Australian Custom Baseball Cards: April 2018

Monday, April 30, 2018

Ryo Koura - 2017-18 Adelaide Bite

Koura is a Japanese import who played with the Adelaide Bite during the 2017-18 ABL season. Koura was playing as an import with local South Australian baseball club Glenelg before being signed to the Bite. Back in Japan he was playing for Honda Motors in the Japanese Industrial League.

Friday, April 27, 2018

Chih-Hsien Chiang (蔣智賢) - 2017-18 Sydney Blue Sox

Chiang is a Taiwanese import who played with the Sydney Blue Sox during the 2017-18 ABL season. Chiang was a fellow Chinatrust Brothers team mate of Chih-Sheng Lin who were both released from the CPBL club in November 2017 in reaction to controversies including allegations of corrupt behavior. Whilst Lin ended up at the Brisbane Bandits, Chiang wound up on the Blue Sox roster as both sought redemption whilst still playing competitive baseball. His ABL stint was presumably successful in keeping up his profile, with Chiang signing with rival CPBL club, the Fubon Guardians, after the ABL season.

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Zacrey Law - 2017-18 Perth Heat

Zac Law is an American import from the Tampa Bay Rays organisation who played with the Perth Heat during the 2017-18 ABL season. Law spent 2017 playing for the low A level Hudson Valley Renegades in the New York Pennsylvania League. Law went home part way during the season to get married ... that's an unusual reason to end up cutting your season short.

Monday, April 23, 2018

Matt Marksberry - 2017-18 Melbourne Aces

Marksberry is a former MLB player and American import who played with the Melbourne Aces during the 2017-18 ABL season. Marksberry had pitched in 35 games for the Atlanta Braves between 2015 and 2016. According to the ABL website "At the conclusion of the 2016 season, Marksberry was placed in a medically induced coma after suffering seizures and a collapsed lung during a non-baseball related medical procedure." He was subsequently released by the Braves in March 2017, with his season in the ABL an attempt to get a step back into the visibility of MLB organisations.

Friday, April 20, 2018

Buddy Reed - 2017-18 Canberra Cavalry

Reed is an American import from the San Diego Padres organisation who played with the Canberra Cavalry during the 2017-18 ABL season. Reed spent 2017 playing the single A level Fort Wayne TinCaps and has started 2018 with the Lake Elsinore Storm..

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Ryan Searle - 2017-18 Brisbane Bandits

One of Brisbane's pitching veterans, Searle returned to the Brisbane Bandits for the 2017-18 ABL season, marking his eighth season in the league and with the Bandits.

I didn't have a card for Searle last season, so I missed commenting about his 2016 stints with Unipol Bologna in the Italian Baseball League and with Tibuones de la Guaira of the Venezuelan Winter League.

Monday, April 16, 2018

Isaias Quiroz - 2017-18 Adelaide Bite

Quiroz is an American import from the Texas Rangers organisation who played with the Adelaide bite during the 2017-18 ABL season. He spent 2017 playing for the low A level Spokane Indians and the single A level Hickory Crawdads in the Rangers' farm system.

Friday, April 13, 2018

Craig Anderson - 2017-18 Sydney Blue Sox

Anderson, the Sydney Blue Sox veteran returned for his eighth ABL season with the Blue Sox. Unfortunately for him, the 2017-18 ABL season was his least successful over his extensive time in the league. Given that he'll be 38 by the time the 2018-19 season rolls around, it will be interesting to see if he's able to bounce back for a ninth ABL season.

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Jake Bowey - 2017-18 Perth Heat

Perth local Bowey returned for his fifth season with the Perth Heat in the ABL during the 2017-18 ABL season. Although used sparingly as a position player, Bowey has become a bit of jack of all trades. Since playing as a pitcher in the 2016-17 season, he has still seen action as both a catcher and at first base in occasional games for the Heat.

My last post for Bowey was back after the 2014-15ABL season after he had signed with the Houston Astros. Unfortunately for him, he only spent two seasons with them, reaching their GCL Rookie level team in 2015 before being released.

Monday, April 9, 2018

Virgil Vasquez - 2017-18 Melbourne Aces

Despite acting more as the pitching coach for the Melbourne Aces, former MLB player and American import Vasquez still managed to start a single game for the Melbourne Aces during the 2017-18 ABL season, marking his sixth season playing in the ABL

Friday, April 6, 2018

Jay Baum - 2017-18 Canberra Cavalry

Baum is an American import who played with the Canberra Cavalry during the 2017-18 ABL season. Baum had previously spent four years in the Seattle Mariners' farm system before being released in 2017 after a stint with the Arkansas Travelers in the AA level Texas league. He completed the American season playing with the Sussex County Miners in the independent Canadian-American Association before joining the Cavalry.

Wednesday, April 4, 2018

Donald Lutz - 2017-18 Brisbane Bandits

German-American import and former MLB player Donald Lutz returned for his fourth ABL season and third with the Brisbane Bandits during the 2017-18 ABL season. Lutz has been an integral part of Brisbane's transformation from the only team to have never played in the ABL finals series to winning three straight championships in a row.

Monday, April 2, 2018

Angus Roeger - 2017-18 Adelaide Bite

Adelaide stalwart Roeger returned for his sixth season with the the Adelaide Bite during the 2017-18 ABL season.

Ina side note, I'm going through and cleaning up a bunch of card designs I'd already made for 2017-18 as I realised that some of the layer masks and text sizes weren't standardized across all of the cards. I mainly mention this here as there are a number of Adeliade Bite cards I'm having to redo.