It's Official - 2013-14 Australian Baseball League Cards - by Dingo Cards

Official news came through today that Dingo Cards - the family business of former MLB and Aussie baseballing legend David Nilsson - has the rights and is publishing cards for the 2013-14 ABL season.

Perth Heat Facebook banner with details - click for larger view

Quick stats:

• Total: 184 cards
• 18 different sets of 8 cards each
• 3 sets for each of the 6 ABL teams (totalling 24 cards per team)
• 1 Championship set of 40 cards
• Staggered release dates throughout the season in 3 waves
• 1st wave of 6 sets (one per team) released on Fri 1st Nov.

It's an interesting release pattern. The cards are being released as 19 different "sets". Each team will have 3 different sets of 8 players each - totaling 24 cards for each team, which comprise 18 of the 19 sets. The three sets for each team will have a staggered release throughout the season, with the first 8 card release for each team occurring this Friday, 1st November. No word yet on when the 2nd and 3rd waves or the Championship set will be released.

No word yet either on the player inclusions. Presumably the 1st wave will feature photos from the 2012-13 ABL season (or earlier) and so will either feature players from last year, or players known to be returning for the 2013-14 season. With the staggered release, it may be possible that the latter sets could feature images of 2013-14 players, but that's pure speculation by me.

The 8 card sets are priced at $5. So in essence, the way to look at them is that it's a 144 card set, distributed in 8 card packs costing $5 each, and it's a perfect distribution as long as you buy the right 18 packs. Based on the image released by the Perth Heat (above), the "pack" design for each team release/set is different, so it should be easy to know which cards you'll get.

The 19th "set" is a 40 card Canberra Cavalry Championship set priced at $30, which to me is reminiscent of the BBM Championship series sets that are released in Japan. So, total price for all 19 sets will be $120.

I'm excited. I plan to do reviews, provide checklists and put up images of each of the cards as I acquire them over the summer (as well as continuing with my own card designs of course!).

Jack Murphy - 2013-14 Canberra Cavalry Base Card Design

I had displayed my plans for the "blocks" concept cards recently, and have decided on the smallest block design. Here is the base card design for the 2013-14 ABL season for the Cavalry, featuring a photo of Jack Murphy from the 2012-13 ABL season.

2013-14 Canberra Cavalry Jack Murphy front - concept card - © 2013 Adam East

Updated MLB Prospects / Imports for the 2013-14 ABL season

Opening Day is now just under a week away, and final rosters for most teams still aren't fully confirmed. In fact. most teams only started "spring training" last week. I decided to post an updated entry for Imports coming into the Australian Baseball League for the 2013-14 season. Newly announced import players have been highlighted in red. Six additional MLB affiliated players and two independent players have been added to the import lists below.

Adelaide Bite: Allowed 12 import players on their roster.

MLB Affiliated import players

• Houston Astros A: Joe Sclafani SS
• Los Angeles Dodgers A; Chris Jacobs 1B
• Los Angeles Dodgers A; Blake Smith P
• Los Angeles Dodgers A; James Baldwin CF
• Los Angeles Dodgers High A; James Campbell P
• Seattle Mariners A: Blake Holovach P
• Seattle Mariners A: Brock Hebert SS
• Seattle Mariners A: David Holman P
• Seattle Mariners Short A: Min-Seh Chen P

Brisbane Bandits: Allowed 10 import players on their roster.

MLB Affiliated import players

• Tampa Bay Rays A: Patrick Leonard IF
• Tampa Bay Rays A: Justin O'Conner C
• Tampa Bay Rays A: Joey Rickard OF
• Tampa Bay Rays A: Tyler Goeddel 3B

Canberra Cavalry: Allowed 14 import players on their roster.

