many years, then a place in the Grand Final would not be out of the question.

We just feel that their batting lineup and defence has suffered some serious losses among the players who will not be available this year and we cannot have any certainty about how their replacements will perform or how some of their other youngsters will step-up. Then again, we can't have absolute confidence in Victoria either!

And, before you prepare the padded room, let me be completely "up front" by admitting that I have agonised over the selections from second to fifth... in my mind, having studied the rosters up and down and sideways, you could almost throw a blanket over these teams and it will most assuredly be a matter of who performs closest to their peak form that will decide the pecking order. The Provincials almost select themselves for (a gallant) last place each season, while the burning hot favourites are a clear standout on paper... sorry, no prizes for guessing!

Would your opinion change if I told you that the Rams will be replacing no less than eleven players from their 2004 campaign... and that these eleven players would comprise a pretty decent, make that VERY decent, team in their own right!? To make eleven changes to a successful 21-Man squad is the type of thing we would accept from the Australian Provincials who aim to showcase new talent, but not from a stable State with Championship ambitions.

Then, what if we added the fact that they are losing the services of three of the most effective offensive players in the modern history of Australian major league baseball. 'Flintoff & Dunn' Hall-of-Famers David Nilsson and Paul Gonzalez, along with a very likely inductee of the future Brett Roneberg! Not only have these three guys intimidated AMLB pitchers for several years, but they also boast gleaming Silver Medals from the 2004 Athens Olympic games.

David Nilsson should not require any expansion for Australian baseball fans as he stands alone as the finest player this country has ever produced. The former major league All-Star owns a monumental .358 average from his 247 AMLB appearances and he led the Australian team to its historic first ever Olympic baseball medal in 2004... if you need to know any more about him, might I suggest that you invest in one of our VERY CHEAP publications! At 36yo, and having taken up a new career as a catching coach with the Arizona Diamondbacks, it is likely that we have seen the last of 'Big Dave' gracing Australia's baseball fields... it is a moment worthy of some reflection for any serious baseball Aussie. We who have seen him in action will be able to explain his greatness to future generations... it has been a rare privilege indeed!

Paul 'Gonzo' Gonzalez has also been a fixture of AMLB for a decade, owning a lifetime .304 average from 227 games and he still owns one of the most potent bats ever to launch balls out of our diamonds. Similarly, "young veteran" Brett Roneberg who only needs to sniff an Australian competition to get his appetite burning. The Boston Red Sox professional is an outstanding performer in AMLB competition as the reigning 2004 Helms Award winner and lifetime .301 hitter. If he could only duplicate his Aussie performances in the USA he would have cracked the major leagues... we hope he still can!

Also absent from the offensive standpoint are young Cleveland Indians 'A' league professional Chris Clem, the experienced Adam Pearce and young infielder Brendan Kleidon... along with the extremely well performed Steven Bayliss and former Victorian Andrew Utting. Bayliss has batted a gaudy .328 for Queensland over the past three Claxton competitions, while former Atlanta Braves professional Andy Utting has hammered out a .345 average for the Rams in recent seasons and he also took home a Silver Medal from Athens. Clem is rated an emerging star, while Kleidon was better known for his glove at short stop. Pearce, who has played with the Brisbane and Gold Coast teams in the ABL, along with Queensland, owns a lifetime .266 average from 96 games.

It is not only on the offensive side that the Rams have been depleted, as their pitching has also lost some very useful arms from its staff. Top of the list is their 2003 Claxton Shield winning hero P.J Bevis who reached 'AAA' with the New York Mets in 2004 and who owns a 3-1, 1.51ERA record with three saves from 18 AMLB appearances over recent seasons. Then there is the highly rated Minnesota Twins 'A' baller Tristan Crawford who owns a 2-1, 4.94ERA AMLB record. We can only sympathise with the fact that another former Twins professional Paul Mutch sadly passed away in June 2004.

Steven Smith is not a big name in AMLB (yet?), but he was the winning pitcher for the Rams in their 2003 Claxton Shield Grand Final triumph, while Rodney Wodson was a pretty handy performer for Queensland in 2004. In all the Queensland Rams have lost around 900 games of AMLB experience, not to mention those with professional experience too!!!

With absolute fairness to those we know little about, it would be stretching the imagination to expect those who have joined the squad to adequately replace the departures. Perhaps best of them is another Athens Olympic Silver Medalist in RHP Wayne Ough who played for the Gold Coast Cougars in the ABL and who reached 'AA' level with the New York Mets in 2004. 33yo stalwart Todd Fairbrother returns to the team to lend plenty of experience, but he has been a fairly modest utility performer in the past.

Pitchers Adam Battaglene (1-1, 7.04ERA) and Tristan Loetzsch (1-5, 8.86ERA) have sparing AMLB experience and moderate results. Young lefty Daniel Paradise has a much better record with 0-0, 2.25ERA as a specialist reliever for their 2003 Championship team.

Michael Simpson started his career way back in 1998 with the Brisbane Bandits, but in 33 games the 26yo has batted only .250 with not much power on offer. Other position player additions to the squad in 25yo Scott Browning, 20yo David Bylett, 18yo Wade Dutton, 22yo Shayne Watson and 23yo Luke White are all AMLB rookies and we will keep an eye on them at Claxton 2005 before making any comment. Another 18yo rookie Joel Naughton has been signed by the Philadelphia Phillies and he is regarded a player of considerable potential.

The Conclusion: 

So, have I explained sufficiently to save myself from a flood of poisoned e-mails from up north? 

The fact is Queenslanders that if your team manages to make a third successive Claxton Shield Grand Final under these circumstances it will be a monumental effort and it will certainly reflect that some of your youngsters who are as yet unknown to us are truly outstanding prospects for the future... this would not upset us at all!

