CLAXTON SHIELD 2009 RESULTS

SEMI-FINAL SERIES  Game 3 - Melbourne Ballpark  Sun 25 Jan 2009

NSW ADVANCE AFTER DEALING ACES 5-0 LOSS!

For Victorian fans, you have just witnessed the curtain fall on your 2009 Claxton Shield campaign in rather miserable fashion! Those who attended probably would not need us to recount for them that the last time the much vaunted Victorian offence put anything other than a zero on their half of the scoreboard was the fourth inning of Game 1 on Friday night. Yep, that makes 22 consecutive scoreless innings posted by the New South Wales pitching and defence.

After Tim Cox had piled plenty of ice and snow onto the Aces’ bats the previous day, it wasn’t too difficult for experienced Baltimore Orioles ‘AAA’ lefty Craig Anderson to keep the freezer door firmly shut. 28yo Anderson has always been a steady performer in AMLB, but it is hard to remember a more efficient effort than the one he supplied in this big semi-final decider.

He is right out of the same mould as future MLB Hall-of-Fame lefty Tommy Glavine who just loves to live in that unhittable zone low and away. And, like Glavine, if the plate umpire allows he will expand the strike zone lower and further away as the game moves forward. The inevitable tell tale signs of this were Victorian hitters complaining about called strikes or swinging at pitches that can only be rolled-over into the infield. Craig Anderson made this look ridiculously easy at Melbourne Ballpark to depart with seven innings of four-hit shutout baseball… He was GREAT!

Game 1 starter Wayne Lundgren extracted a degree of revenge from the Aces who had punished him on that night for those who can remember when the hosts were still hitting up a storm. He replaced Anderson to collect a relatively low-pressure two inning save, especially after his team gave him two more insurance runs in the top half of the ninth. Wayne contributed to another combined shutout.

Taking the ball in the decider for Victoria would be the lion-hearted Darryn Cassidy who was brave again to battle through four scoreless frames until his start became unravelled in the fifth. A one out walk to Mitch Dening was compounded by his own erroneous throw after fielding a sac bunt as the Patriots posted their opening run. It did appear that Darryn was still “beating himself up” mentally when surprise packet Shannon Pender thumped a rare home run at Altona over left field to put a sudden 3-0 gap in the contest. Cassidy carried the ball into the seventh when a fortunate leadoff triple on a “lost” fly ball helped to shorten his tenure that ended with 6.2 innings of man-sized toil for his team.

Veteran righty Russell Spear was a little untidy with a couple of walks and a hit batter, then Adam Bright added another walk but both combined to sneak through to the end of the eighth with no further addition to the score. Matt Blackmore, who has been a bit up and down this summer, saw the game drift from reach in the ninth after three of his first four batters faced singled for a fourth run, followed by a dodgy umpiring call on the back end of a double-play that would cruelly cost him another earned run.

Shannon Pender has been somewhat unobtrusive during his first two Claxton Shield campaigns, starting with the Australian Provincials in 2007 and with NSW last year, but he has already magnified his profile in Claxton Shield 2009. The perky middle infielder was already enjoying a consistent competition until turning on the after-burners in this semi-final series. His breakthrough home run at Waverley yesterday was a decisive blow, as was his party piece long ball at Altona today that gave his team a tremendous boost. His 3-4 in this game with the two-run jack made sure that he outstripped superstar team mate Trent Oeltjen and emerging star David Kandilas who both recorded two hits. Oeltjen also walked twice with one of those intentionally issued to indicate his opposition fear factor.

Young pro Mitch Dening also walked twice to add to his “triple” which was, in fact, a routine outfield fly ball that was lost in the sun by the outfielder… that just about told the sorry story of how the Victorian Aces were travelling by this time! Mark Holland was in the vanguard again with his walk and the RBI single that added insurance for New South Wales in the ninth inning.

Only mighty Minnesota Twins ‘AA’ professional Daniel Berg was able to secure two hits for the Aces as he finished his solid summer almost as strongly as he started it. Unfortunately his numbers were negatively affected by mid-competition wisdom teeth surgery that set him back considerably otherwise, we reckon, he was set for another monster contribution to match his 2008 Claxton Shield effort. Sadly, there was little else to report about the Victorian offence that was monstered by the Patriots pitching.

Just to put some bitter icing on Victoria’s demise, mild-mannered Victorian manager Phil Dale could no longer contain his frustration over some tight umpiring calls that did not go in the Aces favour. The previously mentioned SAFE call on the back end of a nicely turned double-play that scored a run in the top of the ninth was the last straw for ‘Big Phil’ and he was tossed after he made sure that the umpire in question was acutely aware of his shortcomings.

