All Star Fever

So it's been a couple of weeks since my last post, to say there has been a lot on the old plate of life would be an understatement... but I digress. Now with my site being mentioned over at Deep in the Hole, I guess there might hopefully be some readers out there at least a tiny bit interested in some form of post. With the All Star Game being played right now, I thought it would be interesting to see what kind of look an 'Australian' All Star team would have from last season. Now not everyone will agree with what I choose, which is awesome. Bit of healthy debate never hurt anyone!

So here we go...

Catcher:

There is one clear guy that stands out here, Michael Collins. Last season he managed to hit .417 with an OBP of .543, which is ridiculously good. For good meassure he also managed to go yard 6 times. Not only that, he also only struck out a super impressive 6 times (the same amount of times he went deep). Collins will be moving states next year from SA, if he manages to repeat these numbers with the Canberra team the new guys may be competitive.

1st Base:

After seeing the power numbers displayed at catcher, the first base position is actually very dissapointing. Patrick Maat lead the way at first last season by a clear margin, hitting .390 whilst hitting 9 doubles and clearly the fence on 2 occassions and driving in 19. The only real challenge came from Ryan Murphy of SA (.247 3HR 16RBI) and Hayden Dingle of VIC (.284 1HR 14RBI). But clearly those numbers don't stack up against the New South Welshman's.

2nd Base:

Offense at second is always gold, and that definitely has the be one of the key reasons Victoria was able to go all the way last season. Scott Wearne hit a very handy 3 home runs, while managing to stroke 10 doubles. This lead him to a batting average of .320 and a .500 slugging percentage. Mitch Graham was a very close second, hitting .274 with 4 bombs and 11 driven in. However it's hard to ignore the consistent hitting of Wearne here.

3rd Base:

The backyard baseballer was extremely dissapointed with the power numbers from last season (homeruns are sexy), and expects some teams to recruit some big bats for the corner infield positions for a little excitment. As with second base, it's hard to look past the champs Victoria with Josh Davies. The low homerun totals for mine are a letdown, but it's hard to look past the fact he lead the team in RBI's (19) whilst also managing to hit a few doubles for good meassure. Next season should hopefully see stronger competition amongst third baseman, with Luke Hughes potentially going yard for WA and the improvement of youngster Stef Welch of SA.

Shortstop:

This is where it gets interesting, finally a position with a bit of competition amongst it! There are three very handy players at short who managed to star last season. Michael Lysaught went yard four times to lead all shortstops. While he did strike out 29 times, the power from what is a generally considered a defensive position is great to see. Maybe one of the most underrated season came from Alan Schoenberger up at Queensland. Hitting .284/.363/.481 with 3 jacks. In any other year that might have been the best performance from a shortstop... but then again it's not every year the a shortstop manages to hit .400 while displaying some pretty handy power. Matt Lawman, of Victoria (there is a theme happening here) hit .423/.468/.549 and clearly was the most outstanding performance at short. Having said that, either of the other two are quite handy and there will be a big battle for offensive supremecy amongst the shortstops next season.

Outfield:

As with the MLB all star game, there are no outfield positions, so we could potentially have three corner outfielders manning the team (we are). First up is Mitch Denning from NSW. You might have been living under a rock if you hadn't heard of this kids season last year. He his .391/.466/.594 with 2 jacks. Easily deserving of one of the outfield spots. It will be interesting to see how Denning goes next year, will there be a sophmore slump? Or will his gap power translate into homerun power. At any rate, he's definitely going to be one of the players to watch next season.

Andrew Russel (another VIC!) managed to hit .348 with 2 homeruns and 15 RBI's (second on the team). Now these numbers aren't as impressive as the other two guys manning the All Star outfield, they were however a big reason that Victoria was able to go all the way in the end.

Now with the last pick (but definitely not least) - Tim Kennelly, of WA, showed that he will be an offesnsive force in the coming season. Showing tons of power with 4 homers and 13 doubles, and a little speed to boot with 5 stolen bases. He also managed a league leading 23 RBI's while hitting a handy .354 and showing great plate discipline, only striking out 9 times. If WA manage to get Hughes into their lineup then WA may manage to have one of the best 3/4 combinations in the league.

So there we have it, the ABL 'All Star' team from last season. There has been a rumour that there will be an 'All Star' game played next season. Rumour was that it will be a game between the native Australian players and the imports for each team, to be played at Norwood Oval (SA). However this has not been confirmed, and it's unlikely that we will know much prior to the season.