All About Me

Thought I might do a quick article about me now and whats been happening since March last year and what I've been up too!

Well as some of you may have read, in March I played my first ever finals game in any sport i've ever played! Baseball - which looks like the game for me as I venture to retirement of all sport (You'll see why soon), was giving my my first taste of what Finals is being that every other sport my team had bombed out.

I spent a good portion of my life playing football @ Happy Valley Football Club, back then, The Vikings, had one of the most successful seniors team around, sadly I was in juniors at that time.. All throughout my time in juniors playing Under 15's, 17's and then 18's when they changed the rules around, my team was thoroughlly thrashed at most games, some games even belted by 30 goals...

When I moved to the C grade it was a bit different, we weren't getting the thrashings but were missing finals by one or two wins..

Knee Injury forced me to finish up with Happy Valley as well as moving out north west to be living with my now wife... My final season with the Vikings was the year after my knee went caput but was prob one of my most successful seasons - kicking 10 goals in one game and finishing with approx 50 in the 10 games I played that season...

But that was 12 odd years ago and now my main focus is Baseball, with East Torrens Red Sox! We had a pretty good season, matching it against the top teams and heading into a Semi Final against Adelaide, it was there I suffered not only a broken bone in the nose.. but also a chipped bone in the forehead and a broken thumb.. All in same game and happening at different times in the game.. (Hey we won though but that was season over for me!)

Worst thing was heading off to the Soundwave Festival with no painkillers, a broken thumb, a head that looked like a horn was growing and a purple nose.. Basically looked like I had been in a really bad fight - nope, just me stopping the baseball with my head!

Our team went on to narrowly miss the grand final by 1 run.

Since then i've been studying and also decided on a return to football....

With Studying I've always had an interest in plants and bonsai etc, but never been able to do some things i've wanted to do with them like growing from seed, cultivating etc.

Whilst talking about this at work a collegue mentioned the local government has a skills for all scheme happening where they will fund approx 200 courses for free to better equip people in our state.. Nice!

I wandered on there and found a Certificate II in Horticulture, had a quick look and thought it looked quite interesting so applied! Three subjects in and i've aced each one and getting excellent feedback from the lecturer (Ha, never got that in finance!!)

So, the return to Football, possibly not my finest of ideas but I had it for the right intentions.

The intention was never to be this awesome footballer to come and kick a bag of goals for my local team, it was to fill in whilst they were short on numbers. Broadview Football Club has 4 senior teams, One Division 1 side and its Reserves team, and the other is in Division 7 with a Reserves team.

The Reserves for Division 7 were running low on numbers so I thought i'd whack on a guernsey and see what happens.

Now, I'm alot older since I last played football and definately don't have the fitness levels I had back then... I found first training quite challenging to say the least haha Found alot of the time I was hands on head sucking in as much air as I could.

But with that the players were very welcoming, even the higher grades, always encouraging you to keep at it.

The first few games of the year my team had won so I was looking forward to getting in and kicking some goals from the forward line, sadly the higher grades sustained some injuries so alot of our better players moved up to fill the void, some even had to play 2 games each weekend straight after each other..

With the loss of players came with some of our heaviest defeats, my first game against Flinders Park saw a huge loss, infact my only shot on goal came in the 3rd quarter I think it was when I took a mark about 40metres out and had a shot on goal, looked good initially however didn't allow enough for the wind and it narrowly missed.. Shame, if I nailed it I would have been the leading goal scorer.... Highlight though was standing an ex Adelaide Crows player Sudjai Cook who was lazily standing on the Half Back Line. Wow - he still has speed, he was just standing there rebounding the ball and moving it with great skills - was great to watch.

In the end I played 5 games, the fateful game for me came after a week long Adelaide drenching where the heavens truly opened up giving us a taste of a true old fashioned Adelaide Winter!

The final game was very water logged but also the ground sunk when you walked on it. I was placed at Centre Half Forward which is where I did play alot of Junior Footy, my favourite role is Full Forward.

