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Old 09-07-2014, 11:54 PM   #1
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A brief history of the Australia-New Zealand Baseball League (AUNZBL, 2019-2119)

What came before the AUNZBL?

War. Nearly 4 years of brutal, bloody war the likes of which humankind hadn’t seen before. When all was said and done, much of the world was laid to waste. Cities once glorious lay in shells, many uninhabitable due to nuclear, chemical and biological assaults. But that is history we all know well.

That Australia and New Zealand were left relatively unscathed by The War is also something we know well. And appreciate even more. Not completely untouched, of course. Hundreds of thousands, men and women, many barely older than children, died fighting on foreign soil, repelling or being repelled. Technology had made the instruments of war that much more impersonal, but war was still fought by people, their purpose to kill other people.

Fortunate, though, was the fact that Australia and New Zealand suffered very few civilian casualties and lost no cities within their borders. Fortunate for the people within these two countries, and certainly fortunate for the sport of baseball.

In baseball terms, before the war a small competition of 6 teams existed in Australia, backed by the Australian Baseball Federation (reformed after the War), Major League Baseball (an American baseball organization well known to sports historians but, sadly, now confined to the history banks), and the Australian Federal Government.

To cut through the bleak war years, suffice it to say that historical records are in conflict as to whether any organized baseball was played in Australia in 2015, but are unanimous that none was played during the rest of The War.

And, while records again conflict as to how exactly the AUNZBL came into existence, it is safe to say that the ABL, Baseball New Zealand (BNZ), the Australian Federal Government, plus a few influential businessman looking to lift the nations’ spirits as well as fill their own pockets, got together and formed the organization, promoting it as both an intense sporting competition and a memorial to what the world had lost in The War.

Australia, by default now one of the world’s financial superpowers, provided 7 of the 10 teams, and New Zealand (also suddenly a financial powerhouse) 3. 6 of the Australian teams were, in principle, the teams from the pre-War competition, 5 of them retaining the same names (Adelaide changing from Bite to Venom).

The competition was split into two divisions, the Australian Division and the NSWNZ (New South Wales-New Zealand) Division.

The Australian Division contained the following teams:

Adelaide Venom
Brisbane Bandits
Canberra Cavalry
Melbourne Aces
Perth Heat

The NSWNZ Division contained:

Auckland Metros
Christchurch Cowboys
Newcastle Roos
Sydney Blue Sox
Wellington Fury

2 other cities put forward team bids (Hobart and Central Coast) but, after consideration, were asked to wait two seasons, at which time the financial viability of the competition would be revisited.

While the architects of the league knew they would face tough competition from the well-established sporting codes (rugby league, Australian rules football, and soccer) they were confident they would hold market share. Baseball was, after all, a summer sport, and its main rival in those stakes, cricket, was in a state of freefall following the apparent death of the international game.

So, after a whirlwind of high-level meetings, rushed resource consents, late-night planning sessions, and the like, the inaugural season of the AUNZBL kicked off (to mix sporting metaphors) on the 1st of October 2019.
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Old 09-07-2014, 11:59 PM   #2
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2019/2020

Perhaps the greatest surprise of the inaugural season, according to what limited archived data we have, was the fact that New Zealand took to baseball with a passion. Formerly a softball stronghold, baseball had, by all accounts, been steadily picking up support pre-War, and it seemed with no international softball on the horizon post-War, the country’s softball players decided to try the overarm sport instead.

Unfortunately, much of the statistical data for the early seasons has been lost, but we do know the following:

The Inaugural AUNZBL Championship was won by the Christchurch Cowboys, who finished second in their division with a 92-70 record, but won their 5-game Division Finals series against the Perth Heat, and then the 7-game Championship Series against the Sydney Blue Sox.

