Long Week

We’re wrapping up the MLB Showcase round today in Sydney with the 10th game of the week finishing up tonight. It’s been a long week, but I’ve met a lot of the key Australian Baseball people and through running the promotions I’ve been able to interact with the fans which has mainly consisted of families who are involved with the local club baseball system. It has been very interesting to see what a tight-knit group the baseball community is here, they all know each other and they’re very proud of the guys that have gone over and had success in America. Tampa Bay Rays merchandise probably sells better here than in St. Pete.

On Friday night there was a banquet for the New South Whales baseball club and I met a father and son who live in suburban Sydney and have been involved in baseball ever since the son Dyllan chose to play teeball with his friends. Dyllan was a 20-something electrician who coaches at his local club and Graham the father seemed to be the typical good natured Aussie who had taken to Baseball after learning the game through his son’s involvement. Our conversation was long and varied, but I learned the differences between rugby league, rugby union and aussie rules football and the regional alliances that belie the nuances. They invited me to go camping with them just after Christmas but I’m not sure where I’ll be by that point. The next night a little girl tracked me down and handed me a blue hat that had Giants written in yellow and red. She told me that Graham had asked her to give it to me because the team Dylan coached was the Giants and I had told them that I’m a big Giants fan (not quite the Orange and Black I’m used to rooting for but a nice gesture).

I also had the honor of meeting some local celebrities by the name of Ken and Joy Balfour, the proud grandparents of New South Whales own Grant Balfour who came so close to joining Graham Lloyd who remains the only Aussie with a World Series Ring (and he’s got two). They told me all about how he came up through the Claxton Shield competition, overcame injury about five years ago and that they were in attendance last summer in Detroit when Grant became the first Australian to throw a 100mph pitch in the Major Leagues.

I also got to speak with the afore mentioned Graham Lloyd about my travels as he poked fun at my small town itinerary telling me to stick to the wineries because getting drunk will be the most entertaining thing to do.

On Saturday they had a “training with the Pros” clinic ran by 13 year major leaguer Rene Gonzales. 140 kids utilized one of the practice fields and were taught by current and past professional Australian baseball players including Graham Lloyd and former Storm/Padre pitcher Chris Oxspring. Rene is a part of the American contingent brought over by MLB international, and I got to talk to him for a good while about my career goals and he was very encouraging to keep at it.

Before the game, I had the dubious task of MC-ing a homerun derby which was up against about a 20mph wind blowing straight in. It was a player/celebrity derby benefitting MS Australia where current players had to knock it out of the yard and the celebrities had to hit it past some cones we setup about 225 ft out (I still haven’t got the metric system down yet). It was funny that the competition ended up being won by the one female baseball player who admittedly isn’t even a power hitter, she was just the one that was available. In the finals, she beat out Brad Harman who made his major league debut last season with the Phillies when Jimmy Rollins went down with an injury.

I’m getting a better idea of where I’ll be going and I’ll be quite nomadic it seems. Some time early this week I’ll be heading to Adelaide but more specifically Glenelg which is supposed to be a nice little beach town and I’ll be staying with a 25 year old player from the team. The guy that runs the South Australia team is named Nathan Davidson (known as Davo by the ever-witty Aussies), and he’s apparently known for having a good time in the Glenelg area so I’m told that I’m in good hands. Over the next two months I’m going to be able to make it to Perth in West Australia and Melbourne in Victoria in addition to a few different small towns including the artsy newly trendy river town of Mildura.

I’ve got the next two days to wander Sydney so I’m going to try to see if I can take the ferry around the harbor and do the bridge climb. This week was a good notice that I am here to work and that those off-days must be utilized to the fullest. I’m going to get almost a full week for Christmas so I’m hoping to head either back to Sydney or maybe to the Gold Coast where most of the guys who work for the ABF live.