Half way through the 1st quarter one of our big left footers took a mark on the right hand wing just forward of our goals, I was walking just inside our 50 ready to lead and all I could hear from the bench was Lead Lead!!! so I bolted towards him, for a big guy I do have early speed and got a few steps infront of the defender, 2 players were sitting under the ball which was perfect for a screamer...

As I approached the 2 players I proceeded to ready Launch! But it was at this point my right foot sunk in the mud and got stuck, by that time though all my weight was on the right leg and it buckled at the knee, I felt it pop out as I launched into the pack, still got my hands to the ball but knew I was in big trouble...

One thing I remember was one of our much smaller players, his face cracks me up each time I think about it - As I hit the pack and was on my way down he was at the front looking up as what prob looked to him as a wall of mass coming towards him - his face showed pure terror and fear as I fastly approached, I turned my shoulder and bang. He was flattened - quite hard too, I mean I am a big unit...

I layed there knowing my knee had gone, I had a quick feel around and could instantly feel my Medial was like jelly - my lateral and others felt ok though, massive pain from the bone on my right side but the ligaments felt good on that side.

They carried me off and I sat on the bench icing away. Good thing was I can still put weight on it so was able to hobble to the changerooms, grab my keys and stuff and drive down to the local Sportsmed for a check.

Initial fears were quickly brought to light, Grade 2, possible Grade 3 tear of the Medial Ligament. F it. I also suffered severe bone bruising on the right hand side of my knee..

So began my recoup and soon rehab, I even experienced acupuncture for the first time ever - won't be my last but it also won't be the first thing I run off to go and get if I'm in the mood for pain!

That was approx 8 weeks ago and my leg is much better, it still isn't ready for anything but I am walking ok and now have the knee brace off. Stupidity has set me back a few weeks as I slowly jogged around the oval with my youngest daughter, sadly the weight on my knee really put too much pressure on the right hand side and have aggravated the bone bruising..

So now pain when I walk but it is getting better.

As we speak right now, I am preparing for my sons final football game for the year and he ventures towards starting Baseball for another season. I too will return just not sure if it will be Round 1 (Physio believes it will be) or later in the round like round 4.

My Richmond Tigers are in the finals for the first time since 2001 when we were cruely knocked out of the Prelim Final, we are still 2 games to play but its likely we'll finish 5th and play Port in the first round of the finals. Both Noah and I are extremely looking forward to this!

Earlier in the year we decided we would take the family to the Gold Coast for 10 days, that meant no Melbourne trip for Noah and I unless we made the finals... sure enough they made it! So we're anxiously awaiting to see what day they will be playing so we can fly in and hopefully fly out same day.

So now you know what i've been up too, hope to add more posts over the next few weeks and push my blog to 100 articles!

Round 4 - Richmond v Collingwood (AFL)

Ok I've held off for as long as I could, was very tempted to write this last weekend straight after the game but that would have been full of negative thoughts and no constructive criticism..

By now your reading this knowing the result wasn't what I had expected or hoped, yes my boys lost.

The wound goes deeper than just the loss, earlier in the day I made my long awaited come back to football, I last pulled on the boots some 12 years ago, back then I played my last season with the Vikings and kicked a nice 50 odd goals in only 10 games, including my never to be forgotten 10 goal haul against Christies Beach (in just 3 quarters of football...).

Knee injury was the reason I stopped playing and also I met my wife to be and moved 20km's away from the footy club, I was spending more time doing other things and sadly football lost. My knee wasn't right though, I spent my last season of football at Happy Valley with a massive knee brace which was awkward to move in and took about 10m off my old 60m kick...

Since then i've moved to a local club, Broadview Football Club (Tigers!!), my son has been playing junior football there for the last 5 years. Talking to one of the members he mentioned their D grade were short of players so I had a few days to think - yep lets do it..

