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The Los Angeles Dodgers and the Arizona Diamondbacks will open the Major League Baseball season at the Sydney Cricket Ground tonight. Join us here from 7.30 for live commentary, scores and a chance to have your say on the action.
It’s been 100 years since the Chicago White Sox played the New York Giants at the SCG. A lot has changed since then – including the Giants moving to San Francisco. Tonight the wait for another Major League Baseball game is over.
A fair amount of Sydney’s attention has been diverted toward these matches over the last week. There’s a real curiosity about America’s original pasttime and whether it can translate into the Sydney landscape.
A lot of the media focus about baseball has been seen through the prism of cricket and the similarities. Indeed there are some, not just on the field. Their place in culture is similar too.
It’s a summer sport with the requisite breathers and run time to allow for hours spent in the sun (or under lights) with mates while the subtle, yet superhuman, skills are on display.
Just as Sydney-siders used to rush out after work or on the weekend to see Don Bradman do unimaginable things, so too did New Yorkers look forward to the exploits of their Babe Ruth. We have a ritual of switching the radio to hear ABC cover the cricket on long drives during the warmer months and Los Anglenos have been listening to Vin Scully call baseball games since the dawn of time.
Tonight a new generation of stars will bring that experience to Sydney.
Much has been made of Clayton Kershaw, the $200 million man. And fair enough. His contract would just about fund the entire Super Rugby salary base, the A-League too. However keep an eye out for Yasiel Puig, the dashing young man from Cuba who burst into the Majors last year. He’s a truly stupifying talent.
On the Diamondbacks side, Paul Goldschmidt has been lighting up the league since taking over as the every day first baseman.
Mark Trumbo is also an exciting outfielder and hasn’t been around for too long.
If you feel on the outside looking in when it comes to baseball tonight, try to focus intently on the pitching. As with cricket – again a parallel – the key to the game is understanding the nuances of the men trying to get the ball past the bat. Seam variations, speed changes and discrete misdirection is the key to this game.
Don’t forget to log on here from 7.30 to get all the action, live updates, scores and comments.
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