Baseball
in Australia. Baseball
in Australia.
There have been a number of inquiries from our
overseas friends about the structure and standard of baseball in
Australia. It seemed appropriate that there should be some
understanding between us, as officials in a world-wide game, of the
comparative levels of play. So here is one perspective on the various
levels of play in Australia as they might compare to U.S.
standards.
Overall Structure -
Baseball in Australia is under the general
control of the Australian Baseball Federation (ABF). This body, and
its Commissioner, sets the standards to be followed by all leagues
and associations affiliated with the ABF. Under the control of the
ABF are several affiliated state and regional leagues (NSW, NSW Country, VIC, Vic Provincial, WA, SA, QLD, NT, ACT, etc.). In turn, these state and regional leagues are made up
of smaller affiliated district leagues (NSW Country includes among
others Newcastle, Tamworth, Coff's Harbour, Illawarra, Lower North
Coast, Central Coast, Southern Highlands etc.). Each district league,
in turn, consists of individual clubs, and has its own governing
body, with delegates appointed to the next highest body in succession
up to the ABF. So an individual delegate could represent his club to
the local league, his local league to the state league, and his state
league to the ABF.
Each local league has an affiliated umpire
association. Some of these are independent bodies, like the
Newcastle
Baseball Umpires Association Inc., and
some are a simply a sub-committee of the parent league body, like the
Central Coast Umpires Committee of the Central Coast Baseball
Association. All umpires are required to be accredited as part of the
ABF Umpire Development Program, which is run by the ONLY full-time
paid umpire in the country; The ABF Manager, Umpire Development. He manages a panel of instructors who run the Umpire Development Program (UDP) and provides advice to all
of the state and local (district) league affiliate umpire bodies
regarding umpiring standards and development. Membership of the UDP instructor panel is the pinnacle of umpiring in this country, and usually
requires completion of a course at one of the two (2) major umpiring
schools in the U.S. All of our International umpires are currently chosen from among the ranks of these ABF UDP instructors.
Our umpires use the ABF Official Australian
Baseball Rules, which are the MLB Rules modified slightly for
political correctness (e.g. First base fielder instead of first
baseman, etc.), the NAPBL/PBUC Umpire Manual, and the American UDP Manual for the
Two-Umpire System. State League and District League games are usually 2-man system during normal competition, rising to 3- or 4-man during finals series.
Australian Baseball League (ABL) -
Judging from scouting reports, media interviews
and reports, and decisions taken by the Australian Baseball
Federation (ABF) at the time, the game at the now defunct ABL level averaged around U.S.
AA-AAA standard. ABL had a number of players of US Major
League standard, like Graeme Lloyd, David Nilsson, Brad Cornett,
Shayne Bennett, John Stephens, Chris Snelling and Craig Shipley among the Australian contingent, and has had the pleasure of hosting players of the calibre of Everett Stull
(Pitcher, R, Baltimore Orioles) from the U.S.
Stull still holds the ABL record for the most strikeouts in a
single game (15 in a 7 inning game - part of a Double Header).
ABL was at best Semi-Pro, as far as player
payments were concerned, so all games had to be scheduled around
weekends. That meant lots and lots of double headers to get the
program completed in the available time. The other problem the ABL
faced was distance. We had no millionaire clubs or owners, so traveling expenses were a major problem. For Perth to host
Sydney would be the same as the Boston Red Sox playing the LA
Dodgers, as far as distance was concerned; or for Brisbane Bandits to
host the Adelaide Giants was like Seattle Mariners hosting the Florida
Marlins! And that's one trip, there and back, for the weekend
only (not the week), with the players having to turn up for work
on Monday morning! So in that Perth v Sydney game, the Sydney guys
could finish the second leg of their double header at around midnight
on Sunday, fly home to Sydney by around 6am Sydney time (4am Perth
Time), and start work at 9am that morning! You've really got to love
the game to do that for any length of time!
Most, if not all, of our ABL teams were linked
to the U.S. farm system through one Major League club or another (e.g.
Sydney
Storm- Toronto Blue Jays, Hunter
Eagles- NY Mets, Melbourne
Reds - Atlanta Braves, Adelaide Giants
- LA Dodgers, Brisbane Bandits - Milwaukee Brewers, Perth
Heat - Baltimore Orioles, etc. etc.).
The ABL was open to overseas players of up to AAA
standard, too, although each club was limited to five (5) imports on its roster. Apparently, the U.S. clubs not only saw the local competition as a fertile breeding ground for new prospects, but also
a good opportunity to put some polish on some of their own players
that they may be looking at for the Majors (like Stull), or just for
giving an extra boost to players who are short on experience, etc. We
hosted quite a few U.S. Nationals of Rookie, A and AA standard,
sent out here to play in our summer (U.S. winter) season. The ABL
season finished before Spring training in the U.S. so it was very handy
all around. All of this progress and development ended when the National
competition was only 9 seasons old. In 2000 the league was sold to David Nilsson and renamed the International Baseball League of Australia (IBLA). That league conducted a single, restricted 16 week competition season and then folded altogether for lack of financial support. It has been replaced at the national level with an annual competition called the Claxton Shield.
