2010–11 Australian Baseball League season

Rosters

During the season each team made use of a 22-man active roster, drawn from 35-man squads announced on 28 October 2010.

Venues

Four of the six teams used their existing venues from the Claxton Shield

Claxton Shield

The Claxton Shield was the name of the premier baseball competition in Australia held between state-based teams, as well as the name of the trophy awarded to the champion team...

: the Adelaide Bite

Adelaide Bite

The Adelaide Bite are a professional baseball team who plays in the Australian Baseball League and is one of the six founding teams of the league. Their home ballpark is Coopers Stadium at Norwood Oval which is based in the city of Adelaide, South Australia...

, Perth Heat

Perth Heat

The baseball team Perth Heat is a team in the current Australian Baseball League and a foundation member of the now-defunct Australian Baseball League...

and Sydney Blue Sox

Sydney Blue Sox

The Sydney Blue Sox are a professional baseball team, and one of six foundation teams in the re-formed Australian Baseball League . The team plays their home games at Blacktown International Sportspark Sydney , one of the two venues for used for baseball at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, when it was...

all used the same grounds used in the 2010 Claxton Shield by the respective state teams, and the Canberra Cavalry

Canberra Cavalry

The Canberra UberGlobal Cavalry is a professional baseball team in the Australian Baseball League. The team is based in the city of Canberra, Australia...

used the same venue used by Australia Provincial

Australia Provincial

Australian Provincial compete in the Claxton Shield Baseball Championship in Australia. Provincial were formed for the 2002 International Baseball League of Australia Championship, since 2003 they have competed in the Claxton Shield....

when they last contested the Claxton Shield in 2008: Narrabundah Ballpark

Narrabundah Ballpark

Narrabundah Ballpark is an 1,500 capacity ground in Canberra, Australia. It was redeveloped in 2010 for use by the Canberra Cavalry for the Australian Baseball League, the Australian Capital Territory Government funded the $1,000,000 upgrade....

.

The Melbourne Aces

Melbourne Aces

The Melbourne Aces is a professional baseball team in the Australian Baseball League based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.On Friday, 20 August 2010 it was announced that ex-Australian Baseball player Philip Dale would take up the head coaching role at Melbourne Aces.On Tuesday, 12 October 2010,...

played at the Melbourne Showgrounds, after the Victorian state government announced a A$

Australian dollar

The Australian dollar is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu...

300,000 upgrade of the grounds. Similarly the Queensland state government

Government of Queensland

The Government of Queensland is commonly known as the "Queensland Government".The form of the Government of Queensland is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1859, although it has been amended many times since then...

announced a A$300,000 upgrade of the Brisbane Exhibition Ground

Brisbane Exhibition Ground

The Brisbane Exhibition Ground , is a showground established in Brisbane during 1875 especially for Ekka . The Exhibition ground is owned and operated by the Royal National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland...

for use by the Brisbane Bandits

Brisbane Bandits

The Brisbane Bandits were a foundation team in the Australian Baseball League which was bought by a private owner and shut down in 1999. The Bandits have now been resurrected as a team in the new Australian Baseball League which is due to start in November 2010...

as their home field.

City	State	Stadium
Adelaide Adelaide Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...	South Australia South Australia South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...	Coopers Stadium
Brisbane Brisbane Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...	Queensland Queensland Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...	Brisbane Exhibition Ground Brisbane Exhibition Ground The Brisbane Exhibition Ground , is a showground established in Brisbane during 1875 especially for Ekka . The Exhibition ground is owned and operated by the Royal National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland...
Canberra Canberra Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...	Australian Capital Territory Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory, often abbreviated ACT, is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and is the smallest self-governing internal territory...	Narrabundah Ballpark Narrabundah Ballpark Narrabundah Ballpark is an 1,500 capacity ground in Canberra, Australia. It was redeveloped in 2010 for use by the Canberra Cavalry for the Australian Baseball League, the Australian Capital Territory Government funded the $1,000,000 upgrade....
Melbourne Melbourne Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...	Victoria Victoria (Australia) Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....	Melbourne Showgrounds
Perth Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....	Western Australia Western Australia Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...	Baseball Park Baseball Park (Perth) Baseball Park, also known as Barbagallo Ballpark for sponsorship reasons, is home to Baseball in Western Australia, Australia. It was built in 2004, with a seating capacity of about 500 and standing room for a further 3,500. This is the first baseball-exclusive stadium in Perth since the...
Sydney Sydney Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...	New South Wales New South Wales New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...	Blacktown Olympic Park