MLB Affiliated import players

• Toronto Blue Jays High A: John Berti 2B
• Toronto Blue Jays High A: Michael Crouse OF
• Toronto Blue Jays: Jack Murphy C
• Toronto Blue Jays High A: Shane Opitz SS

Independent import players

• Independent: Sean Toler P
• Independent: Jeremy Barnes 3B
• Independent: Antonio Callaway OF
• Independent: Brian Grening P
• Independent: Eric Massingham P
• Independent: Chris Motta P

Melbourne Aces: Allowed 10 import players on their roster.

MLB Affiliated import players

• Colorado Rockies High A: Ryan Casteel C
• Colorado Rockies High A: Tyler Massey OF
• Kansas City Royals High A: Jared Schlehuber 1B
• Kansas City Royals High A: Justin Trapp 2B
• Texas Rangers A: Joe Burns P

Independent import players

• Independent: Corey Kimes P
• Independent: Brett Zawacki P

NPB Affiliated import players:

• Seibu Lions: Makoto Aiuchi P
• Seibu Lions: Tashihiro Iwao P
• Seibu Lions: Yauhiro Tanaka P
• Seibu Lions: Komei Fujisawa P

Perth Heat: Allowed 10 import players on their roster.

MLB Affiliated import players

• Baltimore Orioles Rookie: Kevin Grendell P
• Baltimore Orioles High A: Tucker Nathans OF
• Baltimore Orioles Rookie: Pita Rona 1B
• Baltimore Orioles Rookie: Zach Staniewicz P
• Colorado Rockies Double A: Joey Wong IF

Independent import players

• Free Agent (2013 Anaheim Angels Triple A): Mike Ekstrom P

Sydney Blue Sox: Allowed 10 import players on their roster

MLB Affiliated import players:

• Arizona Diamondbacks Double A: Keon Broxton OF
• Chicago White Sox A: Jacob May OF
• Chicago White Sox A: Joey DeMichele IF
• Detroit Tigers High A: Dean Green 1B
• Pittsburgh Pirates Rookie: Danny Arribas C

Independent import players

• Independent: Brendan Pittsley P
• Independent: Connor Whalen P

Select 2012 ABL Cards - Customer Service - Close, But No Cigar

I posted a while ago about how I had bought a team set of the Canberra Cavalry ABL cards made by Select in 2012 that appear to have been miscut. I ended up emailing Select's Customer Service, asking if they'd replace them.

2012 Select ABL #27 - Mis-cut card

I got an email back within a day or two telling me to send the miscut cards in to them with an explanatory note, and that they'd look into it. Excellent I thought, they responded reasonably quickly, and seemed to be willing to try and rectify the problem.

I dutifully packaged up the cards, included a cover note and sent them off to Select. A couple of weeks later, I got a return package. Open it up and there are TWO sets of Canberra Cavalry cards in the package, as well as my original cover letter with a hand written response.

I read the hand written response. The Customer Service Officer advised me that they checked the other Canberra Cavalry cards in stock, and the other sets were also all mis-aligned, so it must have been a design fault. WHAT? SERIOUSLY? They had returned my original set of cards - with "OLD" marked on the packaging, plus a replacement set ... of also mis-cut cards.

2012 Select ABL #27 - Correct cut

Well, it's nice of them to blame the problem of it being a design fault and not a production fault ... and I could even believe it ... if it weren't for the fact that I already owned a Canberra Cavalry set that was correctly aligned and cut, meaning that no, this wasn't a design fault. It was a production fault ... and by the sound of it, a rather large production fault, which affected a lot of their stock, and which they aren't willing to acknowledge or fix.

Good try Select Customer Service, thanks for the attempt to fix my problem, but unfortunately, you're wrong. Close, but no cigar ...

Back from the Printers - 2012-13 ABL In Hand

Well, I received the my first batch of 2012-13 ABL cards from the printers on Friday, containing just over 50 cards. Here's quick review of how they came up:

I've already got my fisrt part of my 2012-13 ABL cards into a binder.