Now, I'm atleast 20kg's heavier than last time I played, no where near as fit and 12 years older... My first training session everything was great, the next few days though - pain, just pain - body wasn't ready for such a training session hahaha. Over the course of the week I then had niggling issues, first the hamstring, then my driver but was still confident of overcoming these and lining up for the Tigers.

That I did, I got my chance to hit the ground midway through the 1st quarter and slotted into the forward pocket - very unfamiliar ground, most of my footy at HV was at Full Forward.. From the time I jumped on though I had nothing but hesitation in my mind, new club, new players, hadn't played for years... I just didn't know my place and what I should do - sadly two leads in the groin went... I hobbled to the bench at quarter time and rested it up. I guess to my credit (and a stern pep talk from my wife) I got back out there midway into 3rd Quarter and it was then I had my first shot on goal as a Broadview Tiger.

Sadly it just went shy of the left post and a point awarded, I finished out the rest of the game getting my hands on the ball a few times but in the end it didn't come down that much as we were soundly beaten by 18 goals... infact, that goal I missed, would have been our first and only goal for the game...

So - missing the 1st half of the Richmond game I sped home, sore and a gutted feeling...

Listening on the way home I heard the Tigers had a great first half matching Collingwood and allowing our midfield to dominate again - sadly the same issues from previous weeks reared their heads again... Missed Scoring Opportunities.

I hope this is a sticking point for Dimma at training and something he is focussing on as at this level the amound of easy shots on goal the Tigers have missed this year is disgusting. Tigers at the moment are content on just doing enough to maintain a lead rather than going for the kill and murdering the hopes and moral of the opposition.

Unfortunately what I saw when I got home and sat and watched the last half was nothing short of poor, this is harsh but I think the 3rd quarter we saw last weekend was by far the worst we've played all year.

Collingwood hit Richmond hard, their midfield dominated the centre and flooded it into their forward line where their million dollar focal point was winning a tough battle in the air against Alex Rance. To Rance's credit he fought hard, unfortunately the arm reach of Travis Cloke is a tough one to defend against, he has great hands, sadly I wish he came across during last trade period!

Rancey was given a spell and Chappy took over the duties on Cloke, sadly by that time the damage had been done, Collingwood piled on the goals and took a 4 goal lead, but by that stage our heads were already down. Chappy was the next casualty of the onslaught taking on some friendly fire to the head in a clash with newby Chris Knights.

Collingwood piled on 8 unanswered goals during that quarter and I watched in amazement as one of our best midfielders, Dustin Martin fell into his 3rd quarter curse and began increasingly quiet as his player Harry O'Brien ran freely and aided Collingwoods demolition.

To the Tigers credit they managed to add 2 goals late in the 3rd quarter to somehow still be a chance.

Even though the quarter was done and dusted, heads in the sand, there was still a feeling we weren't done and early goals would worry Collingwood...

Tigers started fresh and pushed the ball constantly into our forward line but 4... i repeat 4 early chances, some easy shots, were missed. We finally added a few through the two big sticks and crept to within 3 goals but by then the damage had been done, the early misses cost us again as Collingwood regrouped and surged again adding a few and then doing enough to keep Richmond off and securing the 34 point win.

34 Points doesn't really give Collingwood the notion of how dominant they were in the last half, 11 goals to 5 doesn't depict the 3rd quarter fright they gave the rest of the competition after they had 8 unanswered goals and looked unstoppable.

Highlights for me in terms of best players, the ever reliable Cotchin, Lid's tried hard, Grimes and Petterd. Ricky Petterd isn't featuring in the Tigers so called Best players which is a shame, his addition to the team this year has been nothing but positive, he's been getting his hands alot of the sherrin and his disposal has been quite good.

Looking at the Best players below i'm shocked to see Bachar Houli in there, his last half disposal was terrible which is a big shock considering I believe him to be one of the best out there. His first half must have lifted him up there cos sadly my Bachar didn't impress me...

How do we beat Collingwood next time, or even look ahead to Freo, Geelong and Port?

