2/12/12 Melbourne Aces 6, Perth Heat 7

Barbagallo Ballpark, Perth, Australia
Australian Baseball League Championship Series Game 3
(Series tied 1-1)

Outside of Peter Moylan and his ilk, Australian Baseball was an unbelievably unknown element to me and what I thought was my better-than-typical focus on International Baseball. My first real exposure to the Australian Baseball League was the ABL All-Star game aired on MLB Network late last year; having been completely overjoyed to find something new and exciting in the Baseball world such as this, I was sure to have this Championship Series in my DVR queue once I found out about it. I was certainly universally less than disappointed; as the All-Star game was a source of joy, this series was a source of pure elation.

Three key items of note permeated this magnificent off-season spectacle: Amazingly good pitching, wonderfully coy announcers with brilliant and crisp Australian accents, and a bevy of formidable talent the likes of which you may recognize in some faces and which you may never have known about before this event. Besides that, squirmy baseball fans such as myself were treated to extra-innings mayhem, the successful movement of baserunners when most appropriate, the dramatic and sometimes critically sorrowful pitching changes by managers who knew what they were doing as well as should have known better, and the emotional call and response of costly errors, with offensive and defensive response to those errors.

This is Tournament Baseball without the hype, playoff action without the glam, and focused Minor League-plus competition at its finest. By comparison, this series makes the AAA PCL-IL 1-game championship playoff look like a Little League intra-squad scrimmage. I mean it. This is a very big stage for these players; regardless of what you may think, most of them aren’t even Australian…some have Minor League contracts, some had Major League contracts at one time, some are only recently removed from successful stints in Independent League as well as other International Baseball Leagues. They know that no matter what their current contract status, their performance right here, right now, in the Western Australian sun, is being watched by millions of fans, writers, front office people, and a handful of others who can alter their professional baseball careers with a pen or a phone call. This did happen to at least one player, immediately following one of these games. They know the stakes here…the Claxton Shield, yes…but beyond that, they know what this series can mean to them, and they are legitimately executing every play as if they understand.

The Australian Baseball League is comprised of 6 teams and plays a short season schedule of 45 games. The League in its current format is, not surprisingly, part of a joint venture between the Australian Baseball Federation, the Australian Federal Government, and Major League Baseball (the latter of which owns a 75% share…again, shouldn’t be a surprise to find that out). There was an ABL that existed from 1989-1999, but the current league has been around since 2009…what both versions have in common is, among other things, the prized Claxton Shield, the award that goes to the victor of the annual Championship Series. This is the second ABLCS, the first was won by the Perth Heat 2-1 against the Adelaide Bite. This year, the Heat return to face the Melbourne Aces (who finished 13 games behind the Heat in the regular season). The Perth Heat are the only team located in Western Australia, the other 5 teams are located largely around the Central-to-Southeastern coast. Perth claimed the right to play the series at their home park, known today as Barbagallo Ballpark (also known as, blah, Baseball Park).

Here, I am presenting all 3 games with my scoresheets. You’ll see more of an emphasis on the pitchers and their pitches in some of these posts than you may be accustomed to…after all, as I wrote earlier, this series was all about pitching, and damn excellent pitching to top it off. I’m also a sucker for the metric system!!

Two games down, and I am on a veritable International Baseball high. Proper pitching in the Perth Heat’s victory in Game 1, followed by extra-innings mayhem and my first look at a fantastic pitcher with charisma, character, and great stuff in the Melbourne Aces’ victory in Game 2. Today is the rubber match, to the victor goes the Claxton Shield and while I thought, at first, that Perth would take the championship, I’m now rooting for the Melbourne team after their comeback triumph yesterday.

On the mound for the Aces today is Jeff Jamnik, who famously won (or lost?) a “best mullet contest” to none other than my hero from Game 2, mister Bubbie Buzachero earlier in the season, this is why his previously wicked mullet-ified locks in this photo: are now shorn, yielding a much-cleaner look for Jamnik, but with the same ol’ nastiness in his pitching:

His opponent is yet another surprise for me, none other than Geoff Brown starting for the Heat. If you don’t remember Geoff, he was a 23rd round pick for the Kansas City Royals during the 2007 Draft. Brown didn’t sign with the Royals, choosing instead to stay near his home and pitch for the Washington University Huskies. Brown was un-dazzling in his 4-year stint there, compiling an 8-19 record in 94 games (25 starts), with an ERA of 5.53 and a gruesome opponent BA of .298; his work with the Heat this season is his first venture into professional baseball. His work in this game is rather short, yet brutal.



