With competition coming from the likes of AFL, rugby, cricket and football, growing the sport of baseball in Australia is a tough task.
However, there’s no better way to get the attention of people than by winning a championship, and the Melbourne Aces are doing their best to gain popularity and keep up with Victoria’s sporting powerhouses by doing just that.
The Australian Baseball League (ABL) has been back in action for only two seasons, but the Aces General Manager Windsor Knox believes that the team is on the right track.
“We’re in our infancy,” Knox said.
“It’s like David and Goliath with baseball here. There are eight footy teams, a couple of rugby teams, a couple of cricket teams and a couple of soccer teams. We’re gaining some slow acceptance here in Melbourne.
“The numbers are climbing but we’re still very, very small compared to the rest of them here.”
Baseball is starting to break in as a contender for fans and local support in Melbourne, and looks to continue to gain momentum.
Knox knows that the top notch product his organisation delivers at the Melbourne Showgrounds is what has allowed the Aces to crack the competitive sports market, and that’s something he would like to continue in the future.
“Considering the things that we’ve done, and a lot of the teams in the ABL have done, we get families that walk up to us at the end of the game and say, ‘What a great experience’,” Knox said.
“It’s not only fun watching the game and the between-inning activities, but when you can bring your family of four out for 40 bucks and receive value for that with what we do in entertainment, it’s great. And that’s what we try to do over the other sports. Other sports don’t have this kind of entertainment package.”
Melbourne will have a chance to leave an impression on at least one more set of fans this season, as the Melbourne Showgrounds will host round two of 2012 ABL Postseason.
They finished second in the league standings through the regular season, earning them the opportunity to compete against the first-place Perth Heat in round one of the postseason.
After the series loss, Melbourne will host Sydney to determine who will head to the 2012 ABL Championship Series.
“It will be tremendous,” Knox said of hosting another round of baseball in Melbourne.
“To host postseason series is going to help the sport, not only just for the fans but I think for the sponsorship, media attention and all-around membership. So it’s going to be extremely critical for us to try and get that exposure over the next couple of weeks.”
What should be most encouraging for fans of sport in Victoria is that the Aces had their success this season using home-grown talent. The ABL is hopeful that the success of local players will assist development of baseball in the area and will see young fans turn into ABL players as the league grows.
“We don’t have the same number of imports or the MLB affiliate players that Adelaide, Perth, and Sydney have,” Knox said.
“Most of our guys are Victorian, Australian-born talent. Guys like Paul Weichard, Justin Huber, just to name a couple of the guys, Darryl George, Josh Davies, those guys are all home grown talent. We’ve really relied upon a lot of local guys to help us get to where we are today.”
With postseason games left to play, the Melbourne Aces have a chance to develop the name of baseball in Victoria even further. Knox believes that the success of the organisation will have an impact on fans, who will in turn bring success to the Aces.
“It’s a growing and emerging sport,” Knox said of baseball in Melbourne. “And the passion that people have for sport here, not only for baseball, is probably the best of anywhere in Australia.”
Written with Alexis Brudnicki.
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