AFA Stadium at Holloway Field sits innocuously in the Brisbane suburb of Newmarket, and on Saturday lunchtime played host to the Brisbane Bandits in Game 2 of their home series against the Melbourne Aces in the Australian Baseball League (ABL).
It would be easy ignore the banks of low set blue seats among the playing fields of Spencer Park and Brisbane City Football Club’s ageing stadium, set as it is behind the houses of this residential Brisbane suburb. But walk past, oblivious to the world class action taking place on the diamond, and you’d be missing out on a hugely enjoyable afternoons entertainment.
In a previous article I expressed my enthusiasm for the Bandits forthcoming season, and it seems my optimism was not misplaced. The Bandits are excelling so far, sitting at the top of the ladder with a record of 12-8 under the leadership of the legendary Milwaukee Brewers catcher, Aussie David Nilsson.
The Bandits quartet of imports from the Tampa Bay Rays, along with returning fan favourite CJ Beatty – who recently re-signed for the Chicago White Sox affiliate Winston-Salem – have added a level of quality to the roster that simply cannot be underemphasised, and was sorely missed last season. These import players will be providing a valuable learning experience for the young Australian members of the Bandits playing staff.
On Saturday, the small smattering of fans who basked in the sun for the first of the day’s double header, were treated to an exemplary pitching performance by former Chicago Cubs prospect Ryan Searle. The Bandits right hander pitched all 7 innings of the shortened game for nine strikeouts, allowing only four hits and two runs in the 5-2 victory.
The game was all tied up at 1-1 in the middle of the third, a home run each for John Field (Bandits) and Kellin Deglan (Aces) getting both teams going early. In the bottom of the second, Maxx Tissenbaum advanced to second on a ground rule double, before being scored on a sacrifice fly to left field by outfielder Andy Campbell.
At the top of the fourth, Melbourne got back level at 2-2 with Brad Harman sending the ball over the left centre field fence. Both Searle and Melbourne Aces pitcher Cody Buckel were into their grove by now, pitching four straight hitless innings before sixth inning stretch.
In the bottom of the sixth, second baseman Thomas Coyle made it to first base on an outfield hit, and the Aces elected to intentionally walk Tissenbaum leaving the Bandits with a man on second and first as David Sutherland came to the plate.
The first baseman took the lead for the Bandits by burying a three run homer deep to right field, much to the delight of the sun drenched home fans, who rose as one in appreciation as ‘Goofy’ Sutherland rounded the plates. Searle then closed out the final innings to secure the win, improving his season record to 2-0, and the Bandits to 11-7.
The Bandits ended up taking out the series 3-1 with wins on Friday and Saturday night to add to Saturday afternoon’s victory, the only blemish a 12-2 blowout on Sunday afternoon.
Despite the fantastic action on the field, there are obvious problems with the ABL, as I touched upon in my previous article.
Perhaps this match was not an accurate representation of the trend of crowds this year, being the first match of a double header for the day, but from what I gathered by talking to other spectators, finding a spare seat is rarely a problem at the Bandits.
The general impression when I arrived at the ground yesterday was one of an incredibly professionally run sports league, on a very small, amateur scale. In a sense it felt exactly like it is, a very niche sport being run by a dedicated set of volunteers who deserve better than the apathy that they are given by the sporting public. This is a sport that demands big crowds to create atmosphere, hyperbole and enthusiasm to showcase and make the most of the big-play nature of the sport.
The amount of money being spent, and professionalism shown in the ABL is extraordinary, and the product is a very good one. The anyone who has attended live sport in the USA knows that it is incredibly well organised – in a different way to events in this country, and the MLB’s fingerprints are all over the ABL.
Unfortunately all this does not guarantee that people will flood through the gates of the ballparks, and as such I worry about the ability to sustain the league in its current form.
One sure way to increase interest and crowds may be to try and tap the Japanese expat market, and the ABL are undertaking steps to do this with the inaugural JABA Series, starting in Brisbane on 2/3 December and in Sydney on fifth and seventh December.
The Bandits and Blue Socks will face an All Star team from the hugely powerful Japanese Industrial Leagues – or Shakaijin – where large corporations boost the popularity and moral of their companies by success on the baseball diamond.
It will be the first time in nearly 20 years since a Japanese corporate team will have toured Australia, and the ABL would be mad if they don’t try to harness the interest of the Japanese community in seeing Japanese players representing giant Japanese corporations like Panasonic and Mitsubishi.
Baseball is the number one sport in Japan, and if the ABL can harness the potential expat market, then perhaps the future of the league could burn a little brighter, and needless to say, bigger, more engaged crowds would do so much for this sport and this league – attracting casual fans to the games just to soak up the experience.
But until that happens, the Bandits will look to march on with fellow pace setters the Sydney Blue Sox and Adelaide Bite, while the loyal baseball fans of Australia will remain a passionate minority, safe in the knowledge that they know something we all don’t.
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