Which ABL Team Should I Follow? - Adelaide Bite

If you like baseball and want to follow some games during the northern winter, why not check out the Australian Baseball League. This is the first in a series of articles about the teams of the ABL, and a lighthearted view about which team is right for you to support. I've also written a quick introduction to the ABL.

The first installment considers whether the Adelaide Bite is the team for you.

The Adelaide Bite

Uniform Design / Colour Scheme: Prussian Blue, Crimson and Gold, (AKA Blue, Red and Yellow) with Prussian Blue being the dominant colour. (Who's ever heard of "Prussian" Blue before???)
Mascot/Logo: Chomper the Shark
Home City Characteristics: Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia with a population of 1.2 million people. The city was founded by immigrants looking for religious freedom, and is unique in that the early settlers of Adelaide did not use convict labour like the other Australian cities. Many of the surrounding areas of Adelaide were settled by German immigrants. It is known as the City of Churches from it's historical past, but in the modern era it's not particularly more religious than other Australian cities. It's a nice, planned city but has an unfair reputation as being boring.
End of Regular Season Standings: 

• 2010-11: 3rd (23-17)
• 2011-12: 3rd (20-25) 
• 2012-13: 5th (21-25)

Postseason Results: 

• 2010-11: Lost 2011 ABL Championship Series
• 2011-12: Eliminated in Semi-Finals Series
• 2012-13: Did not play in postseason

2012-13 the team had Import Players from: Seattle Mariners, Pittsburgh Pirates
2012-13 the team had Australian Players affiliated with: Kansas City Royals, Boston Red Sox
Past Players You Might Know:

• Rinku Singh, the Indian native who won the reality TV show The Million Dollar Arm and ended up with a minor league contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates organisation. Singh played for the Bite in 2011-12 and 2012-13.

2012-13 Adelaide Bite Rinku Singh card front - © 2013 Adam East

• Chin-lung Hu, former MLB player from Taiwan who played for the LA Dodgers and NY Mets played for the Bite in 2011-12 

2011-12 Adelaide Bite Chin-lung Hu card front - © 2012 Adam East

Reasons to follow this team:

• You like the colour Prussian Blue or had even heard of the colour Prussian Blue before reading this article
• You like sharks
• You have German, Taiwanese or Indian heritage
• You're from a mid-size city
• You follow the Mariners or Pirates
• You follow the Roswell Invaders independent league team (several Adelaide players have played on the Invaders team).
• You're particularly religious
• You like the idea of a city willing to value freedom over economic development (ie using convict labour)

Terminology footnote: Americans use the term "rooting" for a team when they talk about their favourite team. Rooting has a different meaning in Australia. Rooting is a euphemism for having sex, so it's not a term to use about sport  - unless you want people sniggering at you behind your back or you're talking about Tiger Woods. Australians use terms such as to barrack for, support or follow a sports team.