The answer is simple, our shots on goal. 11.13 is a terrible result, I saw 4 points that should have been goals atleast but thats not the only example, look back to the Carlton and St Kilda games... Early in first half we had them both dead and beaten - shocking misses though didn't bury them and kept them within striking distance. Yes the result was we won, but we didn't win convincingly like a Top 4 team like Collingwood, Sydney, Geelong or Hawthorn would do.

If we are to be one of the teams others fear, we urgently need to rectify issues like this, we can't in this our season of change, allow us to have so many close games when really we could have thrashed them.

Well, this week we're out at Freo on Friday night, should be a cracker of a game, I actually think we can win this providing our midfielders maintain for four quarters and we start hitting easy shots and get the goals up!

Players best be on their A game, we have the likes of Aaron Edwards booting 7 in the reserves and we're also expecting the debut of Nick Vlastuin this week... Nathan Foley also had a good hit out, expect him to return in a month's time if all goes well...

 Final Scores:

RICHMOND                    3.3   6.5   8.6  11.13  (79)       
COLLINGWOOD           1.4   5.8   13.12  16.17 (113)

GOALS
Richmond: Riewoldt 3, Vickery 2, McGuane 2, King, Edwards, Houli , Maric
Collingwood: Cloke 7, Sidebottom 4, Clarke, O'Brien, Elliott, Swan, Dwyer

BEST
Richmond: Cotchin, Deledio, Grimes, Houli
Collingwood: Cloke, Shaw, Fasolo, O'Brien, Reid, Sidebottom, Swan

INJURIES
Richmond: King (hamstring), Chaplin (head)
Collingwood: Brown (groin)

SUBSTITUTES
Richmond: Shane Tuck replaced by Brandon Ellis in the third quarter
Collingwood: Josh Thomas replaced by Dale Thomas in the third quarter

CHANGES
Collingwood: Goldsack replaced in selected side by Macaffer

Reports: Nil
Umpires: Rosebury, Meredith, Mollison
Official crowd: 81,950 at the MCG

Round 11 - ETPBC Div 5

Boasting a big line up with only a few missing, East Torrens travelled out to Woodvilles temporary ground (Seaton High School). I likened Seaton to my favourite Seattle Mariners ground which is currently being renovated - Home Run fence is being brought in and this is what the Seaton ground resembled.

Certainly a plus but a distraction... I certainly eyed the fence as something I wanted to surpass.

Last time we played Woodville we started very slow and they got the jump on us early, we kicked into gear around halfway through and never looked back comfortably winning.

With that in mind we expected another good game for our hitters and we were treated to that early with bases loaded in the 1st. From memory we only ended up bringing two runs through however ET dominated the game from early on, Robbo threw well on the mound with Matty at home plate in General status as he controlled and motivated the troops at every opportunity.

The biggest hit came from probably our smallest player on the field, with bases loaded and yours truly parked at 3rd DR (or Runt as the others like to call him) watched the first pitch and never let go on the second, launching a bomb to centre left. Clearing the fence and bringing home a grand slam to absolutely throw ET in the clear and dominate the game.

I think from then on all eyes and wishful batters were looking to the fence for their next at bat, I know I was.

Our fielding was much better this week however still a couple of bloopers, I watched DR bobble a ball in the 1st and not to be outdone I did the same a few balls later... Unfortunately stuff like that puts pressure on Robbo and Matty also.

Personally I was happy with my game, from my count I went 4 from 4, two just dropped in but two were clearly in and one nearly reaching the fence... dammit.. Fielding, well I bobbled one and missed a flyball catch losing it in the sun but overall not too bad.

The game wasn't without fireworks, late in the game Scoop stole 2nd maybe unaware we were up by 10 runs, this seemed to enrage the 3rd baseman for Woodville who proceeded with a rant at Scoop, Scoop casually shrugged it off. Wasn't until last inning that the two players would be clashing again with the 3rd baseman running to 2nd, Scoop caught the ball and hopped off the base to throw for the double play at 1st.

