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Will they medal?...Are they too old for their young competition?

Obviously we are gunning for them to go one step better and take the Gold, but one could ask the question, will they be able to hold their competitors this time?

As an outsider looking in, there isn’t a great mixture of experience and youth, with an average age of 30 years old. Compare them to a team as great as the United States, 3 time Olympic Gold Medallists, who have an average age of 25.  However, statistics aside, the Aussie team is compiled of a lot of older first time Olympians. It could be their advantage or downfall.

Who is the player to watch? I will say 21 year old Victorian pitcher, Justine Smethurst, who will be making her debut. It will be interesting to watch her deal against some of the most dangerous hitters in the world!

Have your say; what are your predictions for Beijing and who is your player to keep an eye on?

DISCLAIMER: What you are about to read is a story about grown men who should know better. It is included here as a means of illustrating the legend of one man and his unique place in baseball history. It should not be construed as an endorsement of the activity described, although we must admit it makes for a pretty cool story.

How many times had he heard someone say it? How many times over the past 22 years had some catcher or coach or broadcaster said, "Greg Maddux? I bet you could catch him with your eyes closed"? Sounded plausible enough, maybe coaxed a chuckle or two from the pitcher, but mostly it was just something to say. Nobody realized it was just a matter of time before somebody decided to prove it.

This was in mid-September, in the home bullpen at Petco Park. Maddux, the human metronome, kept going into his windup with the same hands-over-the-head motion he's used since he was a kid in Las Vegas. Pitch after pitch hit the mitt, wherever it was placed, like always. Padres bullpen catcher Ben Risinger, perhaps bored with the persistent perfection of it all, turned to bullpen coach Darrel Akerfelds and said, "I bet I could catch him with my eyes closed."

That was all fine and rhetorical until Akerfelds said, "Okay, let's go for it."

First, a system had to be put in place. It was quickly decided that Akerfelds would stand a few paces in front of the plate and to the side, so he could track the path of the ball and yell "Now!" to let Risinger know when to squeeze his mitt.

"I KNOW I DON'T THROW VERY HARD ANYMORE. BUT I'D LIKE TO THINK I CAN STILL HURT A GUY WHO'S NOT LOOKING."

Risinger, a blocky Australian who spent some time in the minors, promised not to cheat. Maddux, despite his long-standing commitment to the pursuit of a good laugh, was lukewarm on the exercise, citing liability concerns. "I know I don't throw very hard anymore," he said, "but I'd like to think I can still hurt a guy who's not looking." His protestations were ignored. There are times when a legend must bend to the public's will, when the accumulated weight of transcendent talent forces him to display his gifts for the amusement of those less burdened. This, apparently, was one of those times. Risinger closed his eyes, and Maddux threw.

A catcher's mitt is roughly 33 inches in circumference. To be caught, the ball must hit an area that is roughly one-third the size of the mitt. A regulation major league baseball has a diameter of roughly 2.9 inches. We're not talking about throwing a strike here; we're talking about hitting the palm of a hand from 60 feet 6 inches away. You can do the math, or just take Risinger's word for it: "He's the only guy I'd even come close to trusting with my eyes closed."

The first pitch glanced off the top of Risinger's mitt and hit him in the mask.

"That's enough," Maddux said, walking off the mound.

"One more," Risinger said.

The second pitch hit Risinger square in the pocket, but something went awry. Either Akerfelds' "Now!" was too late or Risinger's mitt squeeze was too slow. The ball dropped at his feet.

"That's enough," Maddux said.

"One more," Risinger said. "Please?"

Maddux wound up and threw. By now, pitching coach Darren Balsley was watching, along with a few other Padres who had received word that a strange experiment was taking place involving a catcher attempting to catch without the benefit of vision. The ball left Maddux's hand, and Akerfelds yelled "Now!" and Risinger clenched his mitt around the ball.

He opened his eyes. There it was, in the mitt.

Arms were raised in celebration. It was a beautifully stupid scene. Risinger laughed so hard he fell down. Akerfelds was doubled over, laughing to the point of tears. Maddux looked on with a wry smile, shaking his head.

"One of the most amazing things I've ever seen," said Akerfelds, who is 45 years old.

And so it was proved, once and for all: You really can catch Greg Maddux with your eyes closed.

Bedford Softball Club are currently trying to put together a division 1 men's winter softball team and are short of numbers. We still require at least 6 players. If you are interested or know anybody that is interested could you please contact Justin Morgan on justin.morgan@health.wa.gov.au or mobile on 0418903640.

Chelsea Forkin:  Possibly the best female baseball player of all time.

Matt Kennelly:  Power Hitting phenom now playing with the Atlanta Braves.

Both played junior baseball with the Melville Braves AND IMPORTANTLY played on the U14 WA State Team in 2002.

Rumour has it that Chelsea actually won the batting average award for the U14 Melville Braves team that year, thereby outgunning one of the best hitting prospects ever to come out of Western Australia.