Brown lives on his fastball, sitting between 86-90 mph only touching 90 a few times. He used his curve quite a bit, but his accuracy with this pitch caused him to walk a few folks. As far as the Aces were concerned, they loved his fastball just as much as he did. Brown faced 14 batters in 1.2 innings of work, struggling to record outs, and was mercifully lifted after giving up 5 runs (4 earned) on 5 hits and no punchouts.

One of these hits was good news for Perth CF Elliot Biddle, who emerged from his offensive silence in the series with a bases-clearing triple in the first inning that put the Heat on the board. Biddle hails from Victoria, Australia; other than 3 games for the GCL Twins (as a pitcher) in 2008, his only professional baseball experience is 2 seasons in the ABL, including the current season.

Brown’s replacement is Jacob Clem, another native of Washington State, whose only professional baseball experience is also this season in ABL. Clem is a klassic “sinker slider guy,” according to Jon Deeble, with “3-quarter side-arm action,” according to Warren Smith. I love side-arm pitchers; Clem wields a curiously formidable fastball, with 86-90 mph velocity (including a nasty 86-87 mph sinking fastball) plus a 70-74 mph Curve and a 72 mph changeup, used sparingly. Clem stays in through the 8th inning, with his only damage being a single run on 4 hits.

Jeff Jamnik, by comparison, fared much better than Brown but still wasn’t able to handcuff the Heat effectively. The Arlington, TX native has worked exclusively in Independent League Baseball from 2008-2010, this is his second season with the Aces in the ABL. Jamnik fits the mold of ABL pitchers as a Fastball/Curve/Changeup pitcher; his FB sits at 86-91 with an 83 mph Slider, wicked 73-77 mph breaking curve and a pitch-to-contact changeup that doesn’t fool as many batters as it does send balls lazily into the air, turning them into gravy for outfielders. Jamnik doesn’t go the distance, only working 4 innings and allowing 5 earned runs on 8 hits, including a 1st inning 2-run HR by Allen de San Miguel.

With a lead-off single by Brenden Webb in the bottom of the 5th, Phil Dale calls on his “Ace in the hole,” removing Jamnik in favor of his mullet contest adversary…yes, that’s right…Bubbie Buzachero is back!! Until now, the pitching in this series of unusually great pitching has been surprisingly not unusually great. Bubbie allows Webb to score on a line drive to left center by Mitch Graham (charged to Jamnik) and allows one more run in the inning on a SAC fly by James McOwen, scoring de San Miguel…this 2nd run ties the game at 5 apiece.

From this point forward, Buzachero is literally inhuman. Bubbie confuses the Heat deliberately with his amazing curve (occasionally a curve-slider and/or curve disguised as an elevated fastball) and devastating changeup, and his sneak-attack fastball worked in between. Watching his work inning-by-inning was a truly gripping affair.

Still tied after the 9th, the game goes into extras again and for the second day in a row, I’m in Baseball Heaven.

If Buzachero’s performance yesterday was brilliant, today it was phenomenal. During the 11th, Jon Deeble playfully cheers “It’s the 11th inning, and he gets better as the night goes on!!!” Truth! In the 10th, Buzachero retires the side on 2 flyouts and a strikeout, throwing 6 pitches total. In the 11th, Buzachero hits Mychal Givens after retiring 2 batters, but retires Brenden Webb on a pop out…all in 11 pitches.

Buzachero regains his focus after hitting Givens…the look on his face is priceless, as I wrote in my Game 2 post, Bubbie bears more than a functional resemblance to the wonderful Mitch Williams…this gaze, this countenance screams Mitch Williams. In this brilliant sequence, I provide an example as evidence that as the night went on, Buzachero was certainly channeling his own “inner Mitch Williams” as he works against Webb…


Buzachero held his own against Fastballer Brendan Wise (9th inning) and Jack Frawley, who lives “almost exclusively on the slider.” After the 12th, Bubbie has thrown 113 pitches, 74 for strikes, has stuck out 7, walked one, and allowed one run on 4 hits. In the bottom of the 13th, Bubbie surprisingly takes the mound again…maybe not such a surprise, as by this point he is a certified pitching monster. Then the unbelievable happens…

Buzachero hits James McOwen on his first pitch of the inning. Just like that, Phil Dale is on the field and Buzachero reluctantly hands him the ball.