Victorian Aces supporters will take some time to lick the wounds from such a soul-destroying conclusion to what had been a most promising competition. But, there is nothing that can be taken away from the New South Wales Patriots who came and conquered in Melbourne, even after taking a drubbing in Game 1. They deserve plenty of credit for the resilience that saw their pitching depth produce at the most vital time.

Good luck to them and the West Australian team when they meet for the 2009 Claxton Shield in Perth.

Our now standard recognition for umpires David MILTON, Stewart HOWE, Mark GOODING and Greg HOWARD . 
 

THE VAGARIES OF VICTORIAN BASEBALL VENUES

The following opinion piece is written by PETER FLINTOFF as a Victorian baseball devotee who lives in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne. While he is an unashamed member of the Waverley Baseball Club, his primary focus is the ongoing interests of Victorian (and Australian) baseball and, in this case specifically, the positioning and/or venue for any long-term National competition in Victoria. While it has never been our intent to use this web site as any type of vehicle for parochial interests, we have now found it necessary to counter other parochial and untruthful interests who would seek to downplay anything achieved by the Waverley Baseball Club in order to promote via comparison other clubs and/or facilities. Decisions taken over the next few years with respect to baseball venues could have a very long-term bearing on the viability of the game in Australia and, not less than anywhere else but perhaps most critically, in Victoria. 
The TRUTH is out there and you can always count upon ‘Flintoff & Dunn’ to provide it for you!

There should be no reason in the world for me to disclose certain loyalties for most of our Subscribers who have followed our web site for any period, because it would be self-evident and well accepted that ‘Flintoff & Dunn’ are two Melbourne based individuals who also happen to be proud card-carrying members of the ‘Waverley Nation’. In this context, we would like to think that we have established a hard-earned reputation for dealing only with the FACTS and in so doing, we think, doing a pretty good job of spurning the negative influences that come with self-interest and parochialism.

I’m not now going to insult anyone’s intelligence, although others do, by suggesting or claiming that there were “thousands” of spectators at Waverley’s Napier Park home for the big Claxton Shield semi-final game against New South Wales this past Saturday 24 January 2009. NO, unfortunately, we simply cannot make something up to suit our own purposes, even though others already have!

If you’d like to view photographs of the occasion, click here to visit the Waverley Baseball Club web site.

To cut to the chase, and we don’t speak officially for the Waverley Baseball Club, ‘Flintoff & Dunn’ would have loved to have seen people hanging from the rafters and anywhere else at the “Baseball Nirvana” that we call Napier Park. Sadly this didn’t quite materialise and, while there are reasons that have some credence, we have never been in the business of seeking excuses to disguise the undiluted facts.

Before we go on with this, let me first admit quite honestly that Melbourne’s weather could not have been any better with magnificent mild conditions and, to be fair, the scheduling of the game at 3:00pm on a Saturday afternoon definitely could not be blamed for any lack of public support.

That said, here are a few salient reasons, not to be mistaken for excuses, that the crowd numbers at this game might not have matched some unrealistic expectations: 

Now, having cast those unnecessary but valid reasons aside, let’s get back to dealing with the cold, hard FACTS! This writer, Peter Flintoff, has personally attended EVERY Victorian game in Perth, Geelong and Melbourne. I’m not sure if anyone else has, but I can assure you, as your life might depend on it, that the attendance at Waverley’s humble Napier Park easily exceeded any of those crowds other than perhaps the special Diamond Anniversary Friday night at Thornlie in Perth when a realistically estimated 1,300 made for a festive occasion… many of those came via personal invitation.

I have read Waverley’s attendance figures listed as 1,700-odd on the official Play-by-Play and, more ridiculously 400-500 on the Baseball Victoria web site (what are they smoking?)… I’m guessing that the not-so-famous “Three Fingered Pete” from the Black Adder television series must have been using his digitally-challenged hand to count the numbers because, trust me, this is politically motivated and disappointing nonsense of the highest order.

Returning to the voice of sanity, ‘Flintoff & Dunn’ will stake our reputations on the almost undeniable and conservative number of “maybe less that 1,000”… we’ll call it 900 for the inconsequential sake of the argument.

