Cameron Lamb - 2012-13 Perth Heat

Lamb was released by the San Francisco Giants late last year following an injury plagued six years with them. He was then picked up by the Houston Astros during the 2012-13 ABL season. The 2012-13 ABL season was Lamb's third season with the Perth Heat.

In 2013 he has started with the Quad Cities River bandits in the A level Midwest League. The sites I had read said that the way Lamb was acquired (Rule V (AAA) draft) meant that he should be on the Astros AAA roster, so I'm uncertain as to why he's pitching down at A level unless those sites were wrong.

2012-13 Perth Heat Cameron Lamb card front - © 2013 Adam East

Dustin Loggins - 2012-13 Canberra Cavalry

Loggins was an American import who played with the Canberra Cavalry during the 2012-13 ABL season. In the 2012 American Association season he had played in the Kansas City T-Bones along with fellow Cavalry pitchers Steve Kent, Brian Grening and Sean Toler. Both Loggins and Toler have returned to the T-Bones for the 2013 season.

2012-13 Canberra Cavalry Dustin Loggins card front - © 2013 Adam East

Ryan Battaglia - 2012-13 Brisbane Bandits

Following his third ABL season with the Brisbane Bandits during 2012-13, Battaglia has been elevated by the Cleveland Indians organisation in 2013 to play for the Carolina Mudcats in the high A level Carolina League.

2012-13 Brisbane Bandits Ryan Battaglia - © 2013 Adam East

Zach Shepherd - 2012-13 Sydney Blue Sox

Sydney youngster Shepherd signed with the Detroit Tigers last year despite being only 16 years of age. His signing came on the back of the 2011 Australian Youth Player of the Year Award, following his naming as the 2011 U16 World Championship's most outstanding defensive player, as well as All-Star selection.

He made his ABL debut during the 2012-13 season as a 17 year old, playing for the Sydney Blue Sox.

2012-13 Sydney Blue Sox Zach Shepherd card front - © 2013 Adam East 

Matt Dixon - 2012-13 Perth Heat

Perth youngster Dixon made his debut with the Perth Heat during the 20-12-13 ABL season, one of a number of local players who graduated onto the Heat roster for the season. Is dating team mate Warwick Saupold's sister ...

2012-13 Perth Heat Matt Dixon card front - © 2013 Adam East

A Longley Break Up to Sydney

I'm heading to Sydney on a work trip, so won't be updating the blog for a few days. To celebrate my absence on the trip, I thought I would break from the mold and throw up a scan of another recent addition from Ebay to my Australian Sportsmen collection - except this time from Basketball.

I present to you Luc Longley's first furry card - 2012-13 Panini Past and Present Winning Touch #23. For those who haven't seen these cards, the front of the card has a furry material stuck to the white background. I'm sure that like my cat, this card is going to molt as it gets older and make a mess ...

If anybody has some Aussie cards to trade I need, I do have some spares of the Winning Touch set - Dirk Nowitzki #2, Kareen Abdul-Jabbar #14, Kenny Smith #15 and Bill Russell #19 that I'm happy to trade away.

2012-13 Panini Past and Present Winning Touch #23 Luc Longley

Michael Wells - 2012-13 Canberra Cavalry

ABL veteran Wells returned for his third season with the Canberra Cavalry in 2012-13. I  believe that he's the only active ABL player to have played in both the original (1989-1999) and modern (2010-Present) incarnations of the Australian Baseball league.

Wells managed to capture the 2012-13 ABL Play of the Year Award for his home run in Game 2 of the 2012-13 ABL Championship Series that gave the Cavalry their first ever ABL championship. There has been speculation in Canberra about whether Wells will pull on the uniform again in 2013-14, or retire. Hopefully he'll return to help Canberra defend their title.

2012-13 Canberra Cavalry Michael Wells card front - © 2013 Adam East

Justin Howard - 2012-13 Adelaide Bite

Howard was an American import from the Pittsburgh Pirates organisation who played with the Adelaide Bite during the 2012-13 ABL season. In 2013, Howard is playing for the Pirates AA level affiliate, the Altoona Curve, in the Eastern league.

