Who stepped up to the plate?

Though the game officially starts when the umpire says “play ball”, it doesn’t really get underway until he calls the batter to the plate.

Pitchers can’t win without run support and even the strongest offense can have trouble overcoming a deficit. Success in baseball dictates that a batter will fail almost 70 per cent of the time.

“During my 18 years I came to bat almost 10,000 times,” Mickey Mantle said. “I struck out about 1,700 times and walked maybe 1,800 times. You figure a ballplayer will average about 500 at-bats a season. That means I played seven years without ever hitting the ball.”

The Brisbane Bandits had 19 different hitters in their various lineups this season. Just three players took part in every game this year, with those staples being Josh Roberts, David Sutherland and Brad Dutton. They were three of just seven players in the entire league to play in all of their 45 regular-season games. Wade Dutton missed only three games, and beyond Brisbane’s core four, no other Bandit made it into more than two-thirds of the year’s batting orders.

Roberts followed up his Bandits MVP season last year with another solid showing that should notch him some votes in the same category for this year. The right fielder hit .308/.343/.516, leading the team in average, and also with seven home runs and 15 doubles. The ABL All-Star ended up just one hit shy of having 100 for his career in the two years of the league, though a shortened inaugural season for Brisbane might be to blame. Roberts was tied for the team lead in runs driven in, with 31.

The man he tied with for the Bandits RBI title is Sutherland, who had a fantastic last series of the season against the Bite, moving him up near the top of the list in numerous offensive categories among the team. In his final five games in Adelaide, the first baseman earned runner-up honours for the Player of the Week award for Round 11 hitting .450 (9-for-20) with two home runs, a double and five RBI. He finished the season batting .305/.365/.461 with six home runs and eight doubles, an upgrade on already impressive numbers from last year. 

Brad Dutton had to battle through numerous injuries to ensure his appearance in every game this season. The second baseman appeared to win the fight, as he hit .300/.340/.400 with four homers, six doubles and 24 runs driven in. His season stats are a vast improvement over last year, an indication that the adjustment period to the league is over and his contributions will only continue. The older Dutton brother also led the team in runs scored with 31.

The younger half of ‘The Bash Brothers’ made his way around the field for Brisbane this year, taking on any position that required him. Though his offensive numbers took a little dip from where they were last year, the third baseman excelled not only at the hot corner, but also in centre field and at shortstop as well. Wade Dutton hit three home runs on the season, drove in nine and led the team with six stolen bases.

One part of the reason the Bandits saw so many fresh faces in the lineup is because of the Japanese imports coming to play in Brisbane for just seven weeks of the season. Four Fukuoka Softbank Hawks hitters were a part of the Bandits batting orders, having varied success at the plate.

Keiji Nakahara started the season off a little slowly but the centre fielder made progress in his last days on the team. Nakahara went 7-for-20 in his final six games with the team, including three home runs, nine RBI and four runs scored over that span. He finished his ABL season batting .207/.258/.402 in 24 games with four total homers, a double, two triples, nine runs, three stolen bases and 15 RBI.

Finding even more success this season in Brisbane was catcher Ayatsugu Yamashita. He batted .340/.391/.472 in 16 games behind the plate for the Bandits. While he didn’t notch enough plate appearances to qualify among the league’s batting leaders, Yamashita did get an All-Star nod, traveling to Perth to play for Team World just before heading back to Japan.

Kenta Imamiya joined the Bandits in Sydney for Round 5 of ABL play, replacing Taisei Makihara at shortstop. Makihara batted .194/.219/.194 through 14 games with four runs scored and three stolen bases before heading back home. Imamiya saw action in 11 games for the Bandits, batting .238/.304/.310 with a double, a triple, three RBI, five runs scored and five stolen bases over that span.

Left fielder Matt Roxburgh, designated hitter Rory Rhodes and utility man Andrew Campbell spent the most time on the Brisbane roster beyond the core four. Roxburgh’s first season of professional baseball suited him well as he hit .283/.333/.396 with three home runs, three doubles and 16 RBI in 28 games.

After garnering runner-up honours for the ABL Rookie of the Year Award last season, Rhodes had an off-year. The Minnesota Twins prospect was plagued with injuries to start the season and likely just didn’t have enough time to adjust and get back into the game. He did launch four long balls on the year to go with four doubles and 13 RBI over his 28 games.

Campbell fared well out of the leadoff spot in the order, batting an impressive .301/.387/.376 in 26 games. The 19-year-old led the team in on-base percentage and notched five doubles and a triple during the season. The Cleveland Indians prospect also managed to drive in eight runs from the top of the order and he stole three bases this year.

Six players got into the lineup for more than 10 games but not more than 15, spending parts of the season with the team or platooning at their position with others. Alan Schoenberger took over at shortstop when the Japanese players left, and launched one home run, drove in four and swiped two bags in his 15 games.

Ryan Battaglia and Mitch Nilsson split the catching duties at the end of the year, with Joel Naughton taking his turn behind the dish at the beginning of the season. Battaglia batted .273/.319/.523 over 14 games, leading the team in slugging percentage over that time. The 19-year-old had two homers, five doubles and six RBI. Nilsson added one long ball of his own to go with three doubles and five runs driven in, through 14 games. Naughton appeared in just 12 games, going yard one time and driving in four.

Steven Greer took over in centre field at the tail end of the season and was a huge defensive asset to the club. The outfielder had one home run, two doubles and five RBI through 14 games to go with his glove. Third baseman Kevin Hoef suited up for 13 games with the Bandits this year. Hoef also had one homer and two doubles to go with his four runs driven in, and also notched a .360 on-base percentage. 

Daniel Lamb-Hunt appeared in six games and Jay Nilsson got into five for Brisbane. Lamb-Hunt launched a home run on the very last day of the season but neither had much opportunity at the plate, making their numbers an inaccurate representation of what their capabilities might be.

With a number of young players gaining more experience and getting increased time in the ABL this year, Brisbane has a lot to look forward to. Also deserving acknowledgement is the way the Bandits appeared to come together as a team more near the end of the season, likely resulting in their increased number of victories in the back end of the year.

“The way a team plays as a whole determines its success,” Babe Ruth said. “You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don’t play together, the club won’t be worth a dime.”