Jackson Lowery - 2016-17 Canberra Cavalry

Lowery is an American import from the Toronto Blue Jays organisation  who played with the Canberra cavalry during the 2016-17 ABL season. Lowery had played for the Blue Jays low, single and advanced A level affiliates in 2016 but was released in 2017, going on to play for the Kansas City T-bones in the independent American Association.

2016-17 Canberra Cavalry Jackson Lowery card front - ©2017 Adam East

Kramer Champlin - 2016-17 Brisbane Bandits

Champlin was an American import who played with the Brisbane Bandits during the 2016-17 ABL season. Champlin had played in the Toronto Blue Jays farm system between 2011 and 2014, after which he settled into playing for the Traverse City Beach Bums in the independent Frontier League since 2015.

2016-17 Brisbane Bandits Kramer Champlin card front - ©2017 Adam East

Nathan Ven Der Linden - 2016-17 Adelaide Bite

Locally born Van Der Linden returned to the Adelaide Bite roster in 2016-17 having previously had cameo appearances for the Bite in 2012-13 and 2013-14 ABL seasons.  Part of his time in between was spent playing for Skokani Olomouc in the Czech Extraliga in 2016.

I can’t help but also mention that Van der Linden was  a part of the Drop Bears (USA) team that competed in the 2016 Prague Baseball Week. The team is described on the Prague Baseball Week website as a selection of mostly USA players, however with the name Drop Bears, and with the likes of Van Der Linden and other Aussies such as Mitch Nilsson, Ryan Battaglia and Scott Mulhearn, I suspect there was quite an Aussie influence on that team.

2016-17 Adelaide Bite Nathan Van Der Linden card front - ©2017 Adam East

Merry Christmas 2017

Christmas time in Australia! Time for feasting with family and friends, hitting the pool or beach and remembering the birth of Jesus Christ, and what he has done for us. It is a shame that fewer and fewer people have an understanding of the purpose of life or the central role of Jesus Christ in that purpose.

Kyle Simon - 2017-18 Perth Heat

Simon is an American import playing with the Perth Heat during the 2017-18 ABL season. He spent 4 years combined in the minors of the Baltimore Orioles and Philadelphia Phillies between 2011 and 2014. Since then he has been playing independent ball in the Atlantic League, most recently with the New Britain Bees in 2017.

2017-18 Perth Heat Kyle Simon card front - ©2017 Adam East

Shane Kelleher - 2016-17 Sydney Blue Sox

Kelleher is an Aussie youngster who played for the Sydney Blue Sox in the 2016-17 ABL season. Kelleher has signed to play with the North Iowa Area Community College Trojans in 2018.

2016-17 Sydney Blue Sox Shane Kelleher card front - ©2017 Adam East

Sam Gibbons - 2016-17 Melbourne Aces

Gibbons is a Geelong born Aussie who is playing in the Minnesota Twins farm system. In 2016 Gibbons played for the Cedar Rapids Kernels, the single A affiliate of the Twins, his fifth season in the Minors. Gibbons stint with the Melbourne Aces during the 2016-17 ABL season was his sixth with the Aces and in the ABL.

2016-17 Melbourne Aces Sam Gibbons card front - ©2017 Adam East

David Kandilas - 2016-17 Canberra Cavalry

Kandilas was formerly a fixture of the Sydney Blue Sox team, having spent 5 seasons with the Blue Sox before moving down to the Canberra Cavalry for the 2016-17 ABL season.

2016-17 Canberra Cavalry David Kandilas card front - ©2017 Adam East

Kevin Padlo - 2016-17 Brisbane Bandits

Padlo is an American import from the Tampa Bay Rays organisation who played with the Brisbane Bandits during the 2016-17 ABL season. Padlo had previously spent two seasons in the Colorado Rockies farm system before moving over to the Rays and playing for their single A affiliate, the Bowling Green Hot Rods in 2016. In 2017 Padlo has spent time in both the Rays rookie and advanced A level affiliates

2016-17 Brisbane Bandits Kevin Padlo card front - ©2017 Adam East

Mitch Dening - 2016-17 Adelaide Bite

Dening played his sixth ABL season and his second with the Adelaide Bite during the 2016-17 ABL season. Dening missed out on play during 2015-16, instead spending 2015 playing with the Yakult Swallows in Japan's NPB.

2016-17 Adelaide Bite Mitch Dening card front - ©2017 Adam East

Brodie Cooper-Vassalakis - 2016-17 Canberra Cavalry

Cooper-Vassalakis is a local Canberran youngster who was a part of the Canberra Cavalry development squad during the 2016-17 ABL season. Despite only being 15 years old at the time he made his ABL debut during that season, becoming the ABL's youngest ever player.