2012-13 Adelaide Bite Justin Howard card front - © 2013 Adam East

Liam Baron - 2012-13 Perth Heat

After playing for the Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, USA, Baron returned to his hometown of Perth and signed with the Perth Heat to play in the inaugural 2010-11 ABL season, He missed the entire 2011-12 ABL season due to injury, but returned to the Heat for the 2012-13 ABL season.

2012-13 Perth Heat Liam Baron card front - © 2013 Adam East

Chris Oxspring - 2012-13 Sydney Blue Sox

Former Aussie MLB pithcer Chris Oxspring returned for his third season with the Sydney Blue Sox during the 2012-13 ABL season. In 2013 he is playing with the Lotte Giants of the Korean baseball Organisation.

2012-13 Sydney Blue Sox Chris Oxspring card front - © 2013 Adam East

Graeme Lloyd - 2012-13 Perth Heat

Former Major League Player and New York Yankees championship ring holder Graeme Lloyd continued as pitching coach for the Perth Heat during the 2012-13 ABL season. It appears that each card I produce of Lloyd is going to have him standing with his hands on his hips :)

2012-13 Perth Heat Graeme Lloyd card front - © 2013 Adam East

Jarryd Rogers - 2012-13 Melbourne Aces

Melbourne youngster Rogers played at Panola Community College in Carthage, Texas in 2011, before returning to Australia to debut for the Melbourne Aces during the 2011-12 ABL season. I didn't get a photo of him during the 2011-12 season, so this card design for the 2012-13 ABL season is my first for him..

2012-13 Melbourne Aces Jarryd Rogers card front - © 2013 Adam East

Jesse Barron - 2012-13 Perth Heat

Perth local Barron made his ABL debut during the 2012-13 season playing for the Heat. He had previously played 5 games for the Heat in the forerunner to the Australian Baseball League, the Claxton Shield during the 2009-10 season. In 2013 he is heading up into Australia's North West to work in the lucrative mining industry before planning to return for the next Australian baseball season.
 

2012-13 Perth Heat Jesse Barron card front - © 2013 Adam East

John Holdzkom - 2012-13 Canberra Cavalry

Californian born Holdzkom spent an injury plagued 5 years (2006-2010) with the New York Mets mainly at Rookie level before being released, as well as playing some high A level ball with the Cincinnati Reds organisation in 2012. He joined the Canberra Cavalry as an import for the 2012-13 season, right after competing for New Zealand in the Qualifying Rounds of the World Baseball Classic. Holdzkom's father was originally from New Zealand before moving to the USA.

The unusual feature of this card is that it's the only Canberra Cavalry card design I've done featuring one of their charity fundraising uniforms from the 2012-13 season - in this instance, the Legacy uniform. I had specifically avoided trying to use shots of the charity uniforms, preferring the standard Cavalry home uniform for the card designs. Holdzkom however was one of those players that I had difficulties getting shots of - the only other usable images I had were those of him in the Cavalry training uniforms. I decided in the end to go with the gameday image, hence the uniform.

2012-13 Canberra Cavalry John Holdzkom card front - © 2013 Adam East

Ryan Searle - 2012-13 Brisbane Bandits

Yes, I know - a shocking photo of Searle. It makes him look like an amputee ... which is fine if you're an amputee, but Searle isn't. Unfortunately this was the only shot of Searle I was able to get this year.

Searle returned for his third ABL season with the Brisbane Bandits in 2012-13. In 2013, he is currently playing with the Chicago Cubs A+ affiliate - the Daytona Cubs.

2012-13 Brisbane Bandits Ryan Searle card front - © 2013 Adam East

Gabriel Suarez - 2012-13 Adelaide Bite

American born Suarez is the ultimate baseball journeyman, having played in the minors for 7 different MLB organisations since 2004, most recently the LA Dodgers in 2012. There have also been several signings with other MLB organisations he didn't end up playing for, as well as several stints in Independent Leagues, and even the Mexican League. To top it all off, he then played for the Adelaide Bite during the 2012-13 ABL season as an American import.