• Matte finish. Historically I've had my cards created with a hi-gloss finish. The matte finish on the cards is noticeable, making them appear a bit duller to what I'm used to in previous season's cards.
• Card stock. Again a lighter card stock than what I've used in the past, but they're acceptable. As I suspected, the cards have very much a "Playing Card" feel about them, especially with the rounded corners. I'm actually quite a fan of rounded corners - the number of cards I've gotten in the past with corner damage from shipping, even from new printed cards, is annoying and has sold me on rounded corners.
• Size. Despite the "playing card" design, they do have the normal 3½" x 2½" size sans corners. Happy with that as some printers offer the ability to print trading cards, but they're often non-standard sizes. 
• Centering. Is pretty good - not every card is 50/50 - maybe a couple of 55/45, bur most seem to be good. The US printer had always been good until my last batch where there were a bunch of 70/30 centred cards. Despite taking my design over the bleed markings there were occasionally a few slivers of white in the bottom left hand corner
• Colour. The colouring appears consistent, but some of the backgrounds seemed a bit oversaturated for teams like the Cavalry, and the matte finish made the Bite's cards seem a bit lacklustre in comparison.
• Clarity. The photos appear reasonably crisp with only a slight reduction in clarity from the on-screen designs Whilst the American printed cards were always very crisp image wise, it always felt like there was a bit of "Colour bleed" in the images.

Close up of the printed copy of my 2012-13 Adam Buschini card

Close up of the printed copy of my 2012-13 Stefan Welch card

So, how would I rate these Chinese printed cards compared to the American printed cards in the past? There are some greater strengths (rounded corners, not as dark), and some negatives (matte finish, slight inconsistency in where bleed edging finishes), but overall, definitely an acceptable standard, especially at roughly a quarter the price of the American cards. Now I've got to get the card backs for the next 50 cards finished so I can send them off to get printed.

COMC Batch of Serial & Signature Aussie MLBers

My second batch of COM cards arrived recently, and it featured serial numbered and autographed cards of Assie MLB players.All up three autos and two cards numbered 30 or less, makes the Card of the Buy™ a difficult choice. In the end, I've gone with the Nilsson 1996 Leaf Signature Silver parallel card as the Card of the Buy™. Although there are a 1000 of the Nilsson's card in existence, it's a nice, simple  looking card (the scan here doesn't do it justice) with an on card official auto of an Aussie baseballing legend. Thumbs up to Dingo :)

Josh Spence 2010 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Signature Aspirations 167 #d/100

Grant Balfour 2012 Panini Prizm Autographs GB 

Luke Hughes 2010 Bowman Draft Blue BDP65 #d/399

Justin Huber 2005 Bowman Chrome Draft Blue Refractor BDP156 #d/150

Chris Snelling 2002 SP Authentic 222 #d/1999

Liam Hendriks 2012 Bowman Chrome Orange Refractor 39 #d/25

Liam Hendriks 2012 Bowman Silver Ice 208

Liam Hendriks 2012 Bowman Chrome Draft Blue Refractor 19 #d/250

Liam Hendriks 2012 Bowman Chrome Draft Refractor 19 #d/300

Dave Nilsson 1996 Leaf Signature Autographs Silver #d/1000

Liam Hendriks 2012 Panini Prizm National Convention Pulsar 169 #d/30

Bubbie Buzachero - 2012 Melbourne Aces Promotional Card

I came across the following card image online the other day.  It's a promotional card of Melbourne Aces pitcher "Bubbie" Buzachero, who I believe used it for promotions work with young baseballers during his time in Melbourne. I believe that it was something he arranged to get printed up himself.

Buzachero is American born and spent nine years in the minor leagues, reaching Triple-A with Cleveland, Houston and Toronto. but played both the the 2011-12 and 2012-13 ABL seasons with the Melbourne Aces. He has his own website and describes himself as an "International Baseball Player and Ambassador".

I've asked him if I can get either a copy of the card, or a better image to put up on this blog, and am currently waiting for a response.