It was here things went ugly, the Woodville runner slid into 2nd with his cleats up and rammed them into Scoops leg. Scoop hit the deck and we missed the double play however alot of our players, understandably, were not too pleased with the actions of the Woodville player. With his back hairs already up he continued to cause issues on the field until finally ordered off by the umpire. Whack this down to a brain snap I think.

In the end ET ran out clear winners 15-2, could have been far worse however we put the brakes on.

As I write this we're on a three week break which I think some of the older bodies are enjoying.

Well hope you all had a great Xmas and have a fantastic New Year and we'll see you first round after the break.

Round 8 - ETPBC Div 5

The weather gods were thinking of us on Saturday, the days before had reached high's around 39 degrees and a change in the weather with storms hit Thursday/Friday.

Our Div 5 squad reached Goodwood on an overcast 24 degree day, what we didn't realise was the Thunderstorm around us..

We weren't in any real danger so the game progressed as normal, Goodwood in past years has always been a tough game and we were really suprised what we saw next.

Myself, tired from the previous nights antics at the Russell Brand show @ Entertainment Centre and Cummo also at the same show but sinking 20+ ales....

But our squad showed something not seen this year, first inning run production. We piled on six runs in the first to put real pressure on Goodwood, unfortunately I couldn't join the hitting parade in that inning as I skied the ball to 1st..

Robbo, in his new running shoes, hopped on the plastic pitching mound. You heard correctly, PLASTIC. Speaking with some players they mentioned that the local public lobbied against the club to stop them adding dirt to the diamond to allow them to make a proper mound. The local residents like to bring their dogs to the park and feel that it will stop them from being able to use the oval... Sorry - I cannot believe how ridiculous that sounds and is, local residents who use the oval possibly once a day so their dog can unload on the oval - probably to be left there and not picked up... can potentially stop "Sport" from being played, or safely played, is beyond me...

This reminds me of the residents at Norwood Oval complaining about the occasional ball being hit over the fence in the Adelaide Bite games, some backward people almost cost that oval from continuing to just survive and keep baseball playing at Norwood.

What these little narrowminded people don't realise is their potentially stopping much needed revenue in struggling venues and local communities... If we stop playing sport because of a ball going over a fence or because someones dog can't take a dump then we may as well be soft like most Australians want and sit in our lounge room and get fat!

The same geese will then complain to their local council and government when places like Norwood oval then have to close down due to not enough revenue coming through from ticket sales and clubs using their venue...

Ok thats my rant about dumb narrowminded people

So, inning one all on fire, Robbo stepped on the mound and delivered his best as we closed out Goodwood with no runs on the board.

We continued to pile on our runs and take a commanding lead while Robbo kept them at bay and minimising the threat.

Cummo lead the days hitting, well hungover, yet delivered the best hitting i've seen from him all year, triple, double etc, but this all happened while we had runners on base - not sure what his final RBI tally was but it would be very high!

In the end Redsox ran out clear winners 21-5, sadly it should have been 21-1 however I had my biggest brain snap of the season, with runners on 1st and 2nd I received an easy ground ball. Ran to 3rd to get the runner out but then eyes set on glory threw the ball to 1st to get the runner out for a double play. Stupid Stupid thing to do as I wasn't balanced, overthrew the ball and in the end it went out of play and put two runners in scoring position. Unfortunately they then put on 3 runs which I will wear - never been so filthy with myself for an error which shouldn't have happened...

So overall my day, dissapointed with my fielding but happy with my batting coming away 2 hits from 5 at bats.

Back to training on Wednesday to work on both areas but sadly this weekend I will miss the game at Southern Districts whilst I play the role of jolly Saint Nick at my wife's child care centre. Been asked by the man himself to fill in for him...