So... the question is:  who's the best player now?  What sort of comparisson can we do?

After a silver medal at the Athens Olympic games it looked as though Australia was on it's way to becoming a powerhouse on the world baseball scene, however following this huge success there has been nothing but disappointment.  A sub par performance at the World Baseball Classic,  an unlucky world cup result (where we could have easily medaled) and a dismal performance in the Olympic qualifier have left many of us scratching our heads. 

  It is no secret that the ABF funnels copious amounts of money into the National team program, you only have to look at who travels with the team and it becomes clear (5 coaches, a physiotherapist, executive officer, strength and conditioning coach, Sports psych and scout).  This is definitely overkill considering the ailing numbers in the sport throughout the country. Perhaps this money could be better put to use in developing young players, educating coaches and perhaps marketing the  "Claxton Shield" that is played on home soil.  The gross over expenditure on the Senior Australian team is definitely a case of the new kid at school trying to fit in with cool kids.

 If you cast your mind back to the 2004 Olympic team Roster it was a who's who list of Australian baseball.  Dave Nielson, Graeme Lloyd, Paul Gonzalez and the list goes on. It was no surprise that the Aussies were going to perform well, they were carrying seasoned professionals that new how to perform.  Jump to 2008 and look at the roster for this years Olympic Qualifiers and you may not recognize to many of the names, and the ones that are familiar, you would be forgiven for thinking that they may be retired.  It is a tough time to secure players as many off the regular national team have reported to "Big League Camp" for there respective professional teams. Names such as Moylan, Stockman, Harman, Huber, Oltjen and Blackley who would all march into any Australian team in History were all unavailable for the National team selection. Missing this many quality players will hurt any team however was the best team selected? I'm not sure?  Something we can be sure of the coaches of the National Team staff definitely did not look ahead and were not preparing players for there pending inclusion in the team for the Olympic qualifiers.

For the first time maybe ever the Helms award (Claxton Shield MVP award) winner was not selected in the initial squad. Clint Balgera of the Perth Heat put up some gaudy numbers while leading the Perth Heat to there first Claxton Shield win in 8 years.  Clint does not run well and his arm is not strong arm,  so he would have struggled to compete for an outfield spot and would have some serious competition for the DH roll, you would still think he was worthy of an invite to camp.  With Brad Harman unavailable, the short stop position was hotly contested between Linger, Kyle, Dutton, Graham and Beresford.  Linger, Dutton and Graham all hit over .300 during the Claxton Shield (linger with only 28 Ab's), Kyle as always is the defensive specialist and Beresford was always rough outside chance.  With Luke Hughes already cemented in the team as the starting second baseman it would have made sense to go with Graham or Kyle as they had both paired Hughes as the Perth Heat Pivots throughout the Claxton Shield. With showing off his great range, amazing hands and possessing more pop that his competition most people thought he was a shoe in.  Then perhaps carry Dutton as a steady back up, with solid glove, compact swing and ability to play all infield positions he would be a big asset coming off the bench.

My point is that there may have been some other options for the coaching staff of the Aussie team. Some of the lesser known players that are older and mature ball players. Guys  that will compete to Keep there team in a ball game and WILL NOT crack under pressure were over looked.  Think of the guys from the ABL days who did not sign a professional contract but played for Australia, names like Shane Tonkin, Jason Hewitt, John Moore and Duane Rochford.  Imagine if we had lost these guys from baseball................................. because we are loosing the next waive of them as we speak.

Day 5 saw the team go home with two wins.  A 3 -0  victory over NSW with Neal Delpero having thrown a perfect game for 5 2/3 innings.  Some good early hitting saw the boys jump out to a 2 -0 lead which was consolidated in the 5th with another run being added on.

Game 2 of the day was against QLD in a battle which would go along way to determinning who would finish second after the round robin.  Once again good early hitting saw us out to a 2-0 led after 2 innings.  Qld fought back with 2 of their own in the 4th however the boys rallied to score 3 in the top of the fifth to take back the lead.  The fine hitting continued to see us run out winners 9 - 3.

This game saw Jay Rakich hit his first home run at Men's nationals.   

Today see's the last game of the round robin followed by the start of the finals.

Thanks

Jonesy

Day 4 saw us drop another tough one to ACT going down 4 - 1.  A fine display of hitting by WA's own Michael Gibson saw him register our first home run of the tournament.  Gibbo followed this up with another line drive hit in his next at bat.  But Gibbo's hitting and another solid performance by Neal Del Pero on the hill were not enough for us to get up for the win.

Gibson a Kingsley native said "it's an honour to represent your state."

Adam Humble continued his fine form holding the Aussie under19's to nil in game two for the day as we went on to register our fourth win of the tournament 3 - 0.

A number of family and friends have come over to support us in our quest to bring home the shield so to thank them the team enjoyed a meal with all of our supporters.  This was a well organised event through good managing by Justin Morgan.  Thanks to everyone who has come across to support and to those following the results on  the net and sending well wishes.

Regards

Jonesy