Regular season

The season length was similar to the 2010 Claxton Shield by spreading ten rounds over twelve weeks, playing only the season's first game in the first week and taking a week off for Christmas

Christmas

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

and Boxing Day

Boxing Day

Boxing Day is a bank or public holiday that occurs on 26 December, or the first or second weekday after Christmas Day, depending on national or regional laws. It is observed in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and some other Commonwealth nations. In Ireland, it is recognized as...

. Six teams were involved, playing a four-game series every week totaling two series against each team, one at home

Home (sports)

In sports, home is a term referring to both the city and stadium, arena, or field where an athletic team plays games at their venue, whilst when the team plays elsewhere then they are considered the away team. The home term can refer to either the sponsoring institution or the place where it is...

and one away

Road (sports)

Road game , more commonly known as an away game, is a reference to all cities and stadia/arenas/fields/venues where an athletic team plays games for which it is not the host. Most professional teams represent cities or towns and amateur sports teams often represent academic institutions...

. In total, the schedule allowed for 40 regular season games per team before a four-team finals series. During the regular season, games were played Thursday to Sunday, varying depending on the series and team, with 18 games scheduled as doubleheader

Doubleheader (baseball)

A doubleheader is a set of two baseball games played between the same two teams on the same day in front of the same crowd. In addition, the term is often used unofficially to refer to a pair of games played by a team in a single day, but in front of different crowds and not in immediate...

s on a Saturday. Doubleheaders were scheduled to have the first of the two games shortened to seven innings, with the second game using the full nine innings.

One of the regular season games resulted in a tie, which is unusual in baseball given the provision in the rules of the game to play extra innings

Extra innings

Extra innings is the extension of a baseball or softball game in order to break a tie.Ordinarily, a baseball game consists of nine innings , each of which is divided into halves: the visiting team bats first, after which the home team takes its turn at bat...

to determine a winner. The game between the Sydney Blue Sox

Sydney Blue Sox

and the Melbourne Aces

Melbourne Aces

at Blacktown Olympic Park was the second game of a makeup doubleheader as a result of rain earlier that weekend washing out two games, and so had been shortened to seven innings. A rain delay during the first game of the day forced the second game to a later start. Under a provision in the ABL rules that is modeled on the International Baseball Federation

International Baseball Federation

The International Baseball Federation is the worldwide governing body recognized by the International Olympic Committee as overseeing, deciding and executing the policy of the bat-and-ball sport of baseball at the international level...

's tiebreaker rule, in any extra inning that starts within an hour of the curfew time for the game—a time set to allow the visiting team time to meet travel schedules to return home at the end of a series—each team starts with runners at first and second base with nobody out. In addition, no new inning may start within 15 minutes of the curfew time. The game was scoreless at the end of the regulation seven innings, and was tied at 1–1 at the end of the eighth inning, which ended at the curfew time. Though the game was an official game

Official game

An official game in baseball, also sometimes called a regulation game, is a game that has progressed beyond the point at which it can be considered complete if necessary. This is approximately the halfway point of the game...

, the result did not count towards the season standings.

All but 4 of the scheduled 120 games were played. The four games that were not played were the series scheduled between the Brisbane Bandits

Brisbane Bandits

and the Canberra Cavalry

Canberra Cavalry

The Canberra UberGlobal Cavalry is a professional baseball team in the Australian Baseball League. The team is based in the city of Canberra, Australia...

at the Brisbane Exhibition Ground

Brisbane Exhibition Ground

for the ninth round. Flooding in Brisbane

2010–2011 Queensland floods

A series of floods hit Australia, beginning in December 2010, primarily in the state of Queensland including its capital city, Brisbane. The floods forced the evacuation of thousands of people from towns and cities. At least seventy towns and over 200,000 people were affected. Damage initially was...

had resulted in the Exhibition Ground being used as an evacuation centre for affected residents. Initially the ABL postponed the series, leaving a decision as to whether the games would be re-scheduled to a later time. Just prior to the final round of scheduled games, it was announced that the games would go ahead in the form of two doubleheaders, but that only games that would affect the playoffs would be played. When Brisbane lost the final game of their series against the Adelaide Bite

Adelaide Bite

, both they and Canberra were eliminated from contention for the playoffs; hence, the makeup games were not played.

