Australian Baseball League – A couple of quick observations. First, the announcers remarked that the Perth Heat roster contains 4 members (3 active for the playoffs) of the the first family of baseball in Western Australia, the Kennelly family. You may remember that Tim Kennelly was in the Phillies system for 8 years (2005-12). The Phillies tried him at every position but shortstop. He’s currently playing right field and DH for the Heat.
And second, the venue for the championship series is Adelaide’s Norwood Oval. It has dirt cutouts like any artificial surface for the mound, catcher’s/batter’s boxes, and the bases. One of the announcers remarked about the condition of the “grass”. This piqued my interest and I had to google the Oval. It is also known as Coopers Stadium (Coopers