As if it couldn't get any more varied than that, Suarez then went on to represent Spain in the 2013 World Baseball Classic, due to his Spanish heritage. He is currently playing for the Long Island Ducks in the independent Atlantic League in 2013. You can check out Suarez's colorful baseball history on the baseball-reference.com entry for him.

2012-13 Adelaide Bite Gabe Suarez card front - © 2013 Adam East

Vaughan Harris - 2012-13 Sydney Blue Sox

A native of Sydney, Harris has played all three seasons with the Sydney Blue Sox, although this is my first card design for him. Outside of the ABL,. his only professional experience was playing with Corendon Kinheim in the Dutch Major League in 2007.

2012-13 Sydney Blue Sox Vaughan Harris card front - © 2013 Adam East

Scott Mitchinson - 2012-13 Perth Heat

Perth-born Mitchinson spent six years playing in the US minor leagues between 2004-2009 with the Philadelphia and Oakland organisations. His was awarded the Paul Owens Award in 2004 as the Phillies Minor League Pitcher of the Year. He joined the Perth Heat for the 2012-13 ABL season.

2012-13 Perth Heat Scott Mitchinson card front - © 2013 Adam East

Donald Lutz - "C100 Vintage" concept cards

Yes, I know, another Donald Lutz card, less than a week after my last one. As a bit of background - I'm toying with the idea of trying to get these cards created as a licenced stadium give away at Canberra Cavalry home games, but need to chat with Canberra's GM first about all the legal hoops I need to jump through. It's Canberra's 100th Anniversary of being founded in 2013, so I thought designing a series of "vintage" looking cards that look like they're from 100 years ago, featuring some of the past Canberra players would be a fun idea. Still, a lot of leg work to be done before the stadium give away idea is remotely possible, but I thought I'd post up some of the designs I was playing with.

Both Lutz and Arizona rookie Didi Gregorius are in the MLB spotlight at the moment, so I thought I'd have a try of card designs using some of my photos of them. Here are a couple of the Lutz designs I've been trialling. Went with the "skinny" card size similar to the old cigarette card sizes. Unsure about the vignette. Also wondering if I should try removing the background as cards from that era tended to be shot in studios. The card backs will probably be just basic text advertisement for the Cavalry or something else to keep in theme with the vintage design. Any feedback, feel free to leave a comment.

"C100 Vintage" concept design 2 (full background) ft Donald Lutz, Canberra - © 2013 Adam East

"C100 Vintage" concept design 5 (vignette) ft Donald Lutz, Canberra - © 2013 Adam East

First Trade in Years!

It's been a long time since I've traded, so many thanks to Aussie baseball collecting legend Beckster for my first trade in ages and it was full of Australian MLB goodness :). Yes, most of them are commons, but I'm missing so much from the last 5 years, that even commons are still needed in my collection. The Phil Stockman SuperScripts auto takes out the award for Card of the Trade™ though.

Grant Balfour 2010 Upper Deck #490

Chris Oxspring 2005 Donruss #311

Ryan Rowland-Smith 2010 Upper Deck #449

Luke Hughes 2004 Bowman #241 Rookie Card (The line is from my scanner, not on the card!)

Liam Hendriks 2010 Bowman Chrome Prospects Green X-Freactor #BCP183

Phil Stockman 2004 SPx SuperScripts Rookies #PS

Shota Nakata (中田祥多) - 2012-13 Melbourne Aces

A Japanese import from the Seibu Lions, Nakata played for the Melbourne Aces during the 2012-13 ABL season. Nakata had made his NPB debut with the Lions during the 2012 season, playing two NPB games before his stint Down Under.

2012-13 Melbourne Aces Shota Nakata card front - © 2013 Adam East

Nathan Crawford - 2012-13 Brisbane Bandits

Following his first two seasons with the Canberra Cavalry, Nathan Crawford returned with his older brother Tristan to their hometown of Brisbane to play for the Brisbane Bandits during the 2012-13 ABL season.

2012-13 Brisbane Bandits Nathan Crawford card front - © 2013 Adam East