The Perth Heat

Perth Heat

The baseball team Perth Heat is a team in the current Australian Baseball League and a foundation member of the now-defunct Australian Baseball League...

and Sydney Blue Sox were the first teams to clinch positions in the finals series when Perth defeated the Melbourne Aces in the final game of their series in round 9. The Adelaide Bite were the next team to secure a place in the top four, after winning the third of an expanded six-game series against Brisbane. It was only on the final day of the regular season that Melbourne was able to claim the fourth finals position, and that the makeup of the semi-final series was decided: Sydney hosting Perth in the major semi-final series, and Adelaide hosting Melbourne in the minor semi-final series.

Batting leaders

Stat	Player	Total
AVG Batting average Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...	Michael Collins Michael Collins (baseball) Michael John Collins is an Australian baseball player with the San Diego Padres organization. He plays first base as well as catcher....	.360
HR Home run In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...	James McOwen James McOwen James McOwen is a professional baseball player in the Seattle Mariners organization. He currently plays for the Class-A High Desert Mavericks. He was Mariners' sixth-round selection in the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft; signed by Mariners scout Mike Tosar. He plays outfield, primarily right...	11
RBI Run batted in Runs batted in or RBIs is a statistic used in baseball and softball to credit a batter when the outcome of his at-bat results in a run being scored, except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play. The first team to track RBI was the Buffalo Bisons.Common nicknames for an RBI...		30
R Run (baseball) In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls are met or assured...	Jeremy Cresswell	37
H Hit (baseball) In baseball statistics, a hit , also called a base hit, is credited to a batter when the batter safely reaches first base after hitting the ball into fair territory, without the benefit of an error or a fielder's choice....	Robbie Widlansky	52
SB Stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a baserunner successfully advances to the next base while the pitcher is delivering the ball to home plate...	Trent D'Antonio	9

Pitching leaders

Stat	Player	Total
W Win (baseball) In professional baseball, there are two types of decisions: a win and a loss . In each game, one pitcher on the winning team is awarded a win and one pitcher on the losing team is given a loss in their respective statistics. These pitchers are collectively known as the pitchers of record. Only...		6
L	Paul Mildren	6
ERA Earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average is the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine...	David Welch David Welch (baseball) David John Welch is a professional baseball pitcher in the who is a free agent. He was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 20th round of the 2005 Major League Baseball Draft.-Milwaukee Brewers:...	1.44
K Strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout or strike-out occurs when a batter receives three strikes during his time at bat. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters....	Chris Oxspring Chris Oxspring Chris Andrew Oxspring is an Australian right-handed pitcher currently in the Detroit Tigers organisation. He is also a player and pitching coach for the Sydney Blue Sox in the Australian Baseball League....	71
IP Innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one inning pitched. One out counts as one-third of an inning, and two...	Chris Oxspring Chris Oxspring Chris Andrew Oxspring is an Australian right-handed pitcher currently in the Detroit Tigers organisation. He is also a player and pitching coach for the Sydney Blue Sox in the Australian Baseball League....	68
SV	Koo Dae-Sung Koo Dae-Sung Koo Dae-Sung is a former left-handed pitcher for the Hanwha Eagles in the Korea Baseball Organization. He was formerly with the New York Mets of Major League Baseball and the Orix BlueWave of Nippon Professional Baseball. He announced his retirement from Korean baseball on August 15, 2010...	12

Postseason

At the completion of the regular season, the top four teams progressed to the postseason. It was contested over three weeks, following the Page playoff system

Page playoff system

The Page playoff system is a playoff format used primarily in softball and curling at the championship level. Teams are seeded using a round-robin tournament and the top four play a mix of a single-elimination and double-elimination tournament to determine the winner...

