With the 2013 Major League Baseball season almost over, let’s take a look at how the Australian players did.
Peter Moylan (pitcher – Los Angeles Dodgers)
Moylan started the season in AAA league but was called up to join the Dodgers mid-season, where he stayed for about a month before being sent back to AAA.
Towards the end of the season, when the rosters are allowed to expand, he was again called up to the Dodgers, where he stayed for the rest of the season.
He made a total of 14 appearances during the season and had a mediocre earned run aveage (ERA) of 6.46.
The free-spending Dodgers had an incredible season where they started off looking hopeless but dominated the latter half of the season and easily won their division, booking themselves a place in the post-season.
Moylan did not pitch in the post-season and the Dodgers ended up being eliminated by the St Louis Cardinals.
(Don’t forget the Dodgers are going to play the Arizona Diamondbacks in Sydney in the opening series of MLB 2014, hopefully Moylan will be part of that historic occasion.)
Grant Balfour (pitcher – Oakland Athletics)
Started the year as the first choice Oakland Athletics closing pitcher and proved to be one of the standout closers in the Major League this season.
He was part of a successful Athletics team who continued their ‘Moneyball’ ways, out-playing teams with much higher team salaries and winning the American League West for the second consecutive year.
Also worth noting is the fact Balfour became the first ever Australian pitcher to be selected to play in the mid-season All-Star game.
Balfour is a free agent after the 2013 season and, after the success of the last couple of years, he will probably land an impressive contract in the coming off season.
Liam Hendriks (pitcher – Minnesota Twins)
Was given opportunities to prove himself this year but in eight starts and two relief appearances he ended up with an unimpressive ERA of 6.85.
Hendriks does have the honour of being the only Twins pitcher to strike out at least eight batters in a game.
What makes that stat even more remarkable is he did it in one of his games as a relief pitcher.
That no Twins starting pitcher was able to do that in the 162 game season is indicative of how the Twins’ pitching struggled this year.
Travis Blackley (pitcher – Texas Rangers)
Was traded from Oakland Athletics to Houston Astros very early on in the year.
He was a relief pitcher for the Astros and made 42 solid appearances for them until being traded to the Texas Rangers in August.
Blackley was called upon to make three starts for the Rangers when they had injuries to many of their regular starting pitchers.
He held his own but if the Rangers have all their regular starters fit at the beginning of next season, his future there is uncertain.
The World Series between the St Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox starts this week without any Australian players involved, but it will still be an amazing spectacle.
Like the ‘grand final’ of most sports, it will probably have its share of amazing plays, umpire controversy, unbearable tension and fan heartbreak or joy.
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