Chris Clare - 2018-19 Perth Heat

Clare is an American import from the Baltimore Orioles organisation who played with the Perth Heat during the 2018-19 ABL season. He was drafted by the Orioles in 2016 and by 2018 was primarily playing in their advanced A Carolina League affiliate, the Frederick Keys. In 2019 he has advanced to the double A level Bowie Baysox, as well as having a short stint with the triple A Norfolk Tides.

2018-19 Perth Heat Chris Clare card front - ©2019 Adam East

Aaron Whitefield - 2018-19 Adelaide Bite

Unfortunately, the ABL's change to a conference system during 2018-19 along with personal travel meant that there were a number of teams I didn't get photos of during the 2018-19 season. I decided that I would still make cards for players that I had taken photos of during the 2017-18 ABL season. That is the reason why we have Brisbane born Aaron Whitefield, who played with the Brisbane Bandits from 2015-16 through to 2017-18 appearing on the first of my 2018-19 Adelaide Bite cards in a Brisbane Bandits uniform. Whitefield is also advancing through the Minnesota Twins farm system, playing for the Advanced A level Fort Myers Miracle and the double A level Pensacola Blue Wahoos in 2019.

2018-19 Adelaide Bite Aaron Whitefield card front - ©2019 Adam East

Byeong Geun Kim (김병근) - 2018-19 Geelong-Korea

Kim was a member of the Geelong-Korea team that debuted in the ABL during the 2018-19 ABL season. He was previously a member of the Hanwha Eagles organisation between 2013 and 2017 but failed to break into the KBO level team after being restricted by several injuries. In 2019 he is playing for the Yangju Revolution in the Korean Independent Baseball League.

2018-19 Geelong-Korea Byeong Geun Kim card front - ©2019 Adam East

Brandon Marklund - 2018-19 Auckland Tuatara

Marklund is a Canadian import who played with the Auckland Tuatara in the 2018-19 ABL season. He had previously been studying and playing at Bryan College in Tennessee. His form must have impressed scouts as he signed a minor league deal with the Kansas City Royals at the end of the ABL season.

2018-19 Auckland Tuatara Brandon Marklund card front - ©2019 Adam East

Dean Aldridge - 2018-19 Sydney Blue Sox

Aldridge is a Sydney local who played his second year with the Sydney Blue Sox during the 2018-19 ABL season. Aldridge had previously pitched a single inning in a game for the Blue Sox back during the 2013-14 season, so it was a long wait between ABL drinks for him. He also spent five years in the Detroit Tigers farm system, but only played in three seasons (2013, 2015 and 2017), most recently with the Connecticut Tigers in the low A level New York-Pennsylvania League,

2018-19 Sydney Blue Sox Dean Aldridge card front - ©2019 Adam East

Shota Imanaga (今永 昇太) - 2018-19 Canberra Cavalry

Imanaga is a Japanese import from the Yokohama Baystars who played with the Canberra Cavalry during the 2018-19 ABL season. Imanaga has been a fixture in the Baystars' pitching rotation since making his NPB debut in 2016 and has been a part of the Japanese national team. His time in the ABL was aimed to help bring additional exposure for a possible move to Major League Baseball. He certainly didn't do any harm to his reputation, giving up only two runs in his six starts for the Cavalry whilst recording 57 strikeouts.

So why do I have a photo of one of the hottest pitchers from the 2018-19 ABL season holding a bat? Because he unexpectedly just decided to strike a pose for me as I was taking some general photos near the dugout, and I certainly wasn't going to turn down the opportunity for a shot 😃

2018-19 Canberra Cavalry Shota Imanaga card front - ©2019 Adam East 

Dae-Sung Koo (구대성) - 2018-19 Geelong-Korea

..... aaaand, we're back!

To kickstart our hopeful return to regular posting, let's crack out one of the big names. Veteran Korean and Sydney Blue Sox player Dae-Sung Koo returned for the 2018-19 ABL season as the Manager of the expansion Geelong-Korea team. With the troubles that his inexperienced players sometimes got themselves into, he even ended up taking the mound for a single inning against the Brisbane Bandits late in the season. This was his first game as a player, three years after his last ABL game. Add to that a number of controversial threats to remove his team from the field because of umpiring disagreements and Koo was back in the ABL spotlight.