2013-14 MLB Prospects Joining ABL teams

With the opening weekend of games just over 2 weeks away, details about the imports coming from the MLB organisations and elsewhere are becoming clearer. Below is a summary of information about the import players I know so far coming to Australia for the 2013-14 Australian Baseball League season.

Adelaide Bite: Allowed 12 import players on their roster.

MLB Affiliated import players

• Houston Astros A: Joe Sclafani SS
• Los Angeles Dodgers High A; James Campbell P
• Seattle Mariners A: Blake Holovach P
• Seattle Mariners A: Brock Hebert SS
• Seattle Mariners A: David Holman P
• Seattle Mariners Short A: Min-Seh Chen P

Brisbane Bandits: Allowed 10 import players on their roster.

MLB Affiliated import players

• Tampa Bay Rays A: Patrick Leonard IF

Canberra Cavalry: Allowed 14 import players on their roster.

MLB Affiliated import players

• Toronto Blue Jays High A: John Berti 2B
• Toronto Blue Jays High A: Michael Crouse OF
• Toronto Blue Jays: Jack Murphy C
• Toronto Blue Jays High A: Shane Opitz SS

Independent import players

• Independent: Sean Toler P
• Independent: Jeremy Barnes 3B
• Independent: Antonio Callaway OF
• Independent: Brian Grening P
• Independent: Eric Massingham P
• Independent: Chris Motta P

Melbourne Aces: Allowed 10 import players on their roster.

MLB Affiliated import players

• Colorado Rockies High A: Ryan Casteel C
• Colorado Rockies High A: Tyler Massey OF
• Kansas City Royals High A: Jared Schlehuber 1B
• Kansas City Royals High A: Justin Trapp 2B
• Texas Rangers A: Joe Burns P

Independent import players

• Independent: Corey Kimes P
• Independent: Brett Zawacki P

NPB Affiliated import players:

• Seibu Lions: Makoto Aiuchi P
• Seibu Lions: Tashihiro Iwao P
• Seibu Lions: Yauhiro Tanaka P
• Seibu Lions: Komei Fujisawa P

Perth Heat: Allowed 10 import players on their roster.

MLB Affiliated import players

• Baltimore Orioles Rookie: Kevin Grendell P
• Baltimore Orioles High A: Tucker Nathans OF
• Baltimore Orioles Rookie: Pita Rona 1B
• Baltimore Orioles Rookie: Zach Staniewicz P
• Colorado Rockies Double A: Joey Wong IF

Independent import players

• Free Agent (2013 Anaheim Angels Triple A): Mike Ekstrom P

Sydney Blue Sox: Allowed 10 import players on their roster

MLB Affiliated import players:

• Arizona Diamondbacks Double A: Keon Broxton OF
• Chicago White Sox A: Jacob May OF
• Chicago White Sox A: Joey DeMichele IF
• Detroit Tigers High A: Dean Green 1B
• Pittsburgh Pirates Rookie: Danny Arribas C

A Dearth of Aussie MLB Debuts

[Note: I've had this blog entry sitting unpublished for two weeks, waiting for it's turn to be published. I was a bit disappointed when Nicholas Henning beat me to the punch with a similar article two Sundays ago after I wrote this one. Oh well. Great minds think alike ;)]

There have been no new Australian MLB players since Liam Hendriks took the mound on the 7th Sep 2011, meaning that by the time MLB Opening Day 2014 starts in Sydney in March, it will have been over 2 and a half years since an Aussie has made a MLB debut.

What makes this lack of Aussie debuts all the more surprising is that you have to go back to the mid Nineties to see a longer period without an Australian MLB debut. Between 1997 and 2011, 24 Australians debuted in the Majors, with the only year without a debut being 1998. The late Nineties was a beginning of a long debut streak that seems to have finally come to an end as the ABL has arrived.

The history of Aussie MLB baseballers has three real eras in my opinion.

