Perth Checklist - 2013-14 Perth Heat

Here' the second last of my checklists from last year's card designs - the 2013-14 Pertrh Heat checklist.

2013-14 Perth Heat Checklist card - ©2014 Adam East

Trent Oeltjen - 2014-15 Sydney Blue Sox

Mr Smiley is back. I've never seen a player who smiles as much as Oeltjen ... it would be nice if more people were like that :)

Former Aussie MLB player Oeltjen is back with the Sydney Blue Sox for the 2014-15 ABL season, his 3rd in the ABL. He spent 2014 in two short stints - one with the Toros de Tijuana in the Mexican League, followed by a couple of months with the Reno Aces, the Arizona Diamondbacks Triple-A level affiliate.

2014-15 Sydney Blue Sox Trent Oeltjen card front - ©2014 Adam East

Tim Atherton - 2014-15 Canberra Cavalry

Off-season movement saw NSW born Atherton leave the Blue Sox and return to the Canberra Cavalry for the 2014-15 ABL season. Atheron had originally debuted with the Cavalry, playing with them during the 2010-11 and 2011-12 ABL seasons, before leaving for Sydney.

Atherton also went from playing for the Minnesota Twins organisation over to the Oakland Athletics via the Rule 5 Draft at the end of 2013. He mainly spent 2014 playing for the Athletics' High A affiliate, the Stockton Ports, with a single (disastrous) start for the Triple-A level Sacramento River Cats as well. (Atherton lasted a single inning, giving up 6 runs).

2014-15 Canberra Cavalry Tim Atherton card front - ©2014 Adam East

Melbourne Checklist - 2013-14 Melbourne Aces

My checklist card for the Melbourne Aces for last season (ie the 2013-14 ABL season).

2013-14 Melbourne Aces Checklist card - ©2014 Adam East

Will Swanner - 2014-15 Sydney Blue Sox

Swanner is an American import from the Colorado Rockies organisation playing with the Sydney Blue Sox for the 2014-15 ABL season. Swanner started 2014 with the High-A level Modesto Nuts in the California League before moving up to the Tulsa Drillers in the Double-A Texas League.

There were a number of photo choices I had for Swanner. This was my initial take on the card, but decided against it as the shadow/contrast was too high, and the fact that I like to get shots of catchers actually in their catcher's gear.

2014-15 Sydney Blue Sox Will Swanner alternate card front - ©2014 Adam East

I eventually settled on this shot for the final card version - in his catcher's gear, but still a clear face shot.

2014-15 Sydney Blue Sox Will Swanner card front - ©2014 Adam East

I do have to admit, I was so tempted to use this shot though - love the expression on Swanner's face. It's juts a shame that Jack Murphy's head is in the way.

2014-15 Sydney Blue Sox Will Swanner alternate card front - ©2014 Adam East

LB Dantzler - 2014-15 Canberra Cavalry

Richard (AKA L.B.) Dantzler is a member of the Toronto Blue Jays organisation, playing as an American import with the Canberra Cavalry for the 2014-15 ABL season. Dantzler spent 2014 split between the Single-A  level Lansing Lugnuts and the High-A level Dunedin Blue Jays.

2014-15 Canberra Cavalry LB Dantzler card front - ©2014 Adam East

Canberra Checklist - 2013-14 Canberra Cavalry

Continuing to round out the images of my checklist cards from last season - here's the largest of the checklists from 2013-14- the Canberra Cavalry.

2013-14 Canberra Cavalry checklist card - ©2014 Adam East

Tyler Bortnick - 2014-15 Sydney Blue Sox

Some hand signals have different meanings ... I don't know what Bortnick was implying to me in this shot, but I know this hand signal as "drama llama" :)

Bortnick is an American import from the Arizona Diamondbacks organisation who is plaing with the Sydney Blue Sox during the 2014-15 ABL season. Bortnick has been playing for the Diamondback's triple-A affiliate - the Reno Aces in the Pacific Coast League - since 2012.

2014-15 Sydney Blue Sox Tyler Bortnick card front - ©2014 Adam East

Alex Hudak - 2014-15 Canberra Cavalry

Here we go, my first formal card for the 2014-15 ABL season, This card features Alex Hudak, an American import playing with the Canberra Cavalry for the 2014-15 ABL season. Hudak spent two seasons (2012-2013) playing in the Kansas City Royals system before being released. He spent 2014 playing for the Camden Riversharks in the independent Atlantic League.

2014-15 Canberra Cavalry Alex Hudak card front - © 2014 Adam East

Brisbane Checklist - 2013-14 Brisbane Bandits

Hoping to get out to my first game of the season tonight, which means my first 2014-15 season cards should be up next week. In the meantime, here's my Brisbane Bandits checklist for last season's cards.

2013-14 Brisbane Bandits Checklist card - © 2014 Adam East

Adelaide Checklist - 2013-14 Adelaide Bite

As I finalise my last lot of card designs from the 2013-14 ABL season for the printers, I realised that I hadn't made checklist cards yet. I ended up deciding on making 3 cards for the checklist, with one card face for each team.

Here's the checklist for the Adelaide Bite.

2013-14 Adelaide Bite checklist card front - © 2014 Adam East

Halloween False Start - Marcus Lemon - 2014-15 Pre-season Canberra Cavalry

Well, the Canberra Cavalry advertised an exhibition game last Saturday with a Halloween theme - their only pres-season game of the year before their first game on Thursday. I dutifully rocked up with my trusty camera to get a bunch of photos of all the new Cavalry players. I figured it would be good to get as many of the Cavalry players as I could - I could then focus on taking shots of the visiting players throughout the season. Plus, I thought, with two teams made up Cavalry players, I was bound to get shots of most of the Cavalry roster.

However, as they say about the best laid plans ....

To go with the Halloween theme, the players weren't in uniform, they were in various states of costume. Mixed into the playing group were what were being called "local celebrities" - sportsmen from other Canberran teams, media personalities, etc. There was no program or handout for the game either, and the enw players haven't been assigned numbers yet that we know of.

The upshot of this was, I had almost no idea of who on the field was actually a Cavalry player. In fact I had almost no way of knowing who anyone was. The ground announcer did try and do intros to the teams (The Vampires and the Werewolves), but they were difficult to follow, and the players didn't actually present to the crowd when they were introduced. The players didn't play in position either (eg Catcher Jack Murphy pitched and played outfield)

So in the end, I got nothing I can use for my season photos. I will put up a couple of shots I took as "pre-season cards" of a few players I was able to identify. The first "pres-season card" is of Marcus Lemon, dressed in a hula grass skirt with a lei wristband.

Marcus Lemon is the son of former MLB All Star Chet Lemon. In 2014, Marcus played for both the Double and Triple-A minor league teams of the Detroit Tigers. I'm unsure as to whethr he's still contracted to the Tigers or not though. The Cavalry listed him as an American import, not as an affiliated player in their pre-season blurb. Having said that, I couldn't find anything saying that the Tigers had released Marcus. He's listed as number 00 as I have no idea of player numbers yet.

2014-15 Canberra Cavalry Marcus Lemon pre-season card front - ©2014 Adam East