2018-19 Geelong-Korea Dae-Sung Koo card front ©2019 Adam East

Life Gets in the Way - How to Flood A Home

Regular readers of the blog may have noticed that I haven't posted in a while. The reason for this is because of stuff that's occurred in The Real World™. In late February, a small pipe burst in our kid's bathroom whilst we were at work and school. We live in a 3 story house, with the kids bathroom being on the middle floor. Throughout the day the pipe proceeded to empty about 20,000 litres (5000 gallons) into our house. That's about how much water is in a normal backyard pool.

We came home that evening to discover that most of the middle floor of the house had been flooded. The water had then collapsed the ceiling of the bottom floor and destroyed most of the contents down there.

The upshot of this is that for the last 9 weeks we've been living in temporary accommodation. Fortunately, it's been paid for by our insurance, but because of the difficulty of finding family sized short term accommodation locally, we've actually moved 7 different times in those past 9 weeks.

The repairs on our house have started, but it's still at least a good 6 weeks until we're likely to be back into our home.

Fortunately, none of my card collections or my computer were affected by the flood, but they are currently in storage and inaccessible. The posts that occurred in March on the blog were ones that I'd scheduled up in the weeks preceding the burst pipe, but obviously, once those ran out, I haven't been able to post anything more. I do have more card designs to put up from the 2018-19 ABL season, but it will likely be a while before I get to post them up.

Nick Hosie - 2017-18 Canberra Cavalry

Having been a developmental player for the Cavalry during the 2016-17 ABL season, Canberra youngster Hosie finally made his ABL debut during the 2017-18 ABL season. In 2018 he toured the USA with the SSA All Australian  17 & Under team.

2017-18 Canberra Cavalry Nick Hosie card front - ©2019 Adam East

Thomas (Tom) Holland - 2017-18 Canberra Cavalry

The grandson of Australian test cricketer Bob “Dutchy” Holland, Thomas (Tom) Holland made the shift from Newcastle to Canberra to make his ABL debut with the Canberra cavalry during the 2017-18 ABL season. He was a former team mate of fellow Cavalry player, Jake Amos.

2017-18 Canberra Cavalry Tom Holland card front - ©2018 Adam East

Tom Roberts - 2017-18 Sydney Blue Sox

I’ve struggled to find any info on Roberts, a 19 year old pitcher who made his ABL debut with the Sydney Blue Sox during the 2017-18 ABL season. He appears to have been born in New Zealand, but to have grown up, at least in later years, in Sydney.

2017-18 Sydney Blue Sox Tom Roberts card front - ©2018 Adam East

Hung-Wen Chen (陳鴻文) - 2017-18 Brisbane Bandits

Chen is a Taiwanese import who played with the Brisbane Bandits during the 2017-18 ABL season. Chen spent 5 season playing in the Chicago Cubs’ farm system between 2007 and 2011, reaching triple A level. He played in his native CPBL with the Brother Elephants between 2013 and 2017, before moving to the Fubon Guardians in 2018.

2017-18 Brisbane Bandits Hung-Wen Chen card front  ©2018 Adam East

Lake Bachar - 2017-18 Canberra Cavalry

Bachar is an American import from the San Diego Padres organisation who played with the Canberra Cavalry during the 2017-18ABL season. In 2017 he played both Rookie level ball for the Padres as well as their single A farm team, the Fort Wayne TinCaps. In 2018 he also played with Fort Wayne as well as the double level San Antonio Missions.

2017-18 Canberra Cavalry Lake Bachar card front - ©2018 a
Adam East

Tyler Chappell - 2017-18 Adelaide Bite

Chappell is a local player who had his second season with the Adelaide Bite during the 2017-18 ABL season. He spent the 2017 northern summer playing for Třebíč Nuclears in the Czech Extraliga.