This isn’t the time or the place for a vexed discourse on the fallacy of earned runs and how earned runs, along with the traditional W-L record, really add a bit of bitter pudding to the long-standing historical picture of a pitcher’s true performance in a game, as a pitcher, and not as a toy of defense, offense, and otherwise independent factors. If you want to read more of this, start with the fantastic book Baseball Between the Numbers, primarily the chapter “When Does a Pitcher Earn an Earned Run?” and go from there. From my standpoint, Buzachero’s mark in the box score of this game, from this point forward, is more than a clear example of what could be wrong with the stickiness of these outdated, non-illustrative, situation-disregarding numbers and what they really mean (or don’t mean).

Of course, if you’ve been reading this series, you may consider me a “Bubbie Buzachero Apologist” after what I’m about to write…you need to know, I don’t have a problem with this whatsoever. Bubbie was totally and unequivocally fantastic tonight…where his line score ends up at the conclusion of this game is fundamentally unfair in regards to his performance today, and that’s really the bottom line.

Every great pitcher has these moments…I’ve mentioned Mitch Williams quite a bit, especially in my admiration of Buzachero as an homage (not a comp) to Williams. This happened to him. This happened to Goose Gossage. This happened to Dennis Eckersley. Tonight it happened to Bubbie Buzachero, that’s reality.

In relief, side-armer Andrew Russell retires Perth PH Dylan Jones on a SAC bunt on one pitch, McOwen advances to second. He retires Perth 1B Matt Kennelly on a full-count grounder to short, McOwen advances to second. Russell is on his way to closing the inning and stranding McOwen to continue the game and salvage Buzachero’s antiquated linescore heritage. After two pitches, both away from the zone, Russell delivers a wild pitch and in a scene reminiscent (but not as glorious) of an extra-innings game I saw on the second BIL Tour on 8/26/2010, McOwen crosses home plate while Kevin David scurries to retrieve the ball, and just like that…the Perth Heat win, and are recipients of the Claxton Shield for the second consecutive year. Russell was that damn close to getting the Aces out of this inning and extending the game, but as he lost control of his slider, even during Kennelly’s AB, he pretty much blew the chances of that, pitch by pitch. Again, my point is sure, Buzachero owned the runner on base, but where in the linescore will it record, accurately, that it was indeed Andrew Russell, whose errant throw was wild enough to preclude any other outcome, who gave up the game? And if this is so, then why will Buzachero walk away with an “L” in the linescore and even take credit for that scored run?

This is perhaps why Buzachero is a hero and a legend to Australian baseball fans, despite the fact that he’s a guy from Tennessee, a competitor who does things differently than the grain on the bat runs. Think what you want about that “L” in this most important game, but Bubbie won a great deal more. He won the collective hearts of a nation of baseball fans, and even more hearts around the world, those who couldn’t have enjoyed his work more than they ever thought possible…this fan certainly included.

Mitch Williams. Goose Gossage. Dennis Eckersley. The moments they are infamous for are decidedly much more humbling yet in hindsight, never tarnished their respective reputations. They dealt with it, Bubbie deals with it, and for fans like me, we all know what really happened. Bubbie was amazing, did the heavy lifting for the Aces in staying in this game, and was intrinsically no more responsible for the loss than McOwen was in scoring the winning run.

The game was called by Warren Smith and Australian National Baseball Team Manager Jon Deeble for Fox Australia, their accents are really growing on me now…so much that I fear I may campaign MLB Network for Australian SAP on their broadcasts!! Besides their glowing amazement at Buzachero’s performance, they kept a thread of discussion around catcher framing going on throughout the game. Catcher framing is so damn important in this game, it’s nice to hear these blokes discuss the reality and validity of catcher framing, where dorks like Joe Morgan would rather talk about their career!! If you haven’t read Mike Fast’s gospel on Catcher Framing (”Spinning Yarn” on Baseball Prospectus, one of the most outrageous and wonderful writings of 2011) then you really, really should!

Do you want to know more about the Australian Baseball League? Of course you do, if there’s one takeaway I would request if you’re reading this it would be for you to want to know more. Head on over to the Official Site of the ABL where there is a lot more information, including the ripping History section, where you can read about Australia’s Baseball beginnings, previous domestic leagues and competitions, international successes, and a lot more. You can also follow the league on twitter: @ABLeague

You can also follow Bubbie on twitter (@bbuzachero) or visit his fun website, Bubbie Buzachero International Baseball to find out more about him and where his interesting career will take him next. Bubbie has announced that this season, he’ll be pitching in Europe!! I’ll be doing more than my best to keep up with him during this next phase of his career!






If you enjoy my work, I encourage you to spread the word via Twitter
(I am @yoshiki89), and also please leave a comment!