Round 7 - ETPBC Div 5

I'm hoping my article isn't going to sound weird today, I'm writing this after a solid night on the PS3 checking out the latest Call of Duty installment, Black Ops II. Safe to say after a 5 or 6 hour stint playing it both my eyes and brain aren't functioning well with hardly any sleep...

Anyhow.. Last saturday we hosted Glenelg at home, we expected tough opposition from them and thats what we got.

It was a slightly different team to what we played last year and a new pitcher I hadn't seen before. The Glenelg pitcher must be given some credit for the score and the hit count, watching the first few batters I thought he was extremely hittable as there was no heat and it was coming very slowly into the box.

But, we should have learned from the last slow pitcher we faced... When a slow pitcher comes in it really throws you off guard and makes you chase the ball more and lose patience.

So after a few weeks off of the starting role, Robbo returned to weave his magic. For a pleasant change we held the opposition for a scoreless first inning, lately we've allowed runs in the first inning then have to battle for the lead back...

Our boys started off well with a few runners on bases in the first however couldn't capitalise and the first two innings went scoreless.

Glenelg managed to snare the lead in the 3rd and held onto the lead for the next few innings until Redsox finally got a runner over the line to square things up.

Redsox worked extremely hard in the field and snared the winning run in the bottom of the 6th, Robbo stepped up to the mound in the 7th and lights out, Redsox win 2-1.

Offensively, probably wasn't the best day for either side but thats what happens when two finals contending sides match off against each other in the regular season. Defensively, Redsox were awesome.

The previous week our team made a minimum of 8 errors (I stopped counting halfway through the game), Golden Grove scored 6 runs from errors in the field.

This week - Redsox had zero errors, that was the difference, our infield was solid with Angus having a game at 1st base, Hung moving over to 2nd, DR at Shortstop and yours truly at 3rd.

Outfield also boasted some strong defence with Jonesy at Left, Cummo at Centre and Ralphy dropping out to Right.

Defensively it was the best we've been all year, especially error wise, this is what we need to nail against the top sides - each game and practice we spend time improving facets of our defense, practice paid off for this game.

"Time and Game" was called and for the first time this year we played a full 7 innings before time was up.

For me personally, with the bat I had a not too good game, was 0 from 2 and didn't look like getting the hit I was looking for - part of me kept thinking of my hamstring which was feeling tight - need to forget that for this week and just hit hit hit.

Defensively I was very happy with my game, zero errors which is something i've been trying to do since my first couple of games where even though I made some really good plays I also fumbled the ball a bit. Made a nice throw in the 6th to remove the runner at 1st after a line drive which backed me away from the base - with cannon like precision I flamed it to 1st and runner sits down.

Ok - Glenelg we have met and worked hard to win the battle, this week we're away to Goodwood who in the past have always been strong, expect a tough game this weekend - especially for the pitchers who chuck the cleats away for the game and whack on runners.... the diamond we will be playing on doesn't have the usual dirt mound but has a plastic moulded mound which can get quite slippery...

Round 5 - ETPBC Div 5

Great day for baseball yesterday, only peaked around 26 degrees which was ideal, hardly any wind and most of us had been boosted by the Adelaide Xmas Pageant earlier that morning...

Suprisingly we were one of only a few at the ground with the game before cancelled due to a forfeit by Kensington Div 7...

So the ground was all ours and ripe for the taking.

We were bouyed by recent results for our opposition where a few runs had been scored against them, a definite change from prior years where although they weren't like a Southern Districts or Goodwood they were still fairly competitive.

Positions were set, Cummo got the nod as starting pitcher after showing some real good form the week before, Ralphy, still sore from previous weeks pitching... lined up at centre field and Robbo shuffled in at 1st. I was happy keeping my 3rd base whilst Jarrad slotted into right field after returning from paradise!

Sadly no Kym Ashworth this week but here's hoping we can snare him out again soon...

Gawler got off to a good start with their lead off driving a deep ball out to left field but some great pitching and work in the field ensured no runs came across.

The first three innings were tight with both teams getting the odd hit but no-one scoring the first run.