2017-18 Adelaide Bite Tyler Chappell card front - ©2018 Adam East

Jake Green - 2017-18 Canberra Cavalry

Green is a Canberra youngster who played for the Canberra Cavalry during the 2017-18 ABL season. Green made his debut, pitching in two games during the season. He was also a member of Australia’s U23 World Cup squad in 2018.

2017-18 Canberra Cavalry Jake Green card front - ©2018 Adam East

Todd Grattan - 2017-18 Sydney Blue Sox

The 2017-18 ABL season was Grattan’s seventh ABL season with the Sydney Blue Sox. The season saw him used for the first time in the Blue Soxes’ starting rotation in three games, the first time he’s stepped out of the bullpen at ABL level.

2017-18 Sydney Blue Sox Todd Grattan card front - ©2018 Adam East

Taylor Saucedo - 2017-18 Canberra Cavalry

Saucedo is an American import from the Toronto Blue Jays organisation who played with the Canberra cavalry during the 2017-18 ABL season. In 2017 he played for the Lansing Lugnuts and Dunedin Blue Jays, Toronto’s single and advanced A level teams. In 2018 he continued on with Dunedin before moving up to the double A  New Hampshire Fisher Cats.

2017-18 Canberra Cavalry Tayler Saucedo card front - ©2018 Adam East

Mitch Nilsson - 2017-18 Brisbane Bandits

Nilsson returned for his eighth ABL season with the Brisbane Bandits during the 2017-18 ABL season. Nilsson has been spending the Australian winters playing in the German Bundesliga, playing for the Heidenheim Heideköpfen in 2017 and 2018.

2017-18 Brisbane Bandits Mitch Nilsson card front ©2018 Adam East 

Mark Zhang - 2017-18 Canberra Cavalry

Zhang was a local Canberra player who made his ABL debut with the Canberra Cavalry during the 2017-18 ABL season. As a developmental player he only managed playing time in two games, with a single at-bat in each. Zhang signed on to play with Bay College in Michigan over 2018-19.

2017-18 Canberra Cavalry Mark Zhang card front - ©2018 Adam East

2017-18 Canberra Cavalry Mark Zhang alternate card front - ©2018 Adam East

Tom McGarry - 2017-18 Adelaide Bite

McGarry is a local player who had his second year with the Adelaide Bite during the 2017-18 ABL season. In 2017 he played as a senior for Cameron University in Oklahoma, having spent the previous three seasons also in Oklahoma, at East Central University and Redlands College.

2017-18 Adelaide Bite Tom McGarry card front - ©2018 Adam East

Michael Click - 2017-18 Canberra Cavalry

The 2017-18 ABL season was American import Click's second season with the Canberra Cavalry, having played two years earlier during 2015-16. Since 2016 he has spent his northern summers playing with the York Revolution in the independent Atlantic League.

2017-18 Canberra Cavalry Michael Click card front - ©2018 Adam East

Sam Holland - 2017-18 Brisbane Bandits

The 2017-18 ABL season was local player Holland's fourth season with the Brisbane Bandits. Holland spent 2017 playing for the Inland Empire 66ers, the LA Angels affiliate in the Advanced A level California League. Unfortunately for Holland he became a free agent at the end of the 2017 northern summer and it appears that he wasn't picked by another organisation for 2018.

2017-18 Brisbane Bandits Sam Holland card front - ©2018 Adam East

Liam Sherer - 2017-18 Canberra Cavalry

Sherer is a local developmental junior who made his ABL debut with the Canberra Cavalry during the 2017-18 ABL season. He spent his time playing in the Canberra competition as a position player, and is listed as a Shortstop on the ABL website but his debut ABL season game time consisted of a single inning pitched in a single game.

2017-18 Canberra Cavalry Liam Sherer card front - ©2018 Adam East

2017-18 Canberra Cavalry Liam Sherer alternate card front - ©2018 Adam East

Mitchell Skinner - 2017-18 Sydney Blue Sox

Skinner is a local youngster who debuted with the Sydney Blue Sox, playing two games during the 2017-18 ABL season. Skinner had previously played for New South Wales at the Australian U18 Championship level.