Well, guess what folks, that still beats by any factor you want to apply any other attendance at Geelong, or at Melbourne Ballpark? Apparently some people in Victorian baseball like to set the bar exceptionally high for Waverley and/or Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs. For some reason there is a shockingly uneven playing field where some venues have to jump 1m, while Waverley has to clear the 3m bar to avoid their attendance being described as "disappointing". Surely the reality should be that just ONE more spectator is sufficient to acknowledge a comparatively better attendance?

It doesn’t require a Melway street directory or a pin-point chart diagram of where Melbourne’s largest baseball clubs are situated to work out where the epicentre of Melbourne baseball is… no prizes, the vicinity of Waverley!

While Melbourne Ballpark has had 20 years to attract crowds and Geelong has been gifted with very nice playing facilities, neither, I’m sorry, are nearly as close to answering Victoria’s need for a baseball centre as the “Waverley area” or Napier Park is. Most importantly, we think, if there is any money to be invested in baseball, then it would be bordering on stupidity to invest it anywhere other than a major existing baseball club where the expenditure can be maximised for long-term community baseball advantage.

I personally like Geelong, and the Geelong people, but it is not a suburb of Melbourne and Victoria’s baseball population demographic means that we should never contemplate anything other than the occasional fixture there. The Geelong baseball fraternity have done a sterling job of hosting some annual events and we have no problem with them getting a proportional slice of any pie… no more than that! We have no interest in getting into a slanging match with anyone but, even without a modicum of expenditure, Waverley’s Napier Park already outstrips Geelong as a “spectator friendly” venue with its viewing clubrooms and some degree of overhead and wind cover.

Melbourne Ballpark, otherwise known as Altona Stadium, is fine by me and I have hardly missed a Waverley club or Victorian game there. I don’t usually have a huge issue with the time-consuming travel from Melbourne’s baseball heartland, but obviously others do and, sad to say, I can almost recite by name the people that watch baseball games with us there… this, perhaps sadly, has not changed for 20-plus years and anyone who thinks it might is dreaming!

The most positive news is that the people who really matter at Baseball Australia have now enjoyed the opportunity to witness in person what could be achieved at Napier Park, Waverley. We agree totally with them that it would have been nice to flood the place with fervent baseball fans overflowing. Yet we have to acknowledge that a current lack of facilities to cater for greater numbers was not enticing. Equally, it is not hard to imagine what a moderate financial commitment might do to dramatically improve those facilities into a “boutique minor league style venue”. Those people of vision would understand what the big picture might look like.

Not too many Victorian baseball supporters, other than those devout “Waverley haters”, would argue that Napier Park is not the prime location to attract baseball attendances. What we have here is a perfect “chicken and egg” situation insofar as IF YOU BUILD IT THEY WILL COME!… perhaps in reverse. We know that people will come to baseball at Waverley and assuredly some additional, inexpensive, facilities would help to build upon this over not too much time. One obvious example would be the installation of lighting as night fixtures are always better attended.

The most important message here is that a surplus of historical evidence says that Melbourne’s most populous south-east (read Waverley or VFL Park) is the ONLY place that baseball has ever truly thrived in Victoria and to financially or otherwise support anywhere else is, well, backing a sure loser.

Memo Baseball Australia, PLEASE don’t let us remind you for the next millennium that we have made another horrible mistake with venue location in Victoria because, I’m sure you’d agree, Australian baseball needs a vibrant centre in Melbourne. You found it on Saturday… and it will obviously improve with some assistance! We can only wish you luck if you tread a different path… because you’ll need more than that!
 

SEMI-FINAL SERIES  Game 2 - Waverley  Sat 24 Jan 2009

NSW LEVELS SEMI WITH 9-0 SHUTOUT OF VIC!

We have nicknamed ‘Terrible Tim’ Cox, not because his performances are “terrible” but, on the contrary, much like former world heavyweight boxing champion ‘Terrible Tim’ Witherspoon, because he has become such a feared opponent. Well, he certainly lived up to his acquired nickname again today at Waverley’s Napier Park.

I won’t overdo comment about the venue here as you can also read my opinion piece that will appear above this report. However, it was just fantastic to see the famous Claxton Shield return to the heartland of Victorian baseball in Melbourne’s most populous south-east nearby where the ABL’s Waverley Reds once attracted the biggest crowds in the country. It is the first time that National baseball has been held at Waverley since Victoria played the Australian Provincials in the 2002 Claxton Shield competition.