4th inning our team unleashed, many hits and we ended up scoring 7 in the inning and enforcing the mercy rule (7 runs only allowed each inning), myself still smiling smartly after I hit a bases loaded double scoring all three runners.

Up until that point in the game I didn't have much to do as weirdly the ball didn't come to 3rd during the first half of the game, I usually see the ball atleast 5 or 6 times...

Half way through the game Robbo asked me to sit out for Beggy to come in, shortly after whilst our team was batting lightning struck twice...

Whilst standing at 1st doing 1st base coaching duties Scoop came in to bat. After a few pitches Scoop hit a line drive to short stop which was fumbled, yelling at Scoop to keep running he's just made it to 1st and pulled up suddenly, his famous hamstring had gone again. Not as bad as previous ones i've seen however he knew straight away he was done.

Umpire allowed myself to be re-subbed back in so I took Scoops place at 1st base after he managed to beat the throw. The Gawler pitcher overthrew his second pitch so I decided to sprint (my version of sprinting...) to steal 2nd, made it fairly easily however just as I reached the base I felt a slight pull also in my right hamstring....

Wasn't as bad as Scoops and I could still jog, but jog was all I could do... Luckily for me two batters later a long bomb was hit and I managed to get home on a slow jog scoring the run.

Without anyone on the bench I stayed in the game and went to 2nd base.

The next inning was the sealer for us, another 7 runs came across including me after getting hit by the pitch and hobbling home after a play ruled as a double.

Robbo came in to relieve Cummo in the last inning and proceeded to shut the door completely by only throwing a total of 4 pitches with myself laughing as I took the final catch of the game.

By then I think we were in the bottom of the 6th and no way Gawler could draw or win so the umpires called it Time & Game!

With two straight wins we now look to a rare away game out at Golden Grove which should be a good game. Hoping to be available for it even if off the bench...

Local Baseball - Season 2012/2013

For most that know, i play baseball in the summer for my club East Torrens Redsox.

Yes i know, I'm a staunt Seattle Mariner and I play for a Redsox team... funny how things can pan out however around South Australia there aren't any Mariner teams...

Me receiving some chin music against Gawler

Last season our team struggled playing Division 5, mostly because we were severly depleted from the previous season but also we were relying on rookies to fill the side. For most of the year we had atleast 4 rookies playing...

2 of the rookies struggled to go from a cricket background and transition into baseball and unfortunately they are part of the list not returning next year. The other 2 transitioned quite nicely, one finished about 6th in our batting whilst the other one, only played about 4 or 5 games in the end but is a handy defensive player to have.

One of the main issues we had last year was pitching, not taking anything off the effort of our pitchers but we missed the presence of a starting pitcher. All efforts to secure one was lost when we saw two solid pitchers (who could both be pitching in Division 3 above us) move to Division 6 & 7 below us..



My boy catching last year

But, you can't win baseball games alone just with pitching, our bats weren't producing when needed and we ended up losing alot of close games.

In the end we finished only with 3 wins and lost the last game to the last placed team who due to the win jumped above us and we finished with the wooden spoon.

So, 2012/2013 season is upon us. To start with, of the list last year we only have 5 and a half players continuing (Half player as he'll only be able to play part time). We've also arranged to move down a grade to Division 6 to try and be a bit more competitive rather than enduring more losing streaks..

The season should be interesting, Our last year Division 6 team went undefeated and took the Premiership, they're moving up to Division 5 and I believe they'll take up where last season finished, not much should change for them and they should continue on their merry winning ways.

A number of players have either moved down from higher grades or re-joined after several years off. So for our team with only 5 and a half players we should be right to pick up 4 or so players and cement ourselves as a threat in the competition.



Me coaching from 1st base, my boys on base.

Still would like one more pitcher just to get where we need to be, sitting in the finals is the aim and I really think we can do it this year, new division, new players and a big thirst.