In our humble opinion, you have no right to expect too much from this team in 2005, but then some of the opposition will also be a little "down" on the 2004 tournament when we had Olympic dreams up for grabs. It would not surprise us if the Queensland Rams finished one or two places higher than fifth, but we had to select someone to fill this slot!

We're tipping FIFTH this time... with very little conviction and no chance of taking bets on it!

We have discussed perhaps too many times how this team have consistently made up for any possible lack of pure player pedigree with their terrific team play and the camaraderie they seem to have developed as a cornerstone of their place in Australia's baseball big league.

One thing for certain is that although we must select them for a last place finish again, and quite probably every season, it is from no lack of respect by 'Flintoff & Dunn'. Subscribers to our publications would realise that we are not "Provincial bashers" and, more accurately, we have been genuine supporters of the Provincial cause. While it is often the role of journalists to report negative issues and things that administrators have "got wrong", in our view the decision to add the Australian Provincial team to the Claxton Shield landscape in 2002 after the successful experiment with the NSW Country team in the 2000 competition has been one of the more positive and successful things to happen in Australian baseball since the demise of the Australian Baseball League.

Those men, like original coach Allan Parrott and others, who have pioneered the Provincial cause in Australian baseball have plenty to be proud of as they have created a tradition that should continue for many, many years!

In our established style we will concentrate on the "ins and outs" from last season's team as our basis for prediction:

Let's start with another obvious fact of life for Provincial baseball in that their credo and primary reason for existence is to provide opportunity and exposure for, not only players from Provincial areas, but those emerging youngsters who may be just on the fringes of State selection. In this context we must applaud the Australian Provincial selectors for sticking to their fundamental policies by elevating twelve new players to the squad, even though the turnover of 13 players from their 22-Man roster last season is hardly the usual recipe for team success!?

It is no surprise that veterans Phil Brassington and Keith Ward will not be returning this season, even though the highly underrated pitching quality of Brassington will leave a substantial hole in their starting rotation. The only player who can now truly claim veteran status on the Provincial's roster is the ever reliable Michael Wells who remains a terrific stalwart of AMLB competition. The likeable, Canberra based Victorian, Wells will enter his 11th season on the 'big league' stage that started way back in 1992 with the ABL's famous Waverley Reds.

Next on my list for discussion is the "well kept secret" of Brad Purcell who pitches in Independent League professional baseball in the USA, but he was a virtual unknown on Australian diamonds until he turned out for the Provincials at Blacktown in 2004. Like Brassington, the absence of Purcell will take another big chunk out of their starting rotation. Much more so than the moderately performed Brian Debert who will also miss the action this season.

While I have already mentioned, in general, those players who have been great pioneers of the Provincial cause, it is perhaps a little sad to see of few of what have become their "familiar names" not in their lineup this season. Adam Blight and Mark Dries have been terrific stalwarts for 'AP' as everyday players, while pitchers Casey Jones and Jon Hall have been fixtures in the Provincials pitching staff. We know that these guys are not "superstars" of the game, but we also know that they have been very useful performers during the formative years of the "Provincial concept". They may be replaced by younger talent, but we can only hope that the competitive fabric of the team is not dismantled by their absence. For the trivia lovers, Casey Jones and Jon Hall have been the only pitchers to record wins for the Provincial team to date!

Not too much to be said about the omissions of Ben Shepherd, Michael Pollock or Brad Drain who were not fixtures in the team and we have no whisper as to why young Victorian professional signings Mitch Ayres (catcher with LA Dodgers) and Shane Lindsay (pitcher with Colorado Rockies) have not been selected this year... maybe they are unavailable?

Adding some experience to the Australian Provincial team are former Melbourne Reds ABL team mates Jason Blewjas and Paul Weichard. A Winter baseball star, Blewjas pitched for the Reds as a youngster with modest success in the 1998 and 1999 seasons, while Weichard was a professional outfielder with the Reds before he was converted to a left-hand pitcher by the Atlanta Braves. He found the Claxton Shield a tough place to pitch with Victoria in 2004. Also returning for the Provincials is Michael Collins who played with the team in 2002 and 2003, before missing the 2004 carnival.

Also joining the 'AP' team for 2004 are recently signed professionals Michael Lysaught, who played his first season of Rookie ball with the Minnesota Twins in 2004 along with Josh Davies who did likewise as a Rookie with the Anaheim Angels in 2004. Davies was also the starting third baseman for the Victoria Aces in the 2004 Claxton Shield where he batted .262 and he was one of their few bright lights from a miserable campaign. Teenage Victorian LHP Matt Ryan has also been signed by the Anaheim Angels but he is yet to play professionally.

Of the others, we only know that Luke Acret was on the NSW Claxton Shield roster last season but he did not play. Riki Paewai has a name that sounds more like a rugby player or boxer, while we know literally nothing about Ryan McMillan, Brent Phelan, Mark Saunderson or Logan Tudor. We certainly wish all of these boys luck as they make their way onto the biggest stage in Australian baseball. Let's hope that we hear much more about them in the future!

The conclusion: Once again, we sincerely hope that the Aussie Provincials continue to provide the same "feisty" opposition that they have over the past few seasons. We cannot be sure that their new faces will adequately cover the loss of those stalwart players mentioned, or whether their pitching staff has the same quality as last season?... probably not! We have come to expect the Provincials to give opponents plenty of headaches and, in Victoria's case, you could call it a migraine after successive losses to the "minnows". As we usually say at this point, it should never be their crucial measurement, but 6th place is likely in 2005 as the Aces will surely hope to hand over to them the wooden spoon they collected in 2004!

Good luck Provincials! But we're tipping an unashamed basement finish.