State Leagues -
Imagine a country the geographical size of the
U.S. divided up into only 6 states and 2 territories! That's
Australia. Most of our 20 million population lives on or near the
narrow coastal strip, so the major cities within each State are
usually close enough together for competitions which are basically
State wide, but held in and around the capitals of Sydney, Perth,
Adelaide, Melbourne, and Brisbane. This was usually a Summer league,
that once ran simultaneously with ABL. Each ABL team franchise was only
allowed to nominate 30 players on its roster for any given fixture,
so players not required for ABL duty on any given weekend would wind up
playing State League to stay in shape. State League in those days would average out
at A-AA standard, depending on the particular State, and the strength
of the ABL roster in that State. With the demise of the ABL the standard would now be much closer to AA or even AAA at the top level in some states.
Games are played on an inter-city and
intra-city basis. The New South Wales Baseball League, for example,
covers the cities of Sydney, Gosford, Newcastle, Wollongong,
Parramatta, Blacktown, Liverpool, and Penrith. Players may travel to
the Illawarra region (Wollongong) on one weekend, and to the Central Coast
region (Gosford) on another (a combined distance of over 300km or 188
miles); or they may simply play within the same city (e.g. Manly v
North Shore - two NSW State League teams that are based in the
northern suburbs of Sydney).The standard of this competition is high
because most teams represent the best players available from their
respective districts. For example, the Central Coast Colonials
(Gosford) draws on the best players from their own city-wide 40-team,
5-division Winter competition, plus players from country centres such
as Tamworth, Port Macquarie, Coff's Harbour, and Newcastle.
District or Regional Leagues -
Most of the teams participating in State
Leagues are drawn from the best of the surrounding District leagues.
Newcastle
Baseball Association, for example,
covers the cities of Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Maitland and
Cessnock, and the Shires of Singleton and Port Stephens. Shires are
areas of concentrated population growth which are not demographically
large enough to be classified as cities in their own right. Because
these leagues can boast some players who would be in State League in the summer, the average standard can still be fairly
high; ranging from Stan Musial, through Short-A or Rookie, to Long-A
and even AA, depending on the District and the team grades involved.
All District or Regional Leagues are supposed to be strictly amateur,
although it isn't unheard of for players to receive small match payments or
other incentives to play for a particular team.
It is not usual for umpires in District leagues to have an
AA-standard pitcher pitching in one inning, and then to have to call
the following inning with a pitcher we term a "pie chucker" (so
called because the pitched ball travels slowly enough that it looks
as big as a pie to the batters). It was once noted that in one local District 1st
Grade game there were a total of some 7 or 8 ABL standard players
involved; including 3 pitchers, a shortstop, a 1st baseman and 2
catchers! District league 1st Grade games are played
over 9 innings, to Official Australian Baseball Rules with NAPBL/PBUC
Umpire's Manual interpretations as standard, and UDP 2-Man
mechanics.
These rule references are pretty standard at
all levels of play in Australia. The only exception would be for
Junior baseball (Little League© equivalent), where there are a number
of rules at different levels relating to things like pitching limits
(up to age 16 years), not calling balks or not leaving bases early
(under 12 years of age), and participation in Senior Leagues (minimum
14 years of age). Most Junior league umpires are strictly volunteers,
except for end of season championships, when the various umpire
associations will try to supply accredited Senior league umpires to
officiate. Both Juniors and Seniors participate at District level,
Regional level, State and National Championships (like U.S. LL, Cal Ripken and
College World Series only nowhere near as many players, teams or
umpires participating).
Commonwealth Cup (our Senior Provincial
National Championships) can include international participants by
invitation. In 1997 the Chinese Taipei team were our guests
in Mt Gambier (near Adelaide in South Australia). Also on the
international front, the Newcastle district has hosted a number of
High School and College teams from Denver Colorado, among other
places. The standard at this level was fairly average for the age
group, although one visiting Denver college team easily disposed of a
Newcastle All-Star outfit in a postlude to a 9-inning ABL
fixture.
Remember, Australia has a population of only 20
million people, and not that many of them play baseball … yet!
That said, baseball (and T-ball especially) is the fastest-growing
sport in the country. At the present rate of growth, it could
overtake basketball by the year 2010, and it already boasts some
impressive International achievements (like defeating the Japanese team
at Atlanta, and giving the Cubans one heck of a scare!). At last count - March 2003 - there were
some 78 players playing professionally in various U.S. Minor and Major
leagues, and that number looks set to grow as the game standard over
here continues to improve.
Postscript -
So that's one perspective of baseball in Australia, in a nutshell; albeit a walnut shell rather than a peanut shell. The author claims no infallibility for judgements made about comparative standards. This is simply an attempt to explain our system in terms that a U.S. official might find relevant. The NBUA Inc remains happy to answer questions, to the best of its ability, on any perceived differences in officiating in Australia vs. the U.S., or elsewhere.
Please
feel free to e-mail any questions to