. Each stage was decided by a best–of–three game series. Unlike regular season games, which made use of a variation of the International Baseball Federation

International Baseball Federation

's mercy rule after seven innings, no such rule was in place for postseason games; all games went the full nine innings, with the only exception being two games that were tied after nine innings, therefore requiring extra innings

Extra innings

.
The Perth Heat

Perth Heat

The baseball team Perth Heat is a team in the current Australian Baseball League and a foundation member of the now-defunct Australian Baseball League...

and Adelaide Bite

Adelaide Bite

each swept their semi-final series against the Sydney Blue Sox

Sydney Blue Sox

and Melbourne Aces

Melbourne Aces

respectively, resulting in the Heat qualifying for and hosting the championship series, and the Aces being eliminated. The Bite won the preliminary final series against the Blue Sox two games to one, to advance to the championship series. Though Adelaide won the first championship series game, the Perth Heat won the remaining two games to claim the title of ABL Champions.

Major semi-final

Minor semi-final

Preliminary final series

Championship series

Player of the Week

Round	Player	Team	Ref
1	Not awarded
2	Alex Johnson
3	Allan de San Miguel Allan de San Miguel Allan Murray de san Miguel is an Australian professional baseball catcher in the Minnesota Twins organization in the United States....
4	Donald Lutz
5	Yoshiyuki Kamei Yoshiyuki Kamei (baseball) is a Japanese professional baseball player for the Yomiuri Giants in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball.-Career statistics:Statistics current as of July 22, 2011-External links:...
6
7	Not awarded
8	Tom Brice
9	Ronnie Welty
10	James McOwen James McOwen James McOwen is a professional baseball player in the Seattle Mariners organization. He currently plays for the Class-A High Desert Mavericks. He was Mariners' sixth-round selection in the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft; signed by Mariners scout Mike Tosar. He plays outfield, primarily right...

Pitcher of the Week

Round	Player	Team	Ref
1	Not awarded
2	Chris Oxspring Chris Oxspring Chris Andrew Oxspring is an Australian right-handed pitcher currently in the Detroit Tigers organisation. He is also a player and pitching coach for the Sydney Blue Sox in the Australian Baseball League....
3	David Welch David Welch (baseball) David John Welch is a professional baseball pitcher in the who is a free agent. He was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 20th round of the 2005 Major League Baseball Draft.-Milwaukee Brewers:...
4	Wayne Lundgren Wayne Lundgren Wayne Lundgren is an Australian minor league baseball player. He is currently a pitcher with the Brockton Rox in the Can-Am League.-Professional career:...
5	Adam Bright Adam Bright Adam Bright is an Australian left-handed pitcher. He is son of ex-star Australian spin bowler Ray Bright....
6
7	Not awarded
8	Matt Zachary
9	Benjamin Moore
10

Season awards

Award	Player	Team	Ref
Helms Award (League MVP)	James McOwen James McOwen James McOwen is a professional baseball player in the Seattle Mariners organization. He currently plays for the Class-A High Desert Mavericks. He was Mariners' sixth-round selection in the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft; signed by Mariners scout Mike Tosar. He plays outfield, primarily right...
Championship Series MVP	Benjamin Moore
Golden Glove	Didi Gregorius Didi Gregorius Mariekson Julius Gregorius is a shortstop who is currently on the Cincinnati Reds 40 man roster.-External links:...
Pitcher of the Year	David Welch David Welch (baseball) David John Welch is a professional baseball pitcher in the who is a free agent. He was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 20th round of the 2005 Major League Baseball Draft.-Milwaukee Brewers:...
Reliever of the Year	Koo Dae-Sung Koo Dae-Sung Koo Dae-Sung is a former left-handed pitcher for the Hanwha Eagles in the Korea Baseball Organization. He was formerly with the New York Mets of Major League Baseball and the Orix BlueWave of Nippon Professional Baseball. He announced his retirement from Korean baseball on August 15, 2010...
Rookie of the Year	Trent Schmutter Trent Schmutter Trent Schmutter is an Australian Baseball League outfielder who currently plays for Sydney Blue Sox.In 2011, he was awarded the 2010-11 Australian Baseball League season Rookie of the Year.-References:...
Silver Slugger	James McOwen James McOwen James McOwen is a professional baseball player in the Seattle Mariners organization. He currently plays for the Class-A High Desert Mavericks. He was Mariners' sixth-round selection in the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft; signed by Mariners scout Mike Tosar. He plays outfield, primarily right...

External links

The Australian Baseball League – Official ABL Website
Official Baseball Australia Website

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