While better than most (or virtually all) of the crowds seen at Claxton Shield games in 2008/09, this did not eventuate into the “blockbuster numbers” some seemed to expect. However, it was a superb day at the baseball, enjoyed by the players and coaches of both teams, along with the spectators and officials at the game. It was a stunning success, certainly compared with anything seen in Melbourne this century, and anyone seeking to suggest otherwise is clearly nursing some pitiful jealousy-based political agenda!

The only thing to dampen the enthusiasm of the Victorian fans in attendance was the aforementioned Timothy Cox who pitched quite brilliantly once again to pour iced water on what had been a very hot Aces offence in the previous three games against New South Wales. Importantly, Cox dismissed the first nine Victorian batters in tidy succession as an appetiser for what he would turn into a sumptuous eight inning shutout banquet.

He allowed only six base runners on five hits, while striking out six to record a win of very significant proportions before allowing emerging professional team mate Brad Tippett to supper on the dregs of a vanquished Victorian offence. The young Minnesota Twin allowed just one hit while packing up the final inning of a combined shutout.

Even though there were six of today’s Victorian Aces playing at their familiar home club ground as Waverley Wildcats, it was the visiting New South Wales team who looked like they played there every day and they certainly enjoyed the conditions, along with the convivial atmosphere. Chief among them offensively were a couple of Patriots that we would not describe as power-laden, yet both slightly built middle infielders Shannon Pender and Michael Lysaught cleared the Napier Park fence. And, we hasten to add, neither took advantage of the “skinny” left field corner, even though Pender did clear the slightly hospitable centre left.

Pat Maat and Mark Holland maintained their continuity of reliable batting this summer with two knocks each, while the long ball men Pender (3 RBIs) and Lysaught (2 RBIs) produced five of the Patriots seven runs driven in with just a couple of swift swings of their bats. Holland, Maat and Lysaught also drew three of New South Wales’ six free passes issued by their generous hosts for the afternoon.

Victoria’s well performed starter Adam Blackley is a popular current Waverley player, but he wasn’t when he took the same hill as a 16yo Boston Red Sox signee for the Australian Provincials in that earlier mentioned Claxton Shield game at Waverley in 2002. He did pretty well on that day and even better here although, to be truthful, not much went in his favour on this big occasion. Four, YES FOUR, first inning errors would kick the guts out of any pitcher and the three runs posted by the Patriots would give them an immediate confidence building start.

Blackley, to his eternal credit, did re-group to keep the Victorians alive in the contest and in the cool light of day his five innings reaped five strike outs and you could hardly blame him for the fact that only one of his four runs allowed was earned. Victorian manager Phil Dale kept the steady diet of left-handers coming for the Patriots when ‘AA’ pro Adam Bright and then recent Independent League pro Donnie Hendricks tried manfully to keep the flood gates from collapsing. Unfortunately both were victimised by home runs that put the game out of reach for the crestfallen Aces.

Only Minnesota’s just-turned 20yo whiz kid Jimmy Beresford and Independent League pro Paul Rutgers managed to conjure up two hits against the Tim Cox wrecking ball. Ummm, oh yeh, there was not a single run scored for the Victorians and only one walk gifted by the visitors. To overuse a rather childish pun regularly trotted out by AFL commentators relating to West Coast Eagles’ ruckman Dean Cox… Cox was BIG for the New South Welshmen here.

So, here we go again with the redundant news that baseball, more than most sports, will very often dish up the unexpected. After Game 1 on Friday night, it was hard to imagine the New South Wales Patriots recovering sufficiently to take this series to a decider. The Victorian Aces would surely feel quite comfortable at Waverley’s pleasant and familiar club surroundings… maybe, in hindsight, too comfortable? One thing that baseball people fully understand is that a pitching performance like that of Tim Cox today will always neutralise most other factors.

The teams will now head to Melbourne Ballpark for the semi-final decider tomorrow and, on the evidence of this game, the momentum has suddenly swung towards the two-blues… if that means anything?

Our now standard recognition for umpires Mark GOODING, David MILTON, Greg HOWARD and Stewart HOWE. 
 

BLACK ACES STRANGLE PATRIOTS 7-1!

Travis BLACKLEY (W) 7.0ip 1h 1er 4bb 6k; Matt BLACKMORE 2.0ip 0h 0er 2bb 2k.

Wayne LUNDGREN (L) 2.0ip 5h 4er 1bb 0k; Matt WILLIAMS 4.0ip 3h 2er 3bb 2k;
Vaughan HARRIS 1.0ip 1h 0er 1bb 0k; Todd GRATTAN 1.0ip 1h 0er 1bb 0k