2/11/12 Melbourne Aces 3, Perth Heat 2

Barbagallo Ballpark, Perth, Australia
Australian Baseball League Championship Series Game 2
(Perth leads the series 1-0)

Outside of Peter Moylan and his ilk, Australian Baseball was an unbelievably unknown element to me and what I thought was my better-than-typical focus on International Baseball. My first real exposure to the Australian Baseball League was the ABL All-Star game aired on MLB Network late last year; having been completely overjoyed to find something new and exciting in the Baseball world such as this, I was sure to have this Championship Series in my DVR queue once I found out about it. I was certainly universally less than disappointed; as the All-Star game was a source of joy, this series was a source of pure elation.

Three key items of note permeated this magnificent off-season spectacle: Amazingly good pitching, wonderfully coy announcers with brilliant and crisp Australian accents, and a bevy of formidable talent the likes of which you may recognize in some faces and which you may never have known about before this event. Besides that, squirmy baseball fans such as myself were treated to extra-innings mayhem, the successful movement of baserunners when most appropriate, the dramatic and sometimes critically sorrowful pitching changes by managers who knew what they were doing as well as should have known better, and the emotional call and response of costly errors, with offensive and defensive response to those errors.

This is Tournament Baseball without the hype, playoff action without the glam, and focused Minor League-plus competition at its finest. By comparison, this series makes the AAA PCL-IL 1-game championship playoff look like a Little League intra-squad scrimmage. I mean it. This is a very big stage for these players; regardless of what you may think, most of them aren’t even Australian…some have Minor League contracts, some had Major League contracts at one time, some are only recently removed from successful stints in Independent League as well as other International Baseball Leagues. They know that no matter what their current contract status, their performance right here, right now, in the Western Australian sun, is being watched by millions of fans, writers, front office people, and a handful of others who can alter their professional baseball careers with a pen or a phone call. This did happen to at least one player, immediately following one of these games. They know the stakes here…the Claxton Shield, yes…but beyond that, they know what this series can mean to them, and they are legitimately executing every play as if they understand.

The Australian Baseball League is comprised of 6 teams and plays a short season schedule of 45 games. The League in its current format is, not surprisingly, part of a joint venture between the Australian Baseball Federation, the Australian Federal Government, and Major League Baseball (the latter of which owns a 75% share…again, shouldn’t be a surprise to find that out). There was an ABL that existed from 1989-1999, but the current league has been around since 2009…what both versions have in common is, among other things, the prized Claxton Shield, the award that goes to the victor of the annual Championship Series. This is the second ABLCS, the first was won by the Perth Heat 2-1 against the Adelaide Bite. This year, the Heat return to face the Melbourne Aces (who finished 13 games behind the Heat in the regular season). The Perth Heat are the only team located in Western Australia, the other 5 teams are located largely around the Central-to-Southeastern coast. Perth claimed the right to play the series at their home park, known today as Barbagallo Ballpark (also known as, blah, Baseball Park).

Here, I am presenting all 3 games with my scoresheets. You’ll see more of an emphasis on the pitchers and their pitches in some of these posts than you may be accustomed to…after all, as I wrote earlier, this series was all about pitching, and damn excellent pitching to top it off. I’m also a sucker for the metric system!!

Still on a buzz from Game 1, I’m ready for more of this great ABL stuff as the Aces collect their baseball wits and try to come back against the Heat to even up the series and stay in it for the Shield. Dubuque, Iowa native Nic Ungs starts for Melbourne against Queensland, Australia native Warwick Saupold, both of whom have great baseball names. But the hands down winner in this category is neither. The definitive winner, and after this game, suddenly one of my favorite pitchers in baseball, is none other than Bubbie Buzachero.



Nic Ungs is a veteran Minor Leaguer, with 10 seasons of work for the Marlins and Brewers organizations (no MLB experience), who spent last season with the Somerset Patriots of the Independent Atlantic League (the very same league where Michael Schlact, ABLCS Game 1 stud Virgil Vasquez, and the aforementioned Buzachero all pitched last year). Ungs is a “pitch to contact” guy. He doesn’t throw with fire (he sits at 80-85 mph, touching 87 only occasionally), or possess any inordinate nasty stuff (his predominant pitch is a sinker)…he throws strikes, and throws them well. For a right-handed pitcher, he has an excellent pick-off move, the kind that would even make lefties blush with envy.

Warwick Saupold, on the other hand, has only pitched in the ABL during his career, and was only 21 in 2011. Saupold’s payoff pitch seems to be the well-located 2-seam fastball (sitting at 90-91 mph), with an occasional 73-76 mph Curve.

