Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Chris Clare - 2018-19 Perth Heat

Clare is an American import from the Baltimore Orioles organisation who played with the Perth Heat during the 2018-19 ABL season. He was drafted by the Orioles in 2016 and by 2018 was primarily playing in their advanced A Carolina League affiliate, the Frederick Keys. In 2019 he has advanced to the double A level Bowie Baysox, as well as having a short stint with the triple A Norfolk Tides.

2018-19 Perth Heat Chris Clare card front - ©2019 Adam East

Monday, July 29, 2019

Aaron Whitefield - 2018-19 Adelaide Bite

Unfortunately, the ABL's change to a conference system during 2018-19 along with personal travel meant that there were a number of teams I didn't get photos of during the 2018-19 season. I decided that I would still make cards for players that I had taken photos of during the 2017-18 ABL season. That is the reason why we have Brisbane born Aaron Whitefield, who played with the Brisbane Bandits from 2015-16 through to 2017-18 appearing on the first of my 2018-19 Adelaide Bite cards in a Brisbane Bandits uniform. Whitefield is also advancing through the Minnesota Twins farm system, playing for the Advanced A level Fort Myers Miracle and the double A level Pensacola Blue Wahoos in 2019.

2018-19 Adelaide Bite Aaron Whitefield card front - ©2019 Adam East

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Byeong Geun Kim (김병근) - 2018-19 Geelong-Korea

Kim was a member of the Geelong-Korea team that debuted in the ABL during the 2018-19 ABL season. He was previously a member of the Hanwha Eagles organisation between 2013 and 2017 but failed to break into the KBO level team after being restricted by several injuries. In 2019 he is playing for the Yangju Revolution in the Korean Independent Baseball League.

2018-19 Geelong-Korea Byeong Geun Kim card front - ©2019 Adam East

Monday, July 22, 2019

Brandon Marklund - 2018-19 Auckland Tuatara

Marklund is a Canadian import who played with the Auckland Tuatara in the 2018-19 ABL season. He had previously been studying and playing at Bryan College in Tennessee. His form must have impressed scouts as he signed a minor league deal with the Kansas City Royals at the end of the ABL season.

2018-19 Auckland Tuatara Brandon Marklund card front - ©2019 Adam East

Friday, July 12, 2019

Dean Aldridge - 2018-19 Sydney Blue Sox

Aldridge is a Sydney local who played his second year with the Sydney Blue Sox during the 2018-19 ABL season. Aldridge had previously pitched a single inning in a game for the Blue Sox back during the 2013-14 season, so it was a long wait between ABL drinks for him. He also spent five years in the Detroit Tigers farm system, but only played in three seasons (2013, 2015 and 2017), most recently with the Connecticut Tigers in the low A level New York-Pennsylvania League,

2018-19 Sydney Blue Sox Dean Aldridge card front - ©2019 Adam East

Monday, July 8, 2019

Shota Imanaga (今永 昇太) - 2018-19 Canberra Cavalry

Imanaga is a Japanese import from the Yokohama Baystars who played with the Canberra Cavalry during the 2018-19 ABL season. Imanaga has been a fixture in the Baystars' pitching rotation since making his NPB debut in 2016 and has been a part of the Japanese national team. His time in the ABL was aimed to help bring additional exposure for a possible move to Major League Baseball. He certainly didn't do any harm to his reputation, giving up only two runs in his six starts for the Cavalry whilst recording 57 strikeouts.

So why do I have a photo of one of the hottest pitchers from the 2018-19 ABL season holding a bat? Because he unexpectedly just decided to strike a pose for me as I was taking some general photos near the dugout, and I certainly wasn't going to turn down the opportunity for a shot 😃


2018-19 Canberra Cavalry Shota Imanaga card front - ©2019 Adam East 

Monday, July 1, 2019

Dae-Sung Koo (구대성) - 2018-19 Geelong-Korea

..... aaaand, we're back!

To kickstart our hopeful return to regular posting, let's crack out one of the big names. Veteran Korean and Sydney Blue Sox player Dae-Sung Koo returned for the 2018-19 ABL season as the Manager of the expansion Geelong-Korea team. With the troubles that his inexperienced players sometimes got themselves into, he even ended up taking the mound for a single inning against the Brisbane Bandits late in the season. This was his first game as a player, three years after his last ABL game. Add to that a number of controversial threats to remove his team from the field because of umpiring disagreements and Koo was back in the ABL spotlight.