Brodie's dad was the ACT Baseball Commissioner responsible for Canberra's bid to join the revamped ABL back in 2010.

For abbreviation's sake Brodie's surname often appears to be shortened to just Vassalakis on the ABL website, however he's more than ready to follow in The Hyphen's tradition should he ever make it to the big leagues.

2016-17 Canberra Cavalry Brodie Cooper-Vassalakis card front - ©2017 Adam East

Luke Hughes - 2016-17 Perth Heat

Former MLB Player Hughes returned for his seventh  ABL season with the Perth Heat in 2016-17.

2016-17 Perth Heat Luke Hughes card front - ©2017 Adam East

Scott Kelly - 2016-17 Canberra Cavalry

Kelly was an AMerican import who played with the Canberra Cavalry during the 2016-17 ABL season. Kelly had formally spent 3 season playing with the Somerset Patriots in the independent Atlantic League to which he also returned in 2017.

2016-17 Canberra Cavalry Scott Kelly card front - ©2017 Adam East

Mitch Nilsson - 2016-17 Brisbane Bandits

Nilsson returned for his 7th ABL season with the Brisbane Bandits in 2016-17. He's also started the 2017-18 ABL season fairly hotly, hitting .577 after the first seven games.

2016-17 Brisbane Bandits Mitch Nilsson card front - ©2017 Adam East

Hei-Chun Lee (이혜천) - 2016-17 Adelaide Bite

Korean baseballing veteran Lee returned for his second season in both the ABL and with the Adelaide Bite during the 2016-17 ABL season. Lee seems to have joined the handful of Korean pitchers who are ending their baseball careers as relievers in the ABL.

2016-17 Adelaide Bite Hei-Chun Lee card front - ©2017 Adam East

2016-17 Adelaide Bite Hei-Chun Lee alternate card front - ©2017 Adam East

Trevor Foss - 2017-18 Sydney Blue Sox

Foss is an American import who is playing with the Sydney Blue Sox during the 2017-18 ABL season, his second in the ABL. Foss had previously spent 4 years between 2013 and 2016 playing in the Minors with the LA Angels and Cleveland Indians before spending 2016 and 2017 playing for the Washington WildThings in the independent Frontier League.

As my first card featuring a 2017-18 image you can see that the Blue Sox seem to have moved away from their powder blue away tops and are now playing in a black top with the white and blue trim.

2017-18 Sydney Blue Sox Trevor Foss card front - ©2017 Adam East

Michael Campbell - 2016-17 Sydney Blue Sox

Campbell is a local NSW player who made his ABL debut with the Sydney Blue Sox during the 2016-17 ABL season.

2016-17 Sydney Blue Sox Michael Campbell card front - ©2017 Adam East

2016-17 Sydney Blue Sox Michael Campbell alternate card front - ©2017 Adam East

Mitchell Edwards - 2016-17 Canberra Cavalry

Edwards is a local Canberran youngster who made his ABL debut with the Canberra Cavalry during the 2016-17 ABL season.

2016-17 Canberra Cavalry Mitchell Edwards card front - ©2017 Adam East

Alex Howe - 2016-17 Sydney Blue Sox

Local player Howe returned to the Sydney Blue Sox for his third ABL season in 2016-17.

2016-17 Sydney Blue Sox Alex Howe card front - ©2017 Adam East

Daniel Schmidt - 2016-17 Perth Heat

Perth stalwart Schmidt returned for his seventh ABL season with the Perth Heat during the 2016-17 ABL season.

2016-17 Perth Heat Daniel Schmidt card front -  ©2017 Adam East

2017-18 ABL Design Concept

The 2017-18 ABL season started this weekend, however the first games here won't occur until next week. I've finally gotten around to producing several design concepts for my 2017-18 Australia Baseball League designs, and have settled on the following:

2017-18 Concept Design using Boss Moanaroa of the Canberra Cavalry - ©2017 Adam East

The above uses my 2016-17 photo of Boss Moanaroa. The logo background and text colouring will change based on the team of the player depicted on the card. My first cards featuring 2017-18 photos probably won't be ready for another week and a half, noting that it's still a week until I'll get to my first game.

2017-18 Concept Design using Shane Keller of the Sydney Blue Sox - ©2017 Adam East

Here's the Sydney Blue Sox version, featuring Shane Kelleher. I haven't actually posted up his 2016-17 version card yet, but it uses the same photo as this. Similar to Moanaroa, I'm using him as a placeholder until I get some actual 2017-18 photos.

I still have a lot of 2016-17 cards to display on the blog like the Shane Kelleher card, so they'll still be the main focus in coming weeks but I'll start slipping in my 2017-18 cards as time goes on and as the number of remaining 2016-17 cards decrease.