Hijinks ensue almost right away, as Melbourne 3B Scott Wearne has a rough defensive inning, charged with 2 errors in the 2nd. Wearne is another Australian native with only 1 season of indie ball experience under his belt in 2010, to be fair he flashed some great glove work in the game despite this inning, and the Heat fail to capitalize on the affair, with the game staying scoreless until the 5th.

I forged a slight disagreement with the Official Scorer on one of the Wearne error plays, Perth DH Dylan Jones placed a hard-hit dribbler in Wearne’s direction and reached 1B on the charge, reached 2B on a bad throw by Wearne. The Scorer charged Wearne with the throwing error (which I agree with), but didn’t credit Jones with a base hit. Wearne had no play at all, I’ve watched the tape several times, and I stand by my initial ruling…no play, Jones reaches 1B on a single, and reaches 2B on the error throw.

In the 5th, the Heat strike first when lead-off man Mychal Givens (an Orioles farmhand for the last 2 seasons) reaches on a double, advances on a SAC bunt by Brenden Webb, and scores on a SAC fly by Tim Kennelly. The small-ball barrage on Ungs continues when Allan de San Miguel doubles and SS Mitch Graham reaches first on a bloop single to left-center, scoring de San Miguel. Aces Manager and Australian Baseball legend Phil Dale gives Ungs the hook in favor of RHP Bubbie Buzachero, who retires James McOwen on a grounder to 2B to end the inning.

From the moment I see Bubbie on the mound, I know this guy is going to be something special; with his errant, free-flowing mullet, flat-brim cap pulled down to obscure his eyebrows in shadows, leaving only his cold, argumentative stare…socks strikingly visible, and a set of ink on his arm that would make Kyle Farnsworth smile.When his name comes up, that pretty much seals the deal. My first thought is “what a great baseball name, and he really looks like a Bubbie Buzachero.” Once he starts throwing, I find myself particularly enthralled by this enigmatic pitcher. Immediate memories of the most entertaining pitcher in MLB history, Mitch Williams, start raging through my consciousness. Not just in his form, one of unkept aggression and sinister pin-point control, but also in his occasional violent backlash from his arsenal of pitches, sometimes throwing himself into a crouch over the mound.

Bubbie was born in Livingston, TN as Edward Dale Buzachero, but don’t call him that. Legend has it that his sister gave him the nickname, but in baseball mythology one can only speculate on how many other permutations of the origin might possibly exist. Beyond mythology, know ye this: Buzachero was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 23rd round of the 2002 draft and spent 4 seasons in that organization before heading to the Cleveland Indians in 2006, splitting 146 games between AA Akron and AAA Buffalo from 2006-2008. In 2009 he spent some time as a Long Island Duck in the Independent Atlantic League and eventually returned to the Toronto system. 2010 found Buzachero starting out in the Houston Astros system, before finishing that season as a Blue Jay farmhand once again. In 2011, Buzachero returned to the Long Island Ducks’ roster, appearing in 52 games and finishing the season with a 7-2 record, 3.26 ERA, and admirable 1.190 WHIP and 6.1 SO/9. This is his first season in the Australian Baseball League, and the fans down there can’t get enough of him.Aside from his cold stare and aggro mound presence attack, Bubbie’s pitching arsenal is very mixed and effective. His slider has a great deal of nasty, ranging from 77-84 mph; on the lower speed end batters swing helplessly as the ball breaks down and away, at higher speeds, batters pop up sky high. His devastating change-up sits at about 75-78 mph (including his quasi-trademark “knuckle curve,” as described by commentators Warren Smith and Jon Deeble), his curve ball is a thing of true beauty and his sneak-attack fastball (sitting at 89-91 mph) is an effective part of his portfolio that adds to the bewilderment of opposing batters. Buzachero can mix these up in deadly fashion, I assure you that every pitch is as exciting to watch as the last one.

The decision by Dale to bring in Bubbie is an effective one; Buzachero handcuffs the Heat for 3.1 innings and along with his defensive backup, keeps things under control. Buzachero does his part for defense as well…In the kookiest play during the series so far, as Matt Kennelly lines out into a double-play that is more accurately scored as “Buzachero’s shoulder > Ramos”…the line shot bounces high and wide off of Bubbie’s shoulder, into the glove of Ramos, who steps on the bag at 2B for the second out.

Melbourne responds to the Heat’s 5th inning strike by capitalizing on a throwing error by Perth 3B Tim Kennelly to his brother 1B Matt Kennelly, allowing Melbourne 1B Josh Davies to reach safely. Saupold is unable to keep the Aces from advancing Davies one batter at a time, and he scores on a 2-out line drive single to left-center by Justin Huber, allowing Davies and SS Dominic Ramos to score, both unearned runs for Saupold.