Slugger of the year went to Canberra Cavalry 2nd baseman Stewart ‘Cricket’ Warwick, a 22 year-old converted cricket player who’d avoided the military draft due to New Zealand’s 2017 withdrawal from The War. He went .357/.424/.596 with 22 homeruns in his debut season (WAR 8.0, VORP 75.2). Unsurprisingly, he also picked up the Rookie of the Year award.

Hurler of the Year went to Sydney Blue Sox ace Carlo Browne, a 28-year old right-hander who went 18-9, throwing 234 innings for a 3.12 ERA (3.71 FIP), a 5.1 WAR and a 50.8 VORP.
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Old 09-08-2014, 12:07 AM   #3
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2020/2021

While a browse through the news archives doesn’t give us much detail regarding the first two AUNZBL seasons, it does contain a lot about a certain Vic Aitcheson who briefly played shortstop for the Christchurch Cowboys in 2019 before getting arrested and jailed for his involvement in an investment fraud scheme. He appealed in 2020 and got an extra 3 years added to his 5 year sentence. What made the whole situation really sad was that Aitcheson was also a decorated war veteran, with numerous citations for bravery.

#

The 2020 Championship was won by the Sydney Blue Sox who, like the Cowboys the season before, finished 2nd in the NSWNZ Division, this year behind the Wellington Fury.

They won the Division Finals against the Melbourne Aces 3-1, then beat the Adelaide Venom 4-1 in the Championship.

Upon conclusion of the 2020 season, the AUNZBL announced that the financial situation was even better than expected and that the Hobart Prospects and the Central Coast Thunder teams would be added to the league, with an expansion draft to take place May 8th, 2021.

Rookie of the Year went to 27 year-old Melbourne Aces starting pitcher Bruce Farris. The righthander went 19-5, throwing 217.1 innings for 125 strikeouts. His ERA was 3.56, his FIP 3.67. His WAR was 5.4 and his VORP 38.2. He also picked up Hurler of the Year.

Stewart Warwick was awarded his second straight Slugger of the Year title, this season even better than the last. He went .363/.431/.626 with 33HR and 107RBI. He struck out only 44 times in 613 plate appearances. His WAR was 9.6, his VORP 95.2.

#

Baseball-related world news

While it is well known that ANZAC aid and rebuilding personnel were active around the shattered globe in the years immediately following the war, it has only recently become known (or re-known, as the case may be) how active AUNZBL baseball scouts were in those years also.

While both Australia and New Zealand had very tight immigration/refugee policies, baseball scouts regularly traveled all over looking for young players, and obviously had an informal immigration agreement with their respective governments.

One of the earliest surviving data logs regarding post-War baseball scouting was found in a Newcastle news archive dated 2021, where the head scout for the Roos, one Gordon Layland, is interviewed regarding a recent trip he made to the heartland of the country that still called itself The United States of America (even if history shows us it was not in any way united at that time). He returned with 16-year-old left-handed center-fielder Tom Kirkland in tow, who, Layland gushed, had the talent to become one of the best players the AUNZBL had ever seen.

While the article primarily focuses on the baseball aspect of the story, the following quote attributed to Layland gives us an insight into life in North America at that time:

“Look, it’s feudal in many respects. You travel in armored vehicles, and every town has a wall and locals patrolling it with whatever weapons they’ve got. Bandits tried to hold us up in a couple of places, and we just had to hope our bullet-proof glass held and that they’d give up chasing us. And the cities, they’re not much different. Scranton, where Tommy’s from, well, there hasn’t been much rebuilding. What hasn’t been gutted by fire or whatever is broken into zones. Some are little dictatorships, others attempts at democracy, or whatever keeps them alive. If they don’t know you, the locals can be more than a bit trigger-happy. But hey, they’re lucky, really. At least their city’s not contaminated and unliveable.”

On Kirkland's background:

“The kid’s had a real tough time of it, like most everybody in the States. Lost basically all his family bar his little sister, who we’ve brought over with him. She needs some surgery on her lungs, but we’re confident we can help her get back to good health. But mate, they’re both just wide-eyed and stunned here at the moment. Just little things, y’know, like shops where you can walk in and touch what’s on the shelf without the shopkeeper shooting at you. But they’re settling in. It’s great to have them here.”

