1997–98 Australian Baseball League season

June 2020 January 2018 Baseball Australian Baseball League 8 1997 10 31 1998 02 15 y Regular season Brendan Kingman (Sydney Storm) Finals Series Melbourne Ballpark Melbourne Reds (3rd title) Gold Coast Cougars 211 1996–97 Australian Baseball League season 1996–97 1998–99 Australian Baseball League season 1998–99 The 1997–98 Australian Baseball League season was the 9th season of the original Australian Baseball League, contested between eight teams representing state and regional capitals: ADEG, BRIB, GOLD, HUNT, MELM, MELR, PERH and SYDS. The Melbourne Reds became the first three-time champions defeating the Gold Coast Cougars 2 games to 0 in the Championship series, in front of a small home crowd of 600 at the Melbourne Ballpark. Teams 400 Adelaide Giants giants Brisbane Bandits bandits Gold Coast Cougars Cougars Melbourne Reds reds Melbourne Monarchs monarchs Perth Heat heat Hunter Eagles eagles Sydney Storm storm Each of the 8 teams from the previous season returned, however the Sydney Blues changed their name to the Sydney Storm after legal action taken by Cricket NSW during the offseason. In the season opening press release, The league called for expressions of interest in a licence to reform the Canberra Bushrangers for the 1998–99 season, The Bushrangers previously folded at the end of the 1994–95 season. Rosters During the regular season each team made use of an active roster of 22–24 men, with a maximum of 4 import players. 1997–98 Melbourne Monarchs season#Roster 1997–98 Melbourne Reds season#Roster 1997–98 Perth Heat season#Roster 1997–98 Sydney Storm season#Roster Venues + Teams in the ABL Team City State Stadium Ref ADEG Adelaide South Australia Norwood Oval BRIB Brisbane Queensland Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre GOLD Gold Coast Queensland Carrara Oval HUNT Newcastle New South Wales Newcastle International Sports Centre MELM Melbourne Victoria Melbourne Ballpark MELR Melbourne Victoria Moorabbin Oval PERH Perth Western Australia WACA Ground SYDS Sydney New South Wales Concord Oval Regular season Round 1: 31 October – 5 November 1997 + Round 1Perth Heat3d.Adelaide Giants1(6-5, 6-3, 6-5, 2-8)Gold Coast Cougars2d.Brisbane Bandits1(7-1, 8-6, 13-14)Melbourne Monarchs3d.Melbourne Reds1(8-6, 10-6, 7-2, 2-8)Sydney Storm2d.Hunter Eagles0(11-10, 5-3) Round 2: 7–9 November 1997 + Round 2Perth Heat3d.Sydney Storm1(3-5, 3-2, 10-3, 4-1)Adelaide Giants3d.Melbourne Monarchs1(1-3, 3-0, 9-4, 7-4)Gold Coast Cougars2d.Melbourne Reds1(6-3, 6-10, 5-4, W/out)Brisbane Bandits3d.Hunter Eagles1(6-4, 7-4, 4-3, 2-4) Round 3: 14–16 November 1997 + Round 3Perth Heat2dr.Sydney Storm2(1-5, 5-9, 4-3, 11-7)Melbourne Reds3d.Gold Coast Cougars1(4-1, 6-2, 3-2, 1-2)Adelaide Giants3d.Melbourne Monarchs1(N/A, 7-2, N/A, N/A)Brisbane Bandits3d.Hunter Eagles1(9-1, 13-11, 12-6, 9-10) Round 4: 21–23 November 1997 + Round 4Perth Heat2dr.Melbourne Monarchs2(6-7, 6-1, 9-5, 0-2)Melbourne Reds3d.Brisbane Bandits1(7-11, 20-7, 12-7, 12-9)Gold Coast Cougars3d.Hunter Eagles1(10-5, 0-3, 8-4, 8-1)Sydney Storm3d.Adelaide Giants1(1-5, 3-2, 5-2, 6-3) Round 5: 28–30 November 1997 + Round 5Melbourne Reds4d.Brisbane Bandits0(12-8, 12-1, 11-7, 11-7)Gold Coast Cougars3d.Hunter Eagles1(5-2, 0-6, 7-6, 15-3)Sydney Storm2dr.Adelaide Giants2(6-5, 1-4, 8-7, 2-6) Round 6: 5–7 December 1997 + Round 6Melbourne Reds4d.Hunter Eagles0(2-1, 10-6, 7-6, 8-1)Brisbane Bandits2d.Gold Coast Cougars1(9-3, 14-9, 10-15)Sydney Storm3d.Melbourne Monarchs1(3-2, 6-5, 4-8, 18-5)Adelaide Giants3d.Perth Heat1(2-7, 7-1, 5-1, 6-3) All Star Games: 12–13 December 1997 1997 Australian Baseball League All-Star Game 12-13 December 1997 Carrara Oval Gold Coast The All-Stars Weekend, was the first series of All-Star exhibition games held by the Australian Baseball League. The games