Huber is one of two MLB veterans in the Aces’ lineup…the Melbourne native spent 2001-2004 as a New York Mets prospect, then 2005-2007 as a Royals farmhand before spending a season each with the San Diego and Minnesota organizations. Huber never saw any MLB experience with the Mets, but played in 38 games with the Royals, 33 games for the Padres, and a single game for the Twins. Justin was on the Hiroshima Carp roster in NPB during 2010, and spent 2011 as a Somerset Patriot, along with Nic Ungs. This RBI single was Huber’s first and only hit in the series.

NOW we’ve got us a baseball game!!

Saupold faces 2 batters to start the bottom of the 6th, after Royals farmhand Kevin David singles to lead-off, he is advanced by DH Joshua Hendricks on a SAC bunt and Saupold is yanked by manager Brooke Knight in favor of Perth native RHP Cameron Lamb. Lamb has spent 4 seasons with the San Francisco Giants organization (missing the entire 2008 season) and utilizes a treacherous mix of a 90-94 mph FB with aggressive movment, and an 84-85 mph slider that sometimes translates into a sinker-slider at higher speeds. Lamb throws 3.2 scoreless innings.

Meanwhile, Buzachero is in the game until the bottom of the 9th, game still tied, with the 8,9, and 1 hitters due up. Manager Phil Dale gives the ball to side-armer Andrew Russell, and Buzachero is demonstratively livid, animatedly arguing with Dale to no avail, and returns to the dugout, throwing his glove in disgust. As this occurs, I am throwing stuff around as well…I really wanted Bubbie to stay in! With only 1 hit allowed and only having thrown 48 pitches, he seemed prime and ready to go. Smith and Deeble assert all of us that this is necessary on Dale’s part for strategic purposes. Bubbie was hot tonight, if Dale hopes to win this game and force a 3rd game, he’ll want Buzachero available for that game…if he works anymore tonight, Dale won’t have that option. OK, I settle down, and a few minutes later Bubbie is seen cooling down in the dugout, so everything is fine.

Russell does his job with a great sinking fastball and an occasional curve (that is occasionally a little wild). The 9th ends, still tied at 2-2 and we are headed for extra-innings!!! The joy of this series just got more joyous, Bonus Baseball RULES!!

Lambs stays in for the 10th, 2 of the 3 hits he allows happen in this inning but he manages to stave off the Aces’ threat. In the 11th, Lamb is replaced by side-armer Benn Grice (from parts unknown, whose sole experience is 2 seasons in ABL) who pitches 2 beautiful innings. In the top of the 13th, Grice allows Davies to reach on a base hit to lead off, Davies eventually scores on a double (my ruling, not the Official Scorer’s) by Brad Harman and the Aces have the advantage. “Haahhhman” (hat tip to the Aussie commentators!), is the other MLB veteran in the Aces’ lineup and like Huber, is also a native of Melbourne and has spent his entire Minor League career in the Phillies organization (2004-2009). His cup of coffee stint with the MLB Phillies occurred in 2008, appearing in 6 games towards the end of the season. This is his first season in ABL; he picked up his offense a little bit in this game (2-for-5 with this key RBI). Grice’s adversary during these 3 innings two innings is Kevin Reese, who pitched one inning in yesterday’s game. Harman lends some great defensive assistance in robbing de San Miguel of a sure-thing chopper base hit to start the bottom of the 13th. Subsequently, Reese cruises through to end the 13th inning, allowing 3 hits and fanning 2, and the Aces win the game 3-2.

I shined out Heat SS Mitch Graham for his defensive plus to their roster in my post on Game 1, I only thought it would be fair to mention Aces SS Dominic Ramos, who is nearly as good at what he does. Ramos is from Texas and spent 2 seasons in the Boston Red Sox organization before starting a lengthy trek in Independent Baseball; in 2007 he was on the Worcester Tornadoes roster, from 2008-2011 he played for the Brockton Rox, both teams of the Canadian-American Association. Another hat-tip goes out to Heat LF Corey Adamson, son of Australian Baseball star Tony Adamson, as he slid straight into the left-field chain-link wall to steal complete extra bases from Justin Huber.

