The Sydney Blue Sox are a professional baseball team, and one of eight foundation teams in the re-formed

Australian Baseball League The Australian Baseball League (ABL) is a professional baseball league in Australia. The league is governed by the Australian Baseball Federation (ABF). It uses the same name as a now-defunct competition held during the 1990s, and though it ...

(ABL). The team plays their home games at

Blacktown International Sportspark Blacktown International Sportspark (BISP) (formally known as Blacktown Olympic Park) is a multi-sports venue located in Rooty Hill, a suburb in Sydney, Australia. The venue includes two cricket grounds, which have also been used for Australian r ...

(BISP), one of the two venues used for baseball at the

2000 Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

, when it was known as Blacktown Olympic Park. The Blue Sox hosted the league's

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent years ...

for the inaugural season on 6 November 2010, when they played against the

Canberra Cavalry The Canberra Cavalry (nicknamed Cavs) is a professional baseball team from Canberra, ACT, Australia. Established in 2010, the team is a founding member of the Australian Baseball League (ABL). The Cavs home ground is Narrabundah Ballpark, kno ...

, and won the game 1–0. The Blue Sox are the only team in the Australian Baseball League to implement sabermetrics as a way to run their team with volunteer statistician, Anthony Rescan. Fan response was very positive for the Blue Sox in the lead up to their inaugural season. As the sole team in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, they attracted interest beyond the Sydney metropolitan region; as far north as

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

, which hosted the former ABL franchise Hunter Eagles throughout the 1990s. Five hundred season tickets were allocated for the 2010–11 season, which sold out two months prior to the season's start; a waiting list for 2011–12 season tickets was soon created. Such was the demand to see professional baseball return to Sydney, several games had sold out well in advance of their scheduled dates, including the season opener.

History

Formation

The creation of the ABL was announced at a press conference on the Gold Coast, at the Palm Meadows Baseball Complex, site of the Major League Baseball Australia Academy Program in July 2009. Though there was speculation at the time that there may be as many as 10 teams in the competition, with teams possibly from

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

, it wasn't until two months later that the number and location of teams was announced:

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

would have one of five confirmed teams, with

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

eventually being successful in bidding for the sixth team. Names and colour schemes for each of the teams were determined through a competition launched in December 2009 called "Name Your ABL Team". Fans were asked to select from one of four options for the team's name or provide their own alternative. Though the four options provided for the Sydney team were "Sydney Sting", "Sydney Rocks", "Sydney Surf" and "Sydney Bluewave", the name announced in August 2010 was "Sydney Blue Sox", with Sydney's colour being the blue traditionally associated with

sporting teams. The Blue Sox would have Blacktown Olympic Park as their home ground, which had been the

New South Wales Patriots New South Wales Patriots compete in the Claxton Shield baseball championship in Australia. The Patriots were one of the founding teams of the Claxton Shield in 1934 and competed as New South Wales until 1988 when the Claxtion Shield was awarde ...

home in the

Claxton Shield The Claxton Shield was the name of the premier baseball competition in Australia held between state-based teams, as well as the name of the trophy awarded to the champion team. From the summer of 1989–90 until 2001–02, and again since 2010� ...

the previous three seasons. On 19 August 2010, Blue Sox signed Glenn Williams as

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activitie ...

for the 2010–11 season. Williams had last played baseball in Australia with the Patriots in the 2007 Claxton Shield, and played 13 games for the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

during the

2005 Major League Baseball season The 2005 Major League Baseball season was notable for the league's new steroid policy in the wake of the BALCO scandal, which enforced harsher penalties than ever before for steroid use in Major League Baseball. Several players, including veteran ...

, becoming the 17th Australian-born player to reach the Major Leagues. The following month, Eddie Bray was appointed as

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of the club, having held the same role with the Patriots in the

2010 Claxton Shield The 2010 Claxton Shield was the 76th Claxton Shield tournament, the premier baseball competition in Australia, and was held from 6 November 2009 to 7 February 2010. It was hailed as the precursor to the new Australian Baseball League that would ...