were contested over two nights at Carrara Oval on the Gold Coast, The then home of the Gold Coast Cougars franchise.FAI Cup Pitches new finals format and all star competition as baseball bats up for the summer of 1997/1998. http://www.yellowpages.com.au/reds/releases/98_sum.htm Press Release Australian Baseball League 19 November 2012 dead https://web.archive.org/web/19980630204341/http://www.yellowpages.com.au/reds/releases/98_sum.htm June 30, 1998 The games were played between the Australian All-Stars, USA All-Stars and the 1997 Japanese Industrial League Champions the Mitsubishi Juko Kobe. The Australian and USA All-Star teams were selected from players who were at the time playing in the Australian Baseball League. Game 1: Australian All-Stars vs Mitsubishi Juko Kobe 12 December 1997 19:00 Carrara Oval, Gold Coast Mitsubishi Juko Kobe MJK ? Australian All-Stars AUS ? Game 2: Australian All-Stars vs USA All-Stars 13 December 1997 19:00 Carrara Oval, Gold Coast USA All-Stars USA 15 Australian All-Stars AUS 9 Round 7: 14–16 December 1997 + Round 7Sydney Storm2d.Hunter Eagles1(8-5, 4-1, 4-6)Gold Coast Cougars1d.Brisbane Bandits0(N/A)Sydney Storm2d.Hunter Eagles1(N/A) Round 8: 19–21 December 1997 + Round 8Sydney Storm2dr.Melbourne Monarchs2(5-3, 3-6, 0-1, 6-5)Gold Coast Cougars3d.Brisbane Bandits0(8-3, 9-8, 15-8)Perth Heat2dr.Adelaide Giants2(4-2, 4-0, 2-5, 2-6)Melbourne Reds3d.Hunter Eagles1(4-5, 17-7, 8-7, 7-0) Round 9: 26–28 December 1997 + Round 9Perth Heat2dr.Melbourne Reds2(13-6, 7-6, 2-3, 3-8)Sydney Storm4d.Brisbane Bandits0(23-9, 3-2, 10-0, 10-7)Melbourne Monarchs4d.Gold Coast Cougars0(4-1, 4-1, 4-0, 6-0)Adelaide Giants3d.Hunter Eagles1(12-4, 1-6, 6-2, 7-3) Round 10: 30 December 1997, 2–6 January 1998 + Round 10Brisbane Bandits2d.Perth Heat1(11-1, 18-2, 2-15)Sydney Storm2d.Melbourne Reds1(4-1, 1-10, 8-4)Gold Coast Cougars3d.Adelaide Giants0(8-6, 9-8, 10-9)Melbourne Monarchs3d.Hunter Eagles0(8-3, 7-5, 3-2)Sydney Storm1d.Hunter Eagles0(17-14) Round 11: 9–11 January 1998 + Round 11Sydney Storm3d.Hunter Eagles0(10-3, 14-3, 10-3)Melbourne Monarchs2d.Melbourne Reds1(6-2, 3-7, 14-4)Adelaide Giants2d.Brisbane Bandits1(4-2, 4-8, 8-6)Perth Heat2d.Gold Coast Cougars1(2-19, 8-7, 8-2) Round 12: 16–18 January 1998 + Round 12Melbourne Monarchs3d.Brisbane Bandits1(1-2, 4-3, 11-10, 12-11)Gold Coast Cougars4d.Sydney Storm0(17-12, 7-2, 15-7, 10-8)Melbourne Reds3d.Adelaide Giants1(4-5, 10-6, 10-8, 11-10)Perth Heat2dr.Hunter Eagles2(0-8, 11-6, 6-8, 5-2) Round 13: 22–25 January 1998 + Round 13Brisbane Bandits2d.Sydney Storm1(2-3, 6-1, 2-1)Melbourne Monarchs2d.Gold Coast Cougars1(10-9, 5-1, 3-4)Adelaide Giants1dr.Hunter Eagles1(9-1, 4-5, W/Out)Perth Heat2d.Melbourne Reds0(2-0, 9-6) Round 14: 26–29 January 1998 + Round 14Brisbane Bandits1dr.Melbourne Monarchs1(N/A, 15-10)Melbourne Reds2d.Adelaide Giants1(N/A, 11-2, 5-6)Perth Heat3d.Hunter Eagles0(15-5, 8-7, 17-6)Gold Coast Cougars2d.Sydney Storm1(9-3, 8-5, 7-12) Round 15: 30 January – 3 February 1998 + Round 15Perth Heat2d.Brisbane Bandits1(0-12, 12-6, 5-1)Gold Coast Cougars2d.Adelaide Giants1(1-4, 9-6, 7-5)Melbourne Monarchs3d.Hunter Eagles0(9-0, 9-5, 7-6)Sydney Storm2d.Melbourne Reds1(14-11, 4-13, 10-9) Round 16: 6–8 February 1998 + Round 16Perth Heat2d.Gold Coast Cougars1(6-2, 3-10, 7-4)Adelaide Giants2d.Brisbane Bandits1(13-12, 12-10, 8-9)Melbourne Monarchs1dr.Melbourne Reds1(5-4, 4-5, W/Out)Sydney Storm1d.Hunter Eagles0(11-5) Ladder main WL Regular season none y % MELM MELM 1997–98 32 20 SYDS SYDS 1997–98 32 22 MELR MELR 1997–98 30 21 GOLD GOLD 1997–98 31 22 PERH PERH 1997–98 30 23 ADEG ADEG 1997–98 26 27 BRIB BRIB 1997–98 20 33 HUNT HUNT 1997–98 10 43 Q green1 Advance to Finals Series FS FS FS FS complete Top 10 Stats + Defensive Stats Name Wins Losses Saves ERAMark Respondek4002.57Warren May6114.96Robert Hogan5205.97Pat