The game was called by Warren Smith and Australian National Baseball Team Manager Jon Deeble for Fox Australia, their accents are really growing on me now…so much that I fear I may campaign MLB Network for Australian SAP on their broadcasts!! I don’t know what the deal is with the microphones they use, but check out these screenshots of an in-the-booth interview with Game 1 winner Virgil Vasquez. Maybe I’m just not up on the new microphone technology, but from what I saw here, you have to press the plastic piece on top of the mike against your upper lip when you speak into it. Amazing stuff, I guess.

2 games down, the series is tied, and so far the score is:
1 complete game victory
1 mayhemic extra-innings contest
9 fantastic pitchers, including 1 extra-special fantastic pitcher who is a great deal of fun to watch

I’m hoping Phil Dale does bring Buzachero back, I’d hate to think that this would be the last I’d see of him for a while!!

Do you want to know more about the Australian Baseball League? Of course you do, if there’s one takeaway I would request if you’re reading this it would be for you to want to know more. Head on over to the Official Site of the ABL where there is a lot more information, including the ripping History section, where you can read about Australia’s Baseball beginnings, previous domestic leagues and competitions, international successes, and a lot more. You can also follow the league on twitter: @ABLeague

You can also follow Bubbie on twitter (@bbuzachero) or visit his fun website, Bubbie Buzachero International Baseball to find out more about him and where his interesting career will take him next.






If you enjoy my work, I encourage you to spread the word via Twitter
(I am @yoshiki89), and also please leave a comment!

2/10/12 Melbourne Aces 1, Perth Heat 4

Barbagallo Ballpark, Perth, Australia
Australian Baseball League Championship Series Game 1
(Best of 3 game series)

Outside of Peter Moylan and his ilk, Australian Baseball was an unbelievably unknown element to me and what I thought was my better-than-typical focus on International Baseball. My first real exposure to the Australian Baseball League was the ABL All-Star game aired on MLB Network late last year; having been completely overjoyed to find something new and exciting in the Baseball world such as this, I was sure to have this Championship Series in my DVR queue once I found out about it. I was certainly universally less than disappointed; as the All-Star game was a source of joy, this series was a source of pure elation.

Three key items of note permeated this magnificent off-season spectacle: Amazingly good pitching, wonderfully coy announcers with brilliant and crisp Australian accents, and a bevy of formidable talent the likes of which you may recognize in some faces and which you may never have known about before this event. Besides that, squirmy baseball fans such as myself were treated to extra-innings mayhem, the successful movement of baserunners when most appropriate, the dramatic and sometimes critically sorrowful pitching changes by managers who knew what they were doing as well as should have known better, and the emotional call and response of costly errors, with offensive and defensive response to those errors.

This is Tournament Baseball without the hype, playoff action without the glam, and focused Minor League-plus competition at its finest. By comparison, this series makes the AAA PCL-IL 1-game championship playoff look like a Little League intra-squad scrimmage. I mean it. This is a very big stage for these players; regardless of what you may think, most of them aren’t even Australian…some have Minor League contracts, some had Major League contracts at one time, some are only recently removed from successful stints in Independent League as well as other International Baseball Leagues. They know that no matter what their current contract status, their performance right here, right now, in the Western Australian sun, is being watched by millions of fans, writers, front office people, and a handful of others who can alter their professional baseball careers with a pen or a phone call. This did happen to at least one player, immediately following one of these games. They know the stakes here…the Claxton Shield, yes…but beyond that, they know what this series can mean to them, and they are legitimately executing every play as if they understand.

The Australian Baseball League is comprised of 6 teams and plays a short season schedule of 45 games. The League in its current format is, not surprisingly, part of a joint venture between the Australian Baseball Federation, the Australian Federal Government, and Major League Baseball (the latter of which owns a 75% share…again, shouldn’t be a surprise to find that out). There was an ABL that existed from 1989-1999, but the current league has been around since 2009…what both versions have in common is, among other things, the prized Claxton Shield, the award that goes to the victor of the annual Championship Series. This is the second ABLCS, the first was won by the Perth Heat 2-1 against the Adelaide Bite. This year, the Heat return to face the Melbourne Aces (who finished 13 games behind the Heat in the regular season). The Perth Heat are the only team located in Western Australia, the other 5 teams are located largely around the Central-to-Southeastern coast. Perth claimed the right to play the series at their home park, known today as Barbagallo Ballpark (also known as, blah, Baseball Park).

Here, I am presenting all 3 games with my scoresheets. You’ll see more of an emphasis on the pitchers and their pitches in some of these posts than you may be accustomed to…after all, as I wrote earlier, this series was all about pitching, and damn excellent pitching to top it off. I’m also a sucker for the metric system!!

