William Wu - 2015-16 Melbourne Aces

Haven't been able to find out much about Wu. I know that he's Taiwanese born and that his season playing with the Melbourne Aces in 2015-16 was his first in the ABL. I also know he's only 19 years old, and that I haven't been able to find any info on him playing elsewhere. Welcome Down Under Mr Wu :)

2015-16 Melbourne Aces William Wu card front - ©2016 Adam East

Scott Mulhearn - 2015-16 Canberra Cavalry

Hmm. What happened to Scott Mulhearn? Brisbane born Mulhearn was one of two Aussie players - the other being Jack Barrie - drafted by the Cavalry in the 2015 ABL player draft. Previously in 2015, Mulhearn was playing for the Tempo Titans Praha in the Czech Republic. 

Mulhearn is still listed on the Canberra roster, but is listed as a reserve pitcher. He's actually an infielder and I did manage to get shots of him in his single game for the Cavalry during the opening series of the 2015-16 ABL season, I don't recall seeing him at the club after the first couple of series. Even the ABL website fails to show his single game for the Cavalry because it's defaulted to pitching stats, of which he has none.

Well, even if he did only manage to play one game for the Cavalry, here's his baseball card :)

2015-16 Canberra Cavalry Scott Mulhearn card front - ©2016 Adam East

Aaron Whitefield - 2015-16 Brisbane Bandits

Whitefield is a local born player who made his debut with the Brisbane Bandits during the 2015-16 ABL season. In 2015 Whitefield also played his first season of professional ball with the Minnesota Twins organisation, where he played for their Gulf Coast League rookie level team.

2015-16 Brisbane Bandits Aaron Whitefield card front - ©2016 Adam East

Marc Wik - 2015-16 Adelaide Bite

Wik is an American import from the Houston Astros organisation who played with the Adelaide Bite during the 2015-16 ABL season. Wik spent 2015, playing for the Astros' Advanced A affiliate, the Lancaster JetHawks in the California League.

2015-16 Adelaide Bite Marc Wik card front - ©2016 Adam East

The photo for Wik's card is from the 2015-16 ABL playoff game in Canberra last Saturday that was suspended by a freak hailstorm. The game only lasted 7 pitches before large hailstones started pelting the ground and everyone went scampering for cover.

Large hailstones falling during the 2015-16 ABL Playoff game between Canberra and Adelaide - ©2016 Adam East

Groundtsaff in the hail during the 2015-16 ABL Playoff game between Canberra and Adelaide - ©2016 Adam East

Covering the infield during the 2015-16 ABL Playoff game between Canberra and Adelaide - ©2016 Adam East

What to do with piles of hailstones? - 2015-16 ABL Playoff game between Canberra and Adelaide - ©2016 Adam East

After the hail ceased many of the players had fun playing as the groundstaff worked out how to get several hundred kilos (500+ pounds) of hail off the ground. In the photo for Wik'scard you can just tell that it's still raining in the photo. Wik has a hand full of the large hailstones and is throwing them at other Bite players

If you're interested, the hailstorm can be seen in the following video just after the 15 minute mark.

Tyler Bortnick - 2015-16 Sydney Blue Sox

Bortnick is a returning American import who had his second season with the Sydney Blue Sox during the 2015-16 ABL season. Bortnick had previously been sent Down Under by the Arizona Diamondbacks for the 2014-15 season, before being released in 2015. Bortnick subsequently played independent ball in 2015 for the Lancaster Barnstormers in the Atlantic League before then being signed by Seattle. He played with the Jackson Generals, their Double A affiliate in the Southern League before once again being released, and then making his own way back down to Sydney.

2015-16 Sydney Blue Sox Tyler Bortnick card front - ©2016 Adam East

Correll Prime - 2015-16 Perth Heat

Correll Prime - the man who sounds like a sci-fi planetary system or old school drawing software, is an American import from the Colorado Rockies organisation who played with the Perth Heat during the 2015-16 ABL season. Prime spent 2015 playing for the Modesto Nuts - the Rockies Advanced A affiliate in the California League.

2015-16 Perth Heat Correll Prime card front - ©2016 Adam East

2015-16 Perth Heat Correll Prime alternate card front - ©2016 Adam East

Mike McGillivray - 2015-16 Melbourne Aces

Canadian import McGillivray played with the Melbourne Aces during the 2015-16 ABL season. McGillivray had previously been playing club level ball in Melbourne prior to being signed by the Aces as well as semi-pro level ball in the US and Canada (Kitchener Panthers in the Intercounty Baseball League)

2015-16 Melbourne Aces Mike McGillivray card front - ©2016 Adam East

Aaron Sloan - 2015-16 Canberra Cavalry

The younger of the Cavalry's Sloan brothers once again joined the Canberra Cavalry for the 2015-16 ABL season. It was Aaron's fourth season with the Cavalry, although, like last season, it's been more of a cameo appearance. In 2014-15 his limited games were due to injury and he had not intended to resume playing with the Cavs in 2015-16, planning to be overseas over the summer. Apparently older brother Jason convinced him to return home early from overseas to rejoin the Cavalry and help cover injuries to several other Aussie Cavalry players. What may be especially memorable for him is pitching long relief in a blowout against the Bite late in the season.