Ahearne3403.46David White2427.79Jason Beverlin2406.22 1em + Offensive Stars Name Avg HR RBIAdam Burton.3882155Ben Utting.346734Myles Barnden.343628Chris Ashby.314618Jeff Spencer.306741Shane Hogan.2981849 Postseason Finals Series at Melbourne Ballpark In previous years the post season was played as home and away best of 3 games, with the two winner of each series meeting for a best of 5 series{fact}, in 1997–98 this was changed to a round robin play-off format with each team playing 3 games, 1 against each of the other 3 qualified teams, with the two highest places teams playing off in the Championship Series. All games for the 9th ABL title were played at the Melbourne Ballpark from February, 10-12 with the best of three championship series 14–15 February. Finals Series Game 1: 10 February 1998 Gold Coast Cougars Cougars ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 7 ? ? Melbourne Monarchs Monarchs ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 5 ? ? ? (1-0) ? (0-1) ? ? ? Game 2: 10 February 1998 Melbourne Reds Reds ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 18 ? ? Sydney Storm Storm ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 5 ? ? ? (1-0) ? (0-1) ? ? ? Game 3: 11 February 1998 Melbourne Monarchs Monarchs ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 1 ? ? Sydney Storm Storm ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 5 ? ? ? (1-0) ? (0-1) ? ? ? Game 4: 11 February 1998 Gold Coast Cougars Cougars ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 1 ? ? Melbourne Reds Reds ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 2 ? ? ? (1-0) ? (0-1) ? ? ? Game 5: 12 February 1998 Sydney Storm Storm ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 6 ? ? Gold Coast Cougars Cougars ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 8 ? ? ? (1-0) ? (0-1) ? ? ? Game 6: 12 February 1998 Melbourne Monarchs Monarchs ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 12 ? ? Melbourne Reds Reds ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 5 ? ? ? (1-0) ? (0-1) ? ? ? Postseason Ladder main WL Postseason runs % y MELR MELR 1997–98 GOLD GOLD 1997–98 MELM MELM 1997–98 SYDS SYDS 1997–98 2 1 25 18 2 1 16 13 1 2 18 17 1 2 16 27 Q #bbffbb Advance to Championship series C C complete Championship Series Game 1: 14 February 1998 Gold Coast Cougars Cougars 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 3 ? ? Melbourne Reds Reds 1 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 - 4 ? ? David White (1-0) ? (0-1) ? - Shane Hogan (1) Game 2: 15 February 1998 Melbourne Reds Reds 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 4 6 ? Gold Coast Cougars Cougars 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ? ? Jason Beverlin (1-0) Paxton Crawford (0-1) - Shane Hogan (1), Myles Barnden (1) - Awards Award Person TeamBatting ChampionBrendan KingmanSYDSGolden GloveGlenn WilliamsSYDSManager of the YearTom NietoMELRMost Valuable PlayerBrendan KingmanSYDSChampionship M.V.P.Shane HoganMELRRookie of the YearRodney Van BuizenHUNTReliever of the YearGabe MolinaPERHPitcher of the YearErick NelsonMELMUmpire of the YearGerard TancredNew South Wales All-Star Team Position Name TeamCatcherGary WhiteSYDS1st BaseRon JohnsonGOLD2nd BaseAdam BurtonMELR3rd BasePaul GormanGOLDShort StopBen UttingMELROut FieldGlen BarkerBRIBOut FieldTrent DurringtonGOLDOut FieldGrant McDonaldBRIBDesignated HitterBrendan KingmanSYDSStarting PitcherErick NelsonMELMRelief PitcherGabe MolinaPERHManagerTom NietoMELR References Flintoff Peter Dunn Adrian Flintoff & Dunn's Australian Baseball League Almanac 1998 Edition Flintoff & Dunn Melbourne August 1998 autocollapse Category:Australian Baseball League (1989–1999) seasons Category:1997 in Australian sport Category:1997 in baseball Category:1998 in Australian sport Category:1998 in baseball