2017-18 Sydney Blue Sox Mitchell Skinner card front - ©2018 Adam East

Brian Grening - 2017-18 Canberra Cavalry

Veteran American import Grening played his final season with the Canberra Cavalry during the 2017-18 ABL season. It was his seventh season with the Cavalry. Having married a local girl and settled down in Canberra he would return in 2018-19 as Canberra's pitching coach. At the start of the 2018-19 season he was the first Cavalry player to have their number retired by the club.

2017-18 Canberra Cavalry Brian Grening card front - ©2018 Adam East

Matt Timms - 2017-18 Brisbane Bandits

Timms returned for his fourth ABL season with the Brisbane Bandits during the 2017-18 ABL season.

2017-18 Brisbane Bandits Matt Timms card front - ©2018 Adam East

Nick Hutchings - 2017-18 Adelaide Bite

Hutchings is a local South Australian player who played with the Adelaide Bite during the 2017-18 ABL season. That was his fourth ABL season with Adelaide however, games had previously been few and far between for him. After playing five games in his debut year in 2012-13, Nick only played a single game in each of the 2013-14 and 2016-17 seasons. He did finally manage to break into the bullpen for more regular time on the mound in 2017-18, pitching in 16 games for the Bite.

2017-18 Adelaide Bite Nick Hutchings card front - ©2018 Adam East

Matthew Rae - 2017-18 Sydney Blue Sox

The 2017-18 ABL season was Rae's seventh season with the Sydney Blue Sox.

2017-18 Sydney Blue Sox Matthew Rae card front - ©2018 Adam East

Robbie Perkins - 2017-18 Canberra Cavalry

Perkins continues on as a part of the Canberra Cavalry leadership group, with 2017-18 ABL season being his sixth season with the Canberra Cavalry and in the ABL. 2018 was also his sixth year in the Colorado Rockies farm system. He split his time between the single A Asheville Tourists and the double A level Hartford Yard Goats.

2017-18 Canberra Cavalry Robbie Perkins card front - ©2018 Adam East

2017-18 Canberra Cavalry Robbie Perkins alternate card front - ©2018 Adam East

Ryan Battaglia - 2017-18 Brisbane Bandits

Bandits veteran Battaglia returned for his eighth ABL season with Brisbane during the 2017-18 ABL season. Having been only 25 years of age at the end of the 2017-18 season there are probably still a number of seasons ahead for him, age and form permitting.

2017-18 Brisbane Bandits Ryan Battaglia card front - ©2018 Adam East

Steven Chambers - 2017-18 Adelaide Bite

Veteran Aussie pitcher Chambers was only 26 turning 27 when he returned for his eighth ABL season and his third with the Adelaide Bite during the 2017-18 ABL season.

2017-18 Adelaide Bite Steven Chambers card front - ©2018 Adam East

Joshua Strong - 2017-18 Sydney Blue Sox

Outfielder Strong returned for his fourth season with the Sydney Blue Sox during 2017-18 ABL season.

Yeah, this photo is a bit dark, but it was the best one I had of him from a night game up in Sydney.

2017-18 Sydney Blue Sox Joshua Strong card front - ©2018 Adam East

Justin Lopez - 2018-19 Canberra Cavalry

Lopez is a Venezualan import from the San Diego Padres organisation who played with the Canberra Cavalry during the first half of the 2018-19 ABL season. Lopez is in his second year with the Padres and spent 2018 playing for their single A affiliate, the Fort Wayne TinCaps.

2018-19 Canberra Cavalry Justin Lopez card front - ©2018 Adam East

2018-19 Canberra Cavalry Justin Lopez alternate card front - ©2018 Adam East

Dylan Thompson - 2017-18 Perth Heat

Thompson is an American import who played with the Perth Heat during the 2017-18 ABL season. Thompson spent two seasons (2014 - 2015) in the Colorado Rockies' farm system. He has spent most of the last three seasons playing with the Sioux Falls Canaries in the independent American Association.

2017-18 Perth Heat Dylan Thompson card front - ©2018 Adam East

Jack Murphy - 2018-19 Sydney Blue Sox

Legendary American import Murphy spent four seasons as a Canberra Cavalry fan favourite between 2012-13 and 2015-16 so it was a bit of a surprise to see him return to the ABL in 2018-19 with the Sydney Blue Sox. He did explain that it made sense though. Although he would have liked to have returned to his roots at the Cavalry, he would have been one of four characters on the Cavalry list behind the entrenched Perkins brothers and youngster Nick Hosie. 