2015-16 Canberra Cavalry Aaron Sloan card front - ©2016 Adam East

Taylor Stanton - 2015-16 Brisbane Bandits

Stanton is an American import who played with the Brisbane Bandits during the 2015-16 ABL season. Stanton spent five years in the Seattle Mariners organisation between 2008 and 2012 before being released. Since then he has played for the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks in the independent American Association.

2015-16 Brisbane Bandits Taylor Stanton card front - ©2016 Adam East

Just a warning to ABL players - if you make a silly face for the camera when I'm taking a shot of you, I will try and incorporate it into a card :)

2015-16 Brisbane Bandits Taylor Stanton alternate card front - ©2016 Adam East

Travis Demeritte - 2015-16 Adelaide Bite

Demeritte is an American import from the Texas Rangers organisation who played with the Adelaide Bite during the 2015-16 ABL season. In 2015 he played with the Spokane Indians and the Hickory Crawdads, the Rangers' respective short and Single A affiliates.

The second card features an image of Demeritte dancing a jig whilst wearing his glove on his head during the middle of a game. Not the greatest of photos, but I thought it was worth including on a card for sheer novelty value.

2015-16 Adelaide Bite Travis Demeritte card front - ©2016 Adam East

2015-16 Adelaide Bite Travis Demeritte alternate card front - ©2016 Adam East

Aaron Sookee - 2015-16 Sydney Blue Sox

Well, after a longer delay than expected, I now have a brand spanking new computer, and I have been able to start work on card design again. My first card post new computer is Aussie Aaron Sookee.

Sookee is playing his fifth season with the Sydney Blue Sox in the 2015-16 ABL season. In 2015 Sookee joind the Arizona Diamonbacks organisation, playing for the Missoula Osprey, their Rookie level team in the Pioneer League.

2015-16 Sydney Blue Sox Aaron Sookee card front - ©2016 Adam East

Tad Gold - 2015-16 Perth Heat

Gold is an American import from the Baltimore Orioles organisation who is playing with the Perth Heat during the 2015-16 ABL season. In 2015 he played both low and high A level ball, with the Aberdeen IronBirds in the New York-Pennsylvania League and for the Frederick Keys in the Carolina League.

2015-16 Perth Heat Tad Gold card front - ©2016 Adam East

On a blog admin note, my main PC has finally succumbed and died of old age after 7½ years. I probably won't have any new blog posts until late next week whilst I wait on a new PC to be delivered, load on my software and data and get some new cards made.

Virgil Vasquez - 2015-16 Melbourne Aces

Former MLB player Vasquez is getting the grand tour of Australia, both coaching and playing with the Melbourne Aces for the 2015-16 ABL season. This is his fourth season in the ABL, his first two were with Perth, whilst his third was last season with Adelaide.

Vasquez retired from affiliated baseball in late 2014 and then had short stints in the Mexican Winter League, and pitched a single game for Adelaide in the 2014-15 ABL Championship series. Although he's been used in relief by the Aces this season, he is listed as their pitching coach, so I'm presuming that he may originally have been brought to the Aces in the coaching role, and the playing role has emerged through necessity.

I like it when the players react to the camera, so I chose this shot of Vasquez responding to the camera in the dugout.

2015-16 Melbourne Aces Virgil Vasquez card front - ©2016 Adam East

Jeremy Barnes - 2015-16 Canberra Cavalry

After missing the 2014-15 season, American import Jeremy Barnes returned to the Canberra Cavalry for the 2015-16 ABL season, his third with the Cavalry since 2012-13. Barnes played for the New Jersey Jackals in the independent Canadian American Association in 2014. He didn't play professionally in 2015, but the change to the ABL import rules meant that the Cavalry could play him as an Australian player due to his two years previous ABL experience.

Unfortunately for Barnes and the Cavalry, Barnes injured his toe ("turf toe") near the mid season All-Star game, and has been on the  injured list since. I couldn't resist getting a photo of Barnes sititng in the dugout with his moon boot on.

2015-16 Canberra Cavalry Jeremy Barnes card front - ©2015 Adam East

2015-16 Canberra Cavalry Jeremy Barnes alternate card front - ©2015 Adam East

Riley Unroe - 2015-16 Brisbane Bandits

Happy New Year to everyone! The New year means there's only just over a month left in the Australian Baseball League's 2015-16 season.

Our play for today is Riley Unroe. Unroe is an American import from the Tampa Bay Rays organisation who is playing with the Brisbane Bandits during the 2015-16 ABL season. Unroe has been with the Rays organisation since 2013, and spent 2015 playing with the Bowling Green Hot Rods in the Single A level Midwest League.

2015-16 Brisbane Bandits Riley Unroe card front - ©2015 Adam East 

2015-16 Brisbane Bandits Riley Unroe alternate card front - ©2015 Adam East