Second to none (Day 88)

I fell in love with baseball long before it swept me off my feet.

But sweep it did, just like almost every team that played against the 1962 New York Mets.

My love for the game has taken me from Canada to the United States and most recently all the way down under. I’ve learned that baseball is the same no matter where it’s played, or how much convincing it takes to make someone realize that fact.

Growing up in a hockey nation, it’s not hard to comprehend that there might be places in the world in which baseball doesn’t take precedence over every other sport. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the Australian Baseball League, its teams or its players, knowing that baseball is not an Aussie staple. But I’ve been impressed in every sense of the word, of not only the ABL but also of all of the facets of the sport in Oz.

With two years of major league service time under my belt, as a statistician and not anything else more important-sounding, I gained a real appreciation for the intricacies of minor league baseball.

The authenticity of the game somehow changes when you see players building corporate boxes, taking down fences and even picking up garbage off the field. It warms the heart to see children on the field after games, running from player to player to fill their bats and balls with autographs, and to see those players complying with the demand with smiles on their faces.

It’s like Brad Pitt said in Moneyball, “How can you not be romantic about baseball?”

My experience with the Brisbane Bandits has been second-to-none throughout my time in the game. I got the opportunity to take on an array of different duties beyond just the media side of things. My resume can be updated to include my time spent as the team mascot, as a part of the grounds crew, running the sound board, cleaning stadium seats, collecting garbage, broadcasting an inning of a game and what felt like much more.

I am grateful for the chance I was given to write as much as I could, and though I wish I’d be able to touch on a few more topics, I did my best throughout the entire season to provide as much coverage and content on the Brisbane Bandits as possible, and I look to continue to do so. Everyone was more than helpful in providing me with interviews and information and I definitely have to acknowledge that the team was great with media requests.

Much to my astonishment, everyone involved in America’s favourite pastime down under does it for the love of the game. It might surprise you to learn that this is not true for everyone who works in baseball elsewhere around the world. But in Oz, many ball players have to take on a second job in order to supplement their income, and they take the diamond just because they want to play. A very high percentage of the behind-the-scenes staff are volunteers, just giving their time to the sport.

The calibre of competition in the ABL and the level of talent were both, again, impressive. Local talent from around the continent was showcased, as well as that of international prospects from across the globe. The quality of the game played in the league is unmatched elsewhere in Australia, as the ABL really is the equivalent of The Show here.

Playing down under gives a unique set of players from overseas an opportunity to experience a baseball lifestyle that they might never have known otherwise. For a number of guys, this was a dream come true. And what could be better than that?