Murphy spent nine years playing in the minors between 2009 and 2017 with Toronto and the LA Dodgers before electing free agency at the end of 2017. He was signed by the Cleveland Indians but was released at the start of the 2018 season, having played at Triple A level in four different seasons during his career.

2018-19 Sydney Blue Sox Jack Murphy card front - ©2019 Adam East

2018-19 Sydney Blue Sox Jack Murphy alternate card front - ©2019 Adam East

Nicholas Rossell - 2017-18 Melbourne Aces

Aussie player Rossell returned for his third season with the Melbourne Aces and in the ABL during the 2017-18 ABL season.

2017-18 Melbourne Aces Nicholas Rossell card front- ©2018 Adam East

Casey McElroy - 2017-18 Canberra Cavalry

McElroy is an American import who played with the Canberra Cavalry during the 2017-18 ABL season. McElroy had previously spent five seasons (2011-2017) playing in the San Diego Padres farm system, reaching the Triple A level El Paso Chihuahuas in 2016. Unfortunately he was injured late in 2016 after having played in the AAA All-Star game and whilst expecting a call up to the Majors. After spending 2017 in rehab he hit free agency and came to Canberra to play "winterball". He generated interest from MLB teams, but was reinjured at the end of the ABL season which caused him to decide to give away professional baseball.

2017-18 Canberra Cavalry Casey McElroy card front - ©2018 Adam East

Dae-Gun Kook (국대건) - 2018-19 Geelong-Korea

Kook is a Korean youngster who appears to have come from High School and made his way onto the inaugural Geelong-Korea roster for the 2018-19 ABL season. Online references have him as playing in 2018 with the Sekwang High School in the city of Cheongju.

2018-19 Geelong-Korea Dae-Gun Kook card front - ©2018 Adam East

Logan Wade - 2017-18 Brisbane Bandits

Local player Wade returned for his sixth season with the Brisbane Bandits during the 2017-18 ABL season.

2017-18 Brisbane Bandits Logan Wade card front - ©2018 Adam East

Kelvin Melean - 2018-19 Canberra Cavalry

Melean was a Venezuelan import from the San Diego Padres organisation who played with the Canberra Cavalry during the first half of the 2018-19 ABL season. Melean has spent three years in the Padres farm system, spending 2018 with their single and advanced A affiliates, the Fort Wayne TinCaps and the Lake Elsinore Storm.

2018-19 Canberra Cavalry Kelvin Melean card front - ©2018 Adam East

Kuan-Jen Chen (陳冠任) - 2017-18 Adelaide Bite

Chen is a Taiwanese import who played with the Adelaide Bite during the 2017-18 ABL season as a mid-season roster addition. Chen spent three years playing on the CPBL for the Brother Elephants between 2006 and 2008. In 2016 he played a season of independent ball with the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs in the Atlantic League.

2017-18 Adelaide Bite Kuan-Jen Chen card front - ©2018 Adam East

Scott Cone - 2018-19 Auckland Tuatara

Having previously played two season with the Canberra Cavalry as a New Zealander-turned-Aussie, Cone presumably returned to his Kiwi roots by signing with the Auckland Tuatara for their first ABL season in 2018-19.

2018-19 Auckland Tuatara Scott Coen card front - ©2018 Adam East

Steven Kent - 2017-18 Canberra Cavalry

Canberran veteran Kent continues to roll along as a mainstay of the Canberra Cavalry's starting rotation. The 2017-18 ABL season was his seventh season with the Cavalry.

Now, I've noticed that all of the online and series program references to Kent have his first name as Steven, yet I've always had him listed as just Steve. It's looks like I've been getting his first name wrong for all of these years! Sorry Steven. 

2017-18 Canberra Cavalry Steven Kent card front - ©2018 Adam East

2017-18 Canberra Cavalry Steven Kent alternate card front - ©2018 Adam East