1. The Joe Quinn Vintage era. The first Aussie to debut in Major League Baseball was Joe Quinn in 1884. His 1767 games over 17 seasons is still a MLB record for an Aussie, and one that will stand for at least another ten years at a minimum. He stood alone for over 100 years as Australia's only MLB player.

Colorized "Flashback" concept card of  Joe Quinn - © 2012 Adam East

2. The Pioneer Years. A 102 years after Quinn's debut, the second Aussie, Craig Shipley, made his MLB debut in 1986, paving the way for another five Aussies to debut in eight years (1986-1993) including Aussie baseballing legends Dave Nilsson and Graeme Lloyd.

Craig Shipley 1991 Mets WIZ 362

3. The Modern Era. Between 1993 and 1997, there was a gap without any new Aussies getting into the Majors, and then the flood gates opened. As mentioned earlier between 1997 and 2011, there were 24 Australia MLB debuts, including at least one debut every year except 1998.

Grant Balfour 2011 Topps Update US135

And then the gap.
2012 - no one.
2013 - nobody.
2014 - who knows what's in store?

Hopefully we're not about to enter a 4th era - The ABL Drought.

The newly formed Australian Baseball League started in the Aussie summer of 2010-11, three Australians make their MLB debut in 2011, and then nothing since then. Is it just coincidence that as the ABL has continued, Aussie MLB debuts have dried up? Surely we would have expected the opposite to occur. More exposure of Aussie players to scouts, to professional baseball and with additional game time would have expected a rise in the quality of the Aussies coming through into the US.

Trade With Beckster - Micheal's in the House

Thanks to Beckster for another trade. My eTopps Snellings finally arrived, and Beckster was kind of enough to trade a Nakamura auto and Japanese card as well as some Aussie MLB commons that I needed. The card of the trade is a toss up between the Nakamara cards - the smallish numbered auto vs the Japanese card. In the end, Card of the Trade™ goes to National Pastime Signs of the Future card for being a serial numbered auto which is in shorter supply than the Japanese card, even though the BBM card might be harder to get for a non-Japanese resident.

Grant Balfour 2008 Topps Update UH48

Micheal Nakamura 2004 National Pastime Signs of the Future Red MN  #d/133

Micheal Nakamura 2006 BBM Nippon Ham Fighters F89

Trent Durrington 2007 Buffalo Bisons Choice 4

Travis Blackley 2005 Donruss 31

First Batch of 2012-13 ABL Cards Sent to the Printers

I've decided to try and use a different printer to get last seasons card designs printed up for myself. The first two years I used a printer in the USA. The cards were printed on a high quality, glossy, almost plastic like stock. They were professional looking. My only complaints were that the images printed up a lot darker than they appear on screen, and secondly - it was expensive.

I recently discovered a Chinese printer online that does custom cards that are a lot cheaper. I suspect it'll be a lighter card stock, and the cards have rounded edges (which I don't mind.) And whilst the American cards are more expensive, I can only order 54 cards at a time from the Chinese printer (presumably because they're using playing card templates/stock for the cards.).

The printer seems to have a hit and miss reputation - still, it was a lot cheaper (about 75% cheaper than the American printers) so if these cards print up OK, I'll get the rest of last year's set printed up via them as well. If they don't print up well, it's been a relatively inexpensive mistake.

The first batch of my custom made 2012-13 ABL cards ready for printing.

Ebay - Picking Up Some Minors of the Majors

I managed to pick up several minor league cards from Ebay the other week featuring two of Australia's more recent MLB debutantes. Both pitchers debuted in 2011, Josh Spence with the San Diego Padres, whilst Shane Lindsay debuted with the Chicago White Sox. The Card of the Buy™ goes to Spence 2011 San Antonio Missions card, mainly due to the fact that despite playing 51 games in the majors, Spence has very few cards to his name, so being the oldest of the few of his cards puts it above the other two in my collectability stakes.

