Jobu’s Halls of Fame & Shame – The State League Decade That Was 2000-2009

As the Noughties draw to a close, I felt it was time to re-live the past decade of State League baseball.  It began with the Cubbies snapping a 33-year championship drought with a sweep of Wanneroo, and ended with the ‘Roo outlasting Morley through 13 innings, a light failure and a brawl to win their 2nd championship of the decade.  The past ten years have also seen the opening of Baseball Park, the return of the Perth HEAT to WA baseball and a slow but steady return of the Australian Baseball League, to debut in November 2010.  Let’s now take a look at the decade that was in State League Baseball…

JOBU’S HALL OF FAME

Team of the Decade – South Perth Cubs

After winning 5 of the 10 championships on offer in the Noughties, the Cubbies get the nod as team of the decade.  After they snapped a 33-year championship drought in 2000, the champagne and rings flowed in the early part of the decade, winning again in 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2005.  The Cubbies failed to make the final four just once (last season) in a decade where they dominated the State League competition.

Honourable Mentions: Wanneroo Giants, Swan Districts.

Manager of the Decade: Shane Tonkin (Swan Districts)

Tonks gets the nod as Manager of the Decade after leading the Black Ducks out of the cellar to State League glory in 2007 and 2008 to break a 44-year premiership drought, which dated back to the time of winter baseball, while winning the minor premiership in 2009.  Tonks was able to lure some great players back to the club at which they started their playing careers (Clint Balgera, Dean White) while bringing some stars from other clubs into the fold (Ben Needle, Toby Barnett) to create a winning combination.

Honourable Mention: Jason Hewitt (South Perth Cubs)

Play of the Decade: Andy Henderson (Wanneroo Giants)

Henderson’s steal of home in game 2 of the 2003 Grand Final series set the Giants up for a memorable, rain-shortened series win over the Cubbies.  In the late innings of a tight second game, with Wanneroo already a game down, Henderson made a dash for the plate, just beating Souths catcher Adrian Versaico to the plate to score a immensely important run, propelling the Giants to the flag.

Honourable Mention: Dean White (2007 Grand Final Game 2)

Hitter of the Decade: Readers Choice

It is simply too hard for me to choose a single player as the Hitter of the Decade, as there have been too many great hitters in the past ten years.  So you, the readers, have the ability to vote for your choice as the best hitter in the State League over the last ten years.  The six choices are:

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Pitcher of the Decade: Readers Choice

As with the Hitter of the Decade, the choice for Pitcher of the Decade is equally as tough.  There are five pitchers to choose from , as follows:

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JOBU’S HALL OF SHAME

Worst Team of the Decade: Victoria Park/Belmont Reds

The Reds are the standout as the worst team of the Noughties, failing to make the four in each of the ten seasons.  In fact, the Reds never really got close to the four at all, and may not get close for some time.

Dishonourable Mentions: West Striling Indians, Wembley Magpies

Worst Play of the Decade: Peter Torpy (Swan Districts)

During the 2007/08 season in a game between the Black Ducks and Gosnells, Swans short stop Dean White ranged up the middle for a hard hit ground ball with a runner on second, who snagged the ball, turned and fired to….. nobody!  Torpy, as the first baseman, thought the ball had gone into centre field and had made his way to the middle of the infield to act as the cut-off man.  Unfortunately for Potto, the ball stayed on the infield and he was left to sheepishly watch the ball sail into dead ball territory.

Back-up Player of the Decade: Travis Kalin (Gosnells Hawks/Swan Districts)

Travis first ventured to Australia in 2005 to play with the Hawks while still signed professionally with the Minnesota Twins, but left mid-way through the season after getting some pretty rough treatment from then club coach Andy Henderson.  Kalin returned in 2006 to play with Swans, where he was left to back up Ben Needle at second and Dean White at short.  Fungo is the winner for being the first professional player to be a back up player at not one, but two clubs.

Club-Hopper of the Decade: Peter Torpy

Potto started the Noughties at Vic Park, before moving on to Wanneroo, back to the Reds, then on to the Black Ducks before retiring from State League to coach Provincial League at UWA.

Dishonourable Mentions: Patrick Moore (Morley/Perth/Wembley/West Stirling), Mike Sherwood (Wembley/West Stirling/Balcatta/Wembley), Kevin Driscoll (Melville Braves/Swan Districts/Vic Park/Wembley)

Debacle of the Decade: 2002/03 State League Grand Final Series

The 2003 decider between the Giants and the Cubbies was embroiled in controversy.  After a tight game one went to Souths on the Saturday, weather threw Sunday’s play into chaos, due to BWA officails and the West Stirling Baseball Club choosing to play the grand finals on Millington Reserve with an artificial mound (while a dirt mound laid unused on the adjacent Kevan Langdon Field) causing an hour delay to the start of game 2.  While lightning was striking overhead and rain was teaming down, play continued until it was stopped when the worst of the weather had passed.

After the Giants won game two, game three was forced into the early evening, with the game eventually being called by plate umpire Mark Richardson in the bottom of the 8th inning with South Perth at bat trailling 4-3.  While many Cubbies supporters consider the game as never completed, Wanneroo were handed the title while manager Kevin Hooker sat in the dugout bewlidered as to what had just occured.

After that season, the State League Grand Final series was shifted away from West Stirling to Swan Districts for a season, before Baseball Park opened in time for the 2005 playoffs to be played under lights.

That is all for Jobu’s Halls of Fame and Shame for the Noughties.  Until my next weekly update, this is Jobu wishing everybody a happy and safe 2010!