2018-19 Geelong-Korea Dae-Sung Koo card front ©2019 Adam East

Friday, May 3, 2019

Life Gets in the Way - How to Flood A Home

Regular readers of the blog may have noticed that I haven't posted in a while. The reason for this is because of stuff that's occurred in The Real World™. In late February, a small pipe burst in our kid's bathroom whilst we were at work and school. We live in a 3 story house, with the kids bathroom being on the middle floor. Throughout the day the pipe proceeded to empty about 20,000 litres (5000 gallons) into our house. That's about how much water is in a normal backyard pool.

We came home that evening to discover that most of the middle floor of the house had been flooded. The water had then collapsed the ceiling of the bottom floor and destroyed most of the contents down there.



The upshot of this is that for the last 9 weeks we've been living in temporary accommodation. Fortunately, it's been paid for by our insurance, but because of the difficulty of finding family sized short term accommodation locally, we've actually moved 7 different times in those past 9 weeks.

The repairs on our house have started, but it's still at least a good 6 weeks until we're likely to be back into our home.

Fortunately, none of my card collections or my computer were affected by the flood, but they are currently in storage and inaccessible. The posts that occurred in March on the blog were ones that I'd scheduled up in the weeks preceding the burst pipe, but obviously, once those ran out, I haven't been able to post anything more. I do have more card designs to put up from the 2018-19 ABL season, but it will likely be a while before I get to post them up.

Wednesday, March 27, 2019

Nick Hosie - 2017-18 Canberra Cavalry

Having been a developmental player for the Cavalry during the 2016-17 ABL season, Canberra youngster Hosie finally made his ABL debut during the 2017-18 ABL season. In 2018 he toured the USA with the SSA All Australian  17 & Under team.

2017-18 Canberra Cavalry Nick Hosie card front - ©2019 Adam East

Monday, March 25, 2019

Thomas (Tom) Holland - 2017-18 Canberra Cavalry

The grandson of Australian test cricketer Bob “Dutchy” Holland, Thomas (Tom) Holland made the shift from Newcastle to Canberra to make his ABL debut with the Canberra cavalry during the 2017-18 ABL season. He was a former team mate of fellow Cavalry player, Jake Amos.

2017-18 Canberra Cavalry Tom Holland card front - ©2018 Adam East

Friday, March 22, 2019

Tom Roberts - 2017-18 Sydney Blue Sox

I’ve struggled to find any info on Roberts, a 19 year old pitcher who made his ABL debut with the Sydney Blue Sox during the 2017-18 ABL season. He appears to have been born in New Zealand, but to have grown up, at least in later years, in Sydney.

2017-18 Sydney Blue Sox Tom Roberts card front - ©2018 Adam East

Monday, March 18, 2019

Hung-Wen Chen (陳鴻文) - 2017-18 Brisbane Bandits

Chen is a Taiwanese import who played with the Brisbane Bandits during the 2017-18 ABL season. Chen spent 5 season playing in the Chicago Cubs’ farm system between 2007 and 2011, reaching triple A level. He played in his native CPBL with the Brother Elephants between 2013 and 2017, before moving to the Fubon Guardians in 2018.

2017-18 Brisbane Bandits Hung-Wen Chen card front  ©2018 Adam East

Friday, March 15, 2019

Lake Bachar - 2017-18 Canberra Cavalry

Bachar is an American import from the San Diego Padres organisation who played with the Canberra Cavalry during the 2017-18ABL season. In 2017 he played both Rookie level ball for the Padres as well as their single A farm team, the Fort Wayne TinCaps. In 2018 he also played with Fort Wayne as well as the double level San Antonio Missions.

2017-18 Canberra Cavalry Lake Bachar card front - ©2018 a
Adam East

Wednesday, March 13, 2019

Tyler Chappell - 2017-18 Adelaide Bite

Chappell is a local player who had his second season with the Adelaide Bite during the 2017-18 ABL season. He spent the 2017 northern summer playing for Třebíč Nuclears in the Czech Extraliga.

2017-18 Adelaide Bite Tyler Chappell card front - ©2018 Adam East

Monday, March 11, 2019

Jake Green - 2017-18 Canberra Cavalry

Green is a Canberra youngster who played for the Canberra Cavalry during the 2017-18 ABL season. Green made his debut, pitching in two games during the season. He was also a member of Australia’s U23 World Cup squad in 2018.

2017-18 Canberra Cavalry Jake Green card front - ©2018 Adam East