Josh Spence 2011 San Antonio Missions Grandstand 24

Josh Spence 2013 Scranton Wilkes-Barr Rail Riders 25

Shane Lindsay 2011 Charlotte Knights Choice 14

The ABL's Latest MLB Debutant - Kevin Kiermaier

Another Australian Baseball League alumni made his Major League Debut last week, even if it was a "blink and you'll miss it" cameo. Kevin Kiermaier debuted for the Tampa Bay Rays against Texas on the 30th of September in the 9th Inning of Game 163!. Kiermaier had previously played with the Canberra Cavalry during the 2011-12 ABL season. Congrats! I decided to make another of my MLB Debut concept cards for Kiermaier's debut.

2012-13 MLB Debut Concept Card - Kevin Kiermaier - card front - © 2013 Adam East

Perth Heat Use One of My Card Designs On Facebook

Was happy to hear last week that one of my favourite players from my younger years - Graeme Lloyd - has been elected to Sport Australia's Hall of Fame. What was even better about the announcement was that the Perth Heat - whom Llloyd is currently the pitching coach for - chose to make the announcement on Facebook using my card design & photo of Lloyd from the 2011-12 ABL season. :)

ABL Recruiting Strategies

I was chatting with the General Manager from one of the ABL teams the other day about the ABL Supplementary Draft that seemed to sneak up on the public. I'll keep his identity anonymous, but I will say that he was from one of the four teams that didn't select anyone in the draft.

He commented that he gets about 5 to 10 emails per day from players from around the world wanting to inquire about trying to join the team. I was surprised to hear that it was that high.

In regards to the Supplementary Draft he gave some interesting commentary. No, the team's roster wasn't necessary settled at that point, however the supplementary draft relied on teams sitting down and choosing players based purely on their statistical performances in the past.  He said that his team were more interested in utlising their contacts as scouts, and getting feedback on what players were like personally, their work ethic and other factors that might help them fit into the team. They felt that for them, this made the recruiting less number based, and more team focussed, and that they were more likely to draw their players from these personal recommendations than through other methods.

There are lots of recruiting strategies - whether it be moneyball, personal based referrals, or the luck of the lottery, there are many ways to acquire players. Whats' right for one team may not be right for others, but it was definitely interesting to get a quick peek into the thought process that was going on in this particular team. The Australian Baseball League seems to be becoming a popular winterball destination for players.

Even the Grandfather of Steroids, Jose Canseco sounded like he wanted to come and play Down Under.

Jose Canseco 1986 Donruss 39

Inaugural COMC Motherload - Part 8 - Liam Hendriks

This is the eighth and final part of my attempt to document my initial large load of cards ordered from COMC. This batch features cards of a single player - Liam Hendriks. I have a love-hate relationship with Hendriks.

Why I love Hendriks:

• He comes from my home town of Perth
• He's an Aussie who has had a number of Major League Baseball call ups
• Lots of baseball cards have been made of him

Why I hate Hendriks:

• He continually chokes when he's called up the big leagues. He keeps getting second chances, but he just can't seem to replicate his minor success at MLB level :(

For the record, my Inaugural COMC Motherload lot included 26 different Liam Hendriks cards. I'm not going to put them all up individually, but here's a group shot.

26 different Liam Hendriks cards as a part of my inaugural COMC shipment

There are four possibles for Card of the Buy™ in this lot, which should be pictured below, but in the end I've chosen the 2012 Topps Golden Moments Autograph card as my favourite of these 26 cards.

Liam Hendriks 2010 Bowman Chrome Prospects BCP183B

Liam Hendriks  2012 Bowman Chrome Purple Refractors 39  #d/199

Liam Hendriks 2012 Finest Orange Refractors 77  #d/99

Liam Hendriks 2012 Topps Golden Moments Autographs GMA-LH

Now that the large initial COMC load has been documented, there are a couple of small follow up lots from Ebay and trades  I've received that I'll document as well.