Last season i had a better year batting than the previous, in 2010/2011 I hit around 0.180 which is the worst in my career. My first ever season i was hitting above 0.500, last year i was back to hitting well and ended up with 0.375 and taking the batting trophy for 2011/2012.

So for me, the heartache of finishing last was softened a little with taking my first ever batting trophy, came 3rd in the Best & Fairest and i reckon played pretty well in my move to 3rd base.

I think i'm fitter this season, have identified where my hitting needs work on and am looking very forward to this season.

We have Scoop returning more likely to the mound again however would be good to have him off 1st base and taking over as pitch relief rathing than having to rely on him starting each week.



Foul ball against Glenelg

Gus is coming off a stellar season taking out the Best & Fairest in 2010/2011 (watch your back Gus...), Gus will more likely move into the catchers role but can rest him a bit more this year at probably Short Stop or 2nd Base as Tom s returning and loves to get behind the plate.


Jarrad will more likely slot back into his Centre Field role, moving into his 2nd season it will be interesting to see how he progresses, just need to work on his fitness hahaha


Todd only played a handful of games last year so this season we'll get him some more gametime and develop as best we can, has good defensive skills so will be handy to use around the ground.

Me batting against Gawler

Myself, well, i hope to stay at 3rd base after moving there from Right Field last year. Can be a bit daunting especially when the ball is travelling super quick at your head, but, i really enjoyed the challenge there and felt i owned the position quite well.

So, pre-season has started, well sort of, being in Div 6 we don't tend to train much, but, season is less than 4 weeks away.

I will try and give updates throughout the season if not weekly then maybe on a fortnightly basis... Hopefully it will be entertaining as we track how our team rises from bottom place last season to where we go this year..

I've added some photos of myself playing but also of my boy who also plays Little League at our club, i was lucky enough to coach him last year also.

Bo Gas's Gallery

Well time for a lighter blog this time around, i wanted to share some photos i took yesterday during my corporate cup run i competed in.

I live in a sleepy town called Adelaide, located in South Australia, very sleepy but certainly inspirational when it comes to photography!

During my morning participation in our local corporate cup event a fog which was mainly on the other side of the city quickly spread to the area we were running in providing some awesome opportunities for photos!

Anyhow heres the first one i took in the morning, i've included both the before shot and also the edited version, personally i love the edited:


Development on Adelaide Oval





















Edited version
 

The next two i took on the walk back from corporate cup, must admit i was pretty tired at this stage and still panting after a hard run! Showing one with the filter and one with out, both still look good!


Adelaide Oval (including the tennis arena)


 

 

The next few I took on my path back to the city centre, firstly crossing the bridge then heading up King William Street.

 

This next lot are my favourites, i filtered these into black and white as i felt that brought the best out of the scenery....





Ok so that was some of my photos i've taken, just a small sample of what i've taken however these are some of my favourites which the lovely mother nature helped provide.

A simple morning where i went to go and run in a corporate cup run allowed me to capture an amazing fog engulfing the city and all from my trusty iphone!

 

I will add some more of my photos eventually however if you would like to see more jump on over to instagram and check me out on there!

 

What makes me tick...

Not sure if you've noticed, i started my previous blogs with Ok... whoops..

Anyhow, as i said, i'm 33, married to my darling wife of 3 years and have two wonderful children aged 8 & 5.

My oldest is in year 3 and doing really well, part of the gifted program at his school. Loves his sports and currently plays Football, Soccer, Baseball and Swimming.

My youngest has just started her first term of school and is loving the transition from kindergarten, not apart of the gifted program yet but pretty sure she will follow in her brothers footsteps. She's currently just getting into her sport and is doing Calisthenics and Swimming but wants to join us at baseball soon too.

Me I coach my boys Under 9's footy team and Little League Minors Baseball team, i play also.

My wife so far has managed to put up with my footy obsession, god help her if we ever win a flag! She drowns out the weekly football drama's with her love of reading, god knows how she reads with us loud children in the house...