Acknowledgements:
Text Font is "All Ages" by KC Fonts
Logo background is a brush created by Lileya Brogu

Roman Collins - 2016-17 Melbourne Aces

Collins is an American import from the Kansas City Royals organisation who played with the Melbourne Aces during the 2016-17ABL season. Collins split time in 2016 between the Lexington Legends and the Wilmington Blue Rocks, the Royals’ single and advanced A level teams respectively. He subsequently spent 2017 playing for Wilmington.

2016-17 Melbourne Aces Roman Collins card front - ©2017 Adam East

2016-17 Melbourne Aces Roman Collins alternate card front - ©2017 Adam East

Tim Atherton - 2016-17 Canberra Cavalry

Atherton remained with the Cavalry for the 2016-17 ABL season following his return from the Blue Sox the previous season. Atherton seems to have some itchy feet, noting that he’s moved up to the Brisbane Bandits for the 2017-18 ABL season, one of the few ABL players who will have played fro 3 different clubs.

2016-17 Canberra Cavalry Tim Atherton card front - ©2017 Adam East

David Rodriguez - 2016-17 Brisbane Bandits

Rodriguez is a Venezuelan import from the Tampa Bay Rays organisation who played with the Brisbane Bandits during the 2016-17 ABL season. Rodriguez spent 2016 playing for the Bowling Green Hot Rods, the Rays' single A affiliate, and in 2017 with their advanced A affiliate, the Charlotte Stone Crabs.

2016-17 Brisbane Bandits David Rodriguez card front - ©2017 Adam East

Matt Dixon - 2016-17 Perth Heat

Local player Dixon returned for his fifth season with the Perth Heat during the 2016-17 ABL season.

2016-17 Perth Heat Matt Dixon alternate card front - ©2017 Adam East

2016-17 Perth Heat Matt Dixon alternate card front - ©2017 Adam East

Josh Tols - 2016-17 Melbourne Aces

Adelaide born Tols moved from the Bite, where he'd played in three previous three years, over to the Melbourne Aces for the 2016-17 ABL season. In 2016, between his ABL club movement Tols also played with the Kansas City T-Bones in the independent American Association.

2016-17 Melbourne Aces Josh Tols card front - ©2017 Adam East

The old rule of never muck up when there's a camera around is always in effect. Tols and another pitcher were trying to manspread in the background of my shots of other Aces pitchers in the bullpen, so there has to be a card of that..

2016-17 Melbourne Aces Josh Tols alternate card front - ©2017 Adam East

Brian Grening - 2016-17 Canberra Cavalry

Grening has setup a fairly standard playing routine now of spending the northern summers playing for the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs in the independent Atlantic League, and the Canberra Cavalry in the southern summers. The 2016-17 ABL season was Grening's sixth ABL season. He married in 2016, his wife coming from Canberra, and he commented that he pretty much considers Canberra to be his home field now. I'm pretty sure that he even qualified under last season's revised import rules to play as an Aussie due to his long tenure with the club. His 2016-17 ABL season was cut short however by a stint with Leones del Caracas in the Venezuelan League.

2016-17 Canberra Cavalry Brian Grening card front - ©2017 Adam East

Justin Erasmus - 2016-17 Brisbane Bandits

Erasmus returned for his sixth ABL season with Brisbane during 2016-17, his seventh in total in the ABL. He had previously spent time in 2016 with the De Glaskoning Twins in the Honkbal Hoofdklasse (Dutch Major League.)

2016-17 Brisbane Bandits Justin Erasmus card front - ©2017 Adam East

Devon Barker - 2016-17 Adelaide Bite

Barker is an American import who returned for his second season with the Adelaide Bite during the 2016-17 ABL season. In between his two ABL stints, Barker spent 2017 playing for Třebíč Nuclears in the Czech Extraliga.

2016-17 Adelaide Bite Devon Barker card front - ©2017 Adam East

Robbie Perkins - 2016-17 Canberra Cavalry

Robbie returned from the northern summer playing with the Colorado Rockies farm teams to play in his sixth ABL season with the Canberra Cavalry in the 2016-17 ABL season. In 2017 he split time between the Rockies Single and Advanced A teams with a brief end of season appearance at the Triple A level Albuquerque Isotopes.

2016-17 Canberra Cavalry Robbie Perkins card front - ©2017 Adam East

2016-17 Canberra Cavalry Robbie Perkins alternate card front - ©2017 Adam East

Josh Dean - 2016-17 Sydney Blue Sox

Sydney Blue Sox veteran Dean returned for his sixth year with the Blue Sox during the 2016-17 ABL season.

2016-17 Sydney Blue Sox Joshua Dean card front - ©2017 Adam East

Virgil Vasquez - 2016-17 Melbourne Aces

Former MLB, Perth Heat, Adelaide Bite and Melbourne Aces player Vasquez returned to the Aces for his second ABL season with them and his fifth ABL season in total during 2016-17.