Right off the bat, I’m recognizing the starting pitcher for the Perth Heat. Virgil Vasquez? Oh yeah! He was the winning pitcher for the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs in relief of Michael Schlact, in this rain-shortened game, which was my first Indie Ball game posted on this blog.Vasquez (a native of Santa Barbara, CA) started a handful of games for the Tigers in 2007 and the Pirates in 2009, but never really stuck with either club at the Major League level, instead spending most of his time in the minors (DET 6 seasons, PIT 1 season, TBR 1 season) before taking his craft to the Blue Crabs, finishing the 2011 season with a 1.224 WHIP, 5.2 SO/9, 8-6 record and a 4.25 ERA. Needless to say, if Vasquez was working towards a career game to remember, this one certainly would be it.



Vasquez faces Travis Blackley, who is Australian, and has spent several years in the minors from 2001-2010 with the Mariners, the Giants, the Phillies, the Diamondbacks, the A’s, and the Mets…but has never pitched in the Major Leagues. His only work in 2011 was for ABL as a member of the Melbourne Aces, he went 1-0 with a 3.55 ERA in 8 games and 12.2 IP, his first start for the Aces was in the first round of Postseason play, a no decision for Blackley.

Blackley started strong, and stayed strong for most of his innings, but a series of small-ball offense by the Heat in the very first inning found the Aces behind by one. In response, Aces Catcher Kevin David (from Baton Rouge, LA, currently active in the Royals organization with a .617 OPS in Kane County last year) rips a 2-out HR to even the score.

This would be the only run allowed by Vasquez in the game.

In the 4th inning, 2011’s ABLCS MVP James McOwen (a Florida native in the Mariners’ system from 2007-2009 and 2011, no MLB appearances) launches a solo shot to lead-off and the game is locked at 2-1 in favor of the Heat until they score two more times in the 6th and 7th innings against Blackley. After 7 innings, no BB, 1 HB and 5 strikeouts, Blackley is replaced by Kevin Reese, who only allows 1 hit in his one inning of work.

Vasquez, on the other hand, cruises through 9 innings, pitching a complete game of 1 run baseball, with no BB and 8 strikeouts. Neither staff walks anybody, that’s how crazy good the pitching was. Vasquez throws 122 pitches in this outing, and shows his best stuff in his last 3 innings of work, striking out 4, 2 groundouts and 3 flyouts. He was breath-taking, never making his outing look as easy as he made it look brutally calculated and well-executed, with some ultra-formidable help from his team-mates…

The Heat defense really showed their stuff; I don’t think I’ve seen a shortstop in the minor leagues that has the kind of smack that Mitch Graham does. Graham is a native of Perth, who spent 2004 with the Phillies organization in the GCL before losing time due to injury. He resurfaced in 2009 with the Edmonton Capitals of the Independent Golden Baseball league. Besides ABL work, he played for the Dutch Major League Almere Magpies in 2010. Why he isn’t on a minor league roster with a ticket to the big leagues now, I really have no idea…Graham handles those kooky sinker-baller-high-choppers as good as anyone in the minors or majors I’ve ever seen. His G6-3 partner in the infield, fellow Western Australian native Allan de San Miguel, has been a Twins farmhand since 2005, on the New Britain Rock Cats roster in 2011 with a less-than-impressive .190/.244/.238 and .483 OBP for the season. His impressive dig and tag of a rushed grounder to 3B Tim Kennelly was a delicious defensive highlight.

The Heat lock down the first game of the series strongly, and I’m locked into what is probably the most exciting baseball I’ve seen in the offseason. I can’t wait for this series to continue, total hat-tip to MLB Network for bringing this my way!!

The game was called by Warren Smith and Australian National Baseball Team Manager Jon Deeble for Fox Australia, their accents are so kool I had to watch Mad Max with the Aussie soundtrack on afterwards, just for kicks. Deeble, by the way, was a pitcher in the original ABL and was a Minor League Manager for the Marlins and Red Sox systems. He was third base coach for the 2005 Red Sox and is currently their coordinator of scouting for the Pacific Rim region. He’s noted mostly for his signings of Daisuke Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima, as well as lots of Australian talent.

Do you want to know more about the Australian Baseball League? Of course you do, if there’s one takeaway I would request if you’re reading this it would be for you to want to know more. Head on over to the Official Site of the ABL where there is a lot more information, including the ripping History section, where you can read about Australia’s Baseball beginnings, previous domestic leagues and competitions, international successes, and a lot more. You can also follow the league on twitter: @ABLeague

UPDATE: Immediately following the game Travis Blackley gets a phone call from the Giants and signs a deal to return to their system in 2012.




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