Inaugural season

Sydney's initial roster included two players— Chris Oxspring and Koo Dae-Sung—and

Glenn Williams with Major League experience. With Oxspring also taking on the role of

pitching coach In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, who determines the starting lineup and batting order, decides how to substitute players during the game, and makes strategy decisio ...

, and a number of players with experience from international league's including

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

and

Korea Baseball Organization The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO; ko, 한국야구위원회) is the governing body for the professional leagues of baseball in South Korea. The KBO was founded in 1981 and has governed two leagues: the KBO League ( ko, KBO 리그) and K ...

, and the late addition to the roster of active Major Leaguers Trent Oeltjen and Rich Thompson, Sydney had the most experienced roster of any of the teams in the league. The Blue Sox hosted the inaugural game of the league, playing against the

at BOP, which they won 1–0. They would go on to sweep the opening series, the first of three series sweeps they would accomplish through the season, the others two against the Adelaide Bite at home, and the Perth Heat in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

Baseball Park A ballpark, or baseball park, is a type of sports venue where baseball is played. The playing field is divided into the infield, an area whose dimensions are rigidly defined, and the outfield, where dimensions can vary widely from place to pla ...

. Ironically, immediately after sweeping the Heat, Perth swept Sydney at BOP. Sydney clinched first place in the league in their final game, beating the Cavalry at

Narrabundah Ballpark Narrabundah Ballpark (also known as The Fort) is a 2,250 capacity baseball complex in the south-central Canberra suburb of Narrabundah, ACT, Australia. It was redeveloped in 2010 for use by the Canberra Cavalry of the Australian Baseball Leag ...

in Canberra. They led Perth by half a game, with Adelaide a further game back, and the

Melbourne Aces The Melbourne Aces are a professional baseball team in the Australian Baseball League based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Their home field is the Melbourne Ballpark in Altona. History On Friday, 20 August 2010 it was announced that ex ...

six

games behind In most North American sports, the phrase games behind or games back (often abbreviated GB) is a common way to reflect the gap between a leading team and another team in a sports league, conference, or division. Example In the below standings fr ...

the Blue Sox. Finishing first earned Sydney the right to host the major semi-final series, in addition to a second chance if they lost the series, against the second-place Heat. Perth maintained the perfect season record in Sydney, sweeping the series and qualifying directly to the championship series. The Bite, having defeated the Aces in the minor semi-final series faced the Blue Sox in the preliminary final series at BOP. Game one of the series featured Sydney

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

David Welch, who threw the league's first

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher wh ...

. This would be Sydney's only win of the postseason, as Adelaide came back and won the series 2–1. Sydney players took three of the six season awards announced by the league: * Koo Dae-Sung – Reliever of the Year * Trent Schmutter – Rookie of the Year * David Welch – Pitcher of the Year

Season records

Current roster

Notable players

Gavin Fingleson Gavin Fingleson (born 5 August 1976) is a South African born- Australian switch-hitting former professional baseball player. Primarily a second baseman, he has also played designated hitter, third base, shortstop, and first base. Early life Fi ...

, South African-born Australian, Olympic

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, et ...

ist baseball player * Rhys Hoskins * David Kandilas *

Jacob May Jacob Alexander May (born January 23, 1992) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder who played for the Chicago White Sox in 2017. Amateur career The Cincinnati Reds selected May in the 39th round of the 2010 MLB draft out of ...

* Chris Oxspring * Gift Ngoepe *

Zach Penprase Zachary William Penprase (born February 16, 1985) is an American-Israeli baseball player who plays shortstop, second base, and left field who is currently a free agent.Brad Thomas *

Manny Ramirez Manuel Arístides Ramírez Onelcida (born May 30, 1972) is a Dominican-American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for parts of 19 seasons. He played with the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, ...

* Lachlan Wells

References

External links

*
Official Facebook page

Official Youtube channel

Australian Baseball League website

{{Australian Baseball League Australian Baseball League teams Baseball teams in Australia Sports teams in Sydney Baseball teams established in 2009 Baseball in New South Wales 2009 establishments in Australia