2016-17 Melbourne Aces Virgil Vasquez card front - ©2017 Adam East

Sean Guinard - 2016-17 Canberra Cavalry

Having pitched 4 innings for the Canberra Cavalry back in the 2012-13 ABL season, Guinard returned to Cavalry roster after a 4 year gap and made the most of his opportunities, starting 10 games and compiling a 4-2 record. Guinard is an American who originally came over to play baseball for a local ACT club before his brief original ABL stint. He ended up marrying a local girl and staying, even taking up playing Australian Rules Football in the AFL Canberra competition. I have him listed as "American" but I don't know what his actual status is - having married a local and settled down here, I don't know whether he's taken out Aussie citizenship or not.

2016017 Canberra Cavalry Sean Guinard card front - ©2017 Adam East

Andrew Campbell - 2016-17 Brisbane Bandits

Local Ipswich born Campbell returned for his seventh season with the Brisbane Bandits during the 2016-17 ABL season.

2016-17 Brisbane Bandits Andrew Campbell card front - ©2017 Adam East

Matt Williams - 2016-17 Adelaide Bite

The curse of not getting an action shot of Williams at the Bite continues. The 2016-17 ABL season was Williams' seventh ABL season and his fourth with Adelaide. Of note though is that his legendary ginger beard reduced down to just a goatee after years of previous growth.

2016-17 Adelaide Bite Matthew Williams card front - ©2017 Adam East

Tyler Herr - 2016-17 Canberra Cavalry

Herr is an American import who played with the Canberra Cavalry during the 2016-17 ABL season. Herr had previously spent a season with the Sydney Blue Sox back in 2012-13 before being released from the Minnesota Twins organisation. Since the he's been playing in assorted independent leagues, most recently with the San Rafael Pacifics (Pacific Association), the Tucson Saguaros (Pecos League) and the Joplin Blasters (American Association) in 2016 and the Salina Stockade (American Association) in 2017.

2016-17 Canberra Cavalry Tyler Herr card front - ©2017 Adam East

2016-17 Canberra Cavalry Tyler Herr alternate card front ©2017 Adam East

Matt Timms - 2016-17 Brisbane Bandits

Local Queenslander Timms returned for his third season with the Brisbane Bandits during the 2016-17 ABL season.

2016-17 Brisbane Bandits Matt Timms card front - ©2017 Adam East

Scott Cone - 2016-17 Canberra Cavalry

Scott Cone was another one of the Aussie-born "New Zealanders" who had to change allegiance to Australia or be considered an import for the Canberra Cavalry during the 2016-17 ABL season. Cone had previously played for the Cavalry during the 2015-16 ABL season, however his decision to play for New Zealand in the World Baseball Classic hadn't been an issue under the previous import rules.

2016-17 Canberra Cavalry Scott Cone card front - ©2017 Adam East

2016-17 Canberra Cavalry Scott Cone alternate card front - ©2017 Adam East

Josh Silvi - 2016-17 Perth Heat

Despite being only being 23 years old and having played only 28 games games, Silvi is fast becoming a veteran of the Perth Heat players with the 2016-17 ABL season being his sixth season in the ABL.

2016-17 Perth Heat Josh Silvi card front - ©2017 Adam East

Liam Bedford - 2016-17 Melbourne Aces

Melbourne local Bedford returned for his fourth season with the Melbourne Aces during the 2016-17 ABL season.

2016-17 Melbourne Aces Liam Bedford card front - ©2017 Adam East

Custom NFL Card - 1988 Topps Colin Scotts

As a follow up to my Colin Ridgway 1996 Philadelphia NFL card, here's the next in my series of "Aussie NFL Players who need a trading card". This is for Colin Scotts, the second ever Australian to play in the NFL and the first to be drafted.  He was drafted by the St Louis Cardinals as the 70th pick in the third round of the 1987 draft. Scotts ended up playing seven games at DE/TE for the Cardinals before being traded to the Houston Oilers. Unfortunately, he didn't end up adding to his game tally but still holds the distinction of being one of only a handful of Aussies to play in a non-Punting position in the NFL.

I couldn't find any photos of Scotts from his actual NFL games, so I had to take one from his days playing at the University of Hawaii and modify the uniforms to look like the 1987 St Louis design. Noting that he played in the 1987 season, it made sense to add him in to the 1988 Topps NFL card design. I have to admit that the Cardinal logo on the helmet in the photo looks a little funny in the placement to me, but the helmet is actually lifted directly from the image of another player from the era so it is authentic.

1988 Topps Colin Scotts custom card front - made by Adam East

1988 Topps Colin Scotts custom card back - made by Adam East