#

The expansion draft took place on May 8th, 2021. A surviving data fragment from a Sydney news-site predicted that both expansion teams would be struggling to be competitive for several seasons.
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Old 09-08-2014, 12:53 AM   #4
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2021/2022

Thanks to national increased network infrastructure, plus new government policies aimed at improving data retention, statistics for the 2021 AUNZBL season are more readily available than the previous two, but are in no way complete.

The first overseas player found his way to the AUNZBL in 2021, Dominican pitcher Edgardo Barron. Successfully claiming refugee status (in 2021 fewer than 1000 overseas nationals were awarded that claim across Australia and New Zealand), he filed as a free agent with the league, but had not yet found a baseball home at the end of that season.

While the suffering of Europe, North America, Africa and Asia in The War is well documented, the South American countries too were greatly affected, but often overlooked in historical narratives.

Primarily of the Catholic religion, the South American countries were galvanized into joining the war effort by the Pope (for those unfamiliar with religious history--early 21st century and prior--whoever held that title was leader of Catholicism). Unfortunately, that did not go well for them. Already weakened by troops overseas, who were fighting primarily in Africa and the Middle East, they soon found themselves victims of the vicious missile assaults that the other sides involved had already been trading. Still, there are no recorded incidents of chemical or biological assaults on their continent, and South America as a whole was not laid to waste quite the same as the other major continents.

Post-War, scouts from the AUNZBL regularly traveled the length and breadth of South America, looking for talent. People still loved their baseball in that part of the world, and many regional competitions had already sprung up, and were doing well, by 2021.
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Old 09-08-2014, 01:00 AM   #5
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The standings at the end of the 2021 regular season were as follows. This season, only 1 team from the NSWNZ Division progressed through to the finals, as both the Cavalry and the Venom had better records than the NSWNZ second-placed Newcastle Roos.

Both the Prospects and the Thunder did indeed struggle in their initial season, both winning less than 40% of their games.
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A brief history of the Australia-New Zealand Baseball League (AUNZBL 2019-2119)--A Dynasty Report
The National Penterham Four-Bases Association--A Dynasty Report

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Old 09-08-2014, 01:15 AM   #6
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2021 League Leaders

2021 Batting & Pitching Leaders. Jason Deas of the Cowboys picked up his second HR crown. In the 2020 season he hit 49.
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A brief history of the Australia-New Zealand Baseball League (AUNZBL 2019-2119)--A Dynasty Report
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Old 09-08-2014, 01:22 AM   #7
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2021 Streaks

2021 Streaks. Bandits closer Robin 'Specs' Lightfoot didn't blow a save all during the regular season.
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Old 09-08-2014, 02:40 AM   #8
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2021 Finals and Championship

The Christchurch Cowboys played the Adelaide Venom in one round of the Division Finals, getting over them 3-1. The Cowboys hit 8 HR during the series, in contrast to the Venom's 1. This wouldn't have been surprising, as the Cowboys led the AUNZBL in HR during the regular season, hitting 221, nearly 50 more than their closest rival.

In the other Finals series, the Canberra Cavalry defeated the Brisbane Bandits 3-0 to book their first trip to the Championship in their first playoff appearance.

Championship

In an epic 7-game series, the Cavalry came from 2-3 down to win 3 in a row, the final 2 in Christchurch, to clinch the series 4-3.

Slugger of the Series went, surprisingly, to losing Cowboys CF Luke Speed, who went .364/.364/.667 in 33 ABs, hitting 3HR and driving in 6 in the process. Those numbers were down on his overall post-season stats, where in 51 PA he went .375/.412/.750 with 5HR, 9RBI, and 3dbls. His post-season OPS+ was 223. That wasn't enough to get his team home, as the Cavalry showed real team spirit and fight. An article from the era states that the Cavalry were the definition of 'team' that season, both on and off the field, whereas the Cowboys had "too many superstars and not enough of that glue known as team spirit."

Hurler of the Series went to Cavalry ace Bob Stone who, although second in the rotation, had gone 17-9 throughout the regular season. In the Championship series he went 2-0 across 2 starts, throwing 17 innings and allowing only 11 hits and walking 2. A groundball pitcher, he only struck out 6, with an ERA of 1.06.
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A brief history of the Australia-New Zealand Baseball League (AUNZBL 2019-2119)--A Dynasty Report
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Old 09-08-2014, 06:09 AM   #9
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Awards and Rule Changes

On the 13th April 2022, it was announced that the minimum stay on the disabled list would be reduced from 15 days to 11.

Rookie of the Year went to Wellington Fury catcher Jayden Limeburner. The 25 year-old played 142 games, with the stat-line .258/.353/.437, hitting 24HR along the way. His WAR was 3.7 and his VORP 40.7

Christchurch Cowboys manager Samuel Massingham got the Skipper of the Year Award. The Cowboys won 100 games in the season, Massingham's first at the club.

Tyler Silk won Hurler of the Year. He broke the existing win record in his last start of the year, ending up 19-5. The 28 year-old righthander was a K machine, striking out 290 in 221 innings across 32 starts. His ERA was 2.52, his FIP 2.64. His VORP was 57.3, his WAR 8.3. He was the only qualified pitcher to average less than 1 person on base per inning, with a 0.92 WHIP. Opponents hit .187 against him, again by far the best in the AUNZBL.

Slugger of the Year was a wide-open affair in the 2021 season. The owner of the title for the previous two seasons, Stewart Warwick, went down with a season-ending leg injury just before the All-Star game. In the end, the award went to Cowboys third baseman, Jason Deas. The 28 year-old hit .293/.384/.556 across 152 games, leading the league in HR (44) and tying for first in RBI (118). He had a WAR of 8.5 and a VORP of 78.8.
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A brief history of the Australia-New Zealand Baseball League (AUNZBL 2019-2119)--A Dynasty Report
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Old 09-08-2014, 06:34 AM   #10
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2022/2023 Preseason Predictions

2022/2023 Preseason Predictions

The Bandits and Cavalry were predicted to finished tied at the top of the Australian Division. The Cowboys were predicted to again sit atop the NSWNZ Division, with the Blue Sox 4 games back.

The Cowboys would have the best offense, the Cavalry the most homeruns, the Blue Sox the best defense. The Thunder and Prospects would once again be making up the numbers.

Newcastle Roos righthander Hayden Foreman was expected to go 18-9, with a 2.52 ERA. In 2021 he went 11-9 in 25 starts with a 3.53 ERA and a 3.52 VORP.

Stewart Warwick, now playing 3rd base, was expected to hit .377/.450/.656 with 41HR and 105RBI.
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Old 09-08-2014, 07:40 AM   #11
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2022/2023 Standings Month by Month - Nov 1 - Jan 1

2022/2023 Standings Month by Month - Nov 1 - Jan 1

The Aces were hot out of the blocks in 2022, going 21-8 in October. Auckland Metros 2B Allan 'Hoot' Lloyd was also quick out of the blocks, hitting .443/.512/.528. He carried that form through until January 2023, at which point he 'dropped off' toward the mid .350s.

The Metros seesawed their way through the first half of the year, with Tyler Silk again anchoring their rotation.
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A brief history of the Australia-New Zealand Baseball League (AUNZBL 2019-2119)--A Dynasty Report
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Old 09-08-2014, 07:46 AM   #12
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2022/2023 Standings Month by Month - Feb 1 - end of regular season

Stewart Warwick's 10-month injury layoff in the 2021 season didn't seem to hamper his 2022 season at all. He was 7RBI away from the AUNZBL's first Triple Crown.

The Cavalry, led by Warwick, finished the season 98-64, 11 games ahead of second-placed Brisbane, who missed out on the post season thanks to the Metros and Cowboys. The Roos surprised everybody with a mammoth final month to snatch 1st place in the NSWNZ Division. Both the Cavalry and Roos fell 2 games shy of 100 wins.

Jason Deas fractured his tibia in January and stayed on the DL for 6 weeks, fatally hampering his bid to pick up a 3rd successive HR crown.

2022/2023 Standings Month by Month - Feb 1 - end of regular season
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Old 09-08-2014, 07:14 PM   #13
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2022 League Leaders

2022 League Leaders

Warwick dominated most of the batting categories.

While Allan Lloyd didn't win the Batting title, he did set a new season record for hits with 218.

Tyler Silk followed up 2021's 19 wins with 18, once again only losing 5. He also blew away the K record he set in 2021 (290) with 311. At that point he owned the top 3 season strikeout bests (311 in 2022, 290 in 2021, 279 in 2020).

Hayden Foreman, predicted preseason to go 18-9, had his best season strikeout total, with 243, placing him 4th on the all-time list. The preseason prediction wasn't too far off for him. After a slow start he bullied his way through the second half of the season, finishing up 17-11, with a 2.94 ERA (FIP 2.82).

He and fellow Roos starter Angus Sweeney (17-5) were a big part of the Roos last month surge to the Division title.

Tu-An Tseng, another Metros Ace, equaled Silk's regular season win record with 19, though he lost 13 as well.

Unfortunate Central Coast starter Mitchell Bond had the dubious honor of setting a new season record for losses with 22. His stats indicate that he wasn't that terrible a pitcher, (4th or 5th guy rather than ace) but the expansion team was still unable to give any of their pitchers run support.
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A brief history of the Australia-New Zealand Baseball League (AUNZBL 2019-2119)--A Dynasty Report
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Old 09-08-2014, 07:20 PM   #14
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2022 Streaks

2022 Streaks

Wellington Fury closer Travis Mullens had an unbroken 38 save streak going at the end of the 2021 season and he continued that streak into the 2022 season, eventually ending it at 55 saves.

Two players had 5 game HR streaks in 2022. There were only 3 20+ game hitting streaks in the 2022 season.
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Old 09-08-2014, 07:45 PM   #15
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2022 Finals and Championship

2022 Finals and Championship

The Cowboys and the Roos faced off in one series, and the Metros and Cavalry in the other. This was the Metros and Roos first trips to the post-season.

The Cowboys stretched the Roos to 5 games, but Newcastle won Game 5 convincingly at home 7-zip. The Cowboys struggled offensively all series.

The Cavalry also struggled to drive runners home, going down to the Metros in 4 games. Metros 1B Joel Grimes went .588/.611/1.176 for the series, slugging 3 HR and driving in 8. For the Calvary, Warwick hit .529, but they all came in singles.

Championship

In a series that eclipsed the 2021 Championship for excitement and drama, the Metros jumped out to 3-0 lead, with 2 games at home to wrap the series up. However, the Roos had other ideas, winning the next 2, then thundering to the finish line at home to take the series 4-3. They scored 20-5 in the last 2 games.

Slugger of the Series went to Roos Catcher Jayden Limeburner. The 26 year-old (2021 Rookie of the Year), who came across from the Fury in a mid-year trade, hit .321/.387/.643 with 3HR and 8RBI.

Joel Grimes, on the other hand, went from hot to freezing, hitting only .111 across the series.

Hurler of the Series went to Foreman, 2-1 across 3 starts in the 7 games. In the pivotal Game 7, he threw 7 shutout innings, allowing only 5 hits and walking none. He threw 21 innings in the Championship, allowing only 17 hits and striking out 20.
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A brief history of the Australia-New Zealand Baseball League (AUNZBL 2019-2119)--A Dynasty Report
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Old 09-08-2014, 08:24 PM   #16
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Arnout Den Breejen became the second overseas player, and first from Europe, to actually play at AUNZBL level. From the area of Europe formerly known as the Netherlands, 29 year-old Den Breejen, a right-arm pitcher, made a harrowing trip across shattered Europe and Asia in search of a plane or a boat which would take him to Australia.

Eventually finding a place aboard a battered old cargo ship leaving from India that was "so weighed down and rickety it could barely keep its nose above sea-level," Dan Breejen started a perilous journey across the ocean. Forced to stop in Indonesia, and with Australian authorities becoming aware of the ship's presence, Dan Breejen nearly reconciled himself to spending the rest of his life in a detention camp. "Would still have been better than back home," he said in an interview with Tasmanian news-site The Advocate in 2024.

But a visiting official, conducting interviews with the detained refugees, discovered Dan Breejen's baseball past (he'd played a season in a Dutch independent league before The War, and carried a baseball and glove with him wherever he went), decided to recommend him for refugee status, and a few months later Dan Breejen signed a contract with the Hobart Prospects.

The first overseas player to play in the AUNZBL, Catcher Kevin Schout from Aruba, who also joined the league in 2022, apparently had similar stories to tell.
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Old 09-08-2014, 09:05 PM   #17
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2022 Awards

2022 Awards

Sydney Blue Sox rookie Lou Donahue took out the Rookie of the Year award. The 28 year-old RH 1B, who spent time with both the Blue Sox and the Metros in 2022, had the stat-line of .282/.339/.509, with 32HR, 107RBI, 26 dbls and 7 triples. He had a WAR of 4.0 and a VORP of 40.8.

Newcastle Roos manager Jing Liu took out the Skipper of the Year award. Liu, 61, Australian-born with Chinese parents, released a fascinating autobiography in 2036 entitled 'Liu's Life - and how baseball fought post-War racism.' The autobiography not only provided an interesting glimpse into life pre-War, but also spent a third of the book discussing how--although China was a latecomer to The War and never directly engaged Australia--people identifiably Asian post-War were often treated harshly. Fortunately, according to Liu, baseball did a lot to help, with stars like Auckland's Tu-An Tseng "powerful and articulate examples of normal, everyday people."

In 2022, Liu guided the Roos to a 98-64 record, as well as their first Championship. It was his second season in charge of Newcastle.

Tyler Silk won his second straight Hurler of the Year award. For the second season in a row he allowed less than 1 hit or walk per inning, with a 0.87 WHIP for 2022.

And in what couldn't have surprised anybody, Stewart Warwick won Slugger of the Year, his 3rd in 4 years. With a stat-line of .380/.449/.685, 46HR, 127RBI, an OPS+ of 219, a WAR of 12.2, and a VORP of 111.5, he was really in a league of his own.
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Old 09-08-2014, 10:05 PM   #18
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2023/2024 Preseason Predictions

2023/2024 Preseason Predictions

The Cavalry and Roos were tipped to top their divisions in 2023. The Roos would win 99 games. The Thunder had made some good moves during the off-season and were tipped to win 45% of their games, and not come last in the NSWNZ Division. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for Hobart, who were predicted to lose 100 games for the 3rd season in a row.

Warwick was once more predicted to be the best hitter, though not to win the HR crown. Foreman would go 15-5 to be the league's best pitcher. Silk was predicted to go only 11-5.
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Old 09-08-2014, 11:38 PM   #19
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2023/2024 Standings Month by Month - Nov 1 - Jan 1

2023/2024 Standings Month by Month - Nov 1 - Jan 1

The Metros jumped out swinging in the NSWNZ Division, and got even better in November, ending the month 44-13. They went 11-15 in December, as the Roos drew to within 4 games. The Fury, tipped to only win 71 games, were playing well over .500 ball at January 1st, 2024, 3rd place in the NSWNZ Division, and right in the hunt for a wildcard.

In the Australian Division, the Cavalry led from the get-go and by January 1st had a 9 game advantage over the second-placed Venom.

Probably the most disappointing team, even ahead of the woeful Perth Heat, were the Cowboys, languishing at the bottom of their division, 4 1/2 games below .500.

Hayden Foreman had chalked up 15 wins by Jan 1, and looked well on his way to breaking some records.

Stewart Warwick was a bit slow to get going in 2023, but by the mid-point had positioned himself nicely for another second-half surge towards the top of the batting leaderboards. His 3 triples was already 2 more than the amount he'd hit in all of 2020, 2021 & 2022.
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Old 09-09-2014, 12:30 AM   #20
Izz
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It's important, at this young juncture, to reflect for a few moments not just on the statistical aspect of the fledgling AUNZBL, now nearly 5 seasons old, but also on the effect it was having on the communities the teams played and lived in and, indeed, on the whole country (or countries, as they were then).

We can do this now, particularly, because there is much more available data to sift through than even a season back. News agency articles, personal blogs, videos. Pictures of smiling fans standing beside smiling ballplayers. Archived footage of sports announcers holding back the results of the day's games until the other presenters begged to hear them. And much more.

Baseball epitomized many of the things war-weary Australian and New Zealand citizens admired. Tenacity was rewarded, sometimes more-so than raw talent. Hope played a huge role. Not once ever does a baseball player go to the plate in the bottom of the ninth, 10 runs down, 2 out and none on, and think that there is no hope. No, rather, they fight that they can get on-base with the hope that their doing so will spark a rally, and they'll pull of something remarkable. Today, yes, back then, especially.

Hard work too, was important for any baller, and equally as prized in day-to-day life. In New Zealand, South Island fans loved Oamaru-born Stewart Warwick, even though he played for an Australian team. In Warwick, born in Oamaru pre-War when it was a sleepy, quirky town quite happy to meander on in its own way, New Zealand found an underdog success story. And while Warwick, by all accounts, wasn't the sharpest man to ever tie a boot, he was affable, and spent most of his off-seasons back home, hunting and fishing and riding. Often, Warwick would get more screen-time from the South Island news-sites than any of the Cowboys players.

Sp yes, the public took to baseball like ducks to water. They thrived on it. While the earliest data can't be completely trusted, it appears that average game attendances in the opening 2 seasons were around the 11,000 to 12,000 mark. Only 3 seasons later, and the average attendances were nearly 22,500. Many more regularly watched games online. Baseball played a huge role in the rejuvenation of Australia and New Zealand's spirits.

Let us not forget too the rejuvenating role baseball had on the early players. Many of these men had experienced horror and tragedy, fighting in a war their countries didn't start or even support, to a scale that is hard to comprehend. Through baseball they found an outlet, a way to hold onto their fragmented sanity.

Joel Grimes, 1B for the Auckland Metros, was a prime example. Drafted into the war before Australia finally pulled out, he witnessed his whole squad get killed by a shoulder-launched missile. He too was badly wounded, and when found a few hours later by other troops, was described as "staring off unseeing into the distance, covered in gore, cradling his detached C.O's head like it was a baby."

Grimes found a release in baseball. A slugging first-baseman who regularly hit 30HR a season, he said in one interview after he retired that while he could never forget the horror of what he'd experienced, "when I watched a baseball I'd hit sail deep into the centre-field stands, I had some sort of peace. It was like, in those seconds, the world was whole again."

While many might laugh off comments like that as overblown or hyperbolic, it does seem from the historical data that many ball players found the game just as beneficial as any other form of therapy.
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Not only do I play OOTP but I also write science-fiction: My Website

A brief history of the Australia-New Zealand Baseball League (AUNZBL 2019-2119)--A Dynasty Report
The National Penterham Four-Bases Association--A Dynasty Report

Last edited by Izz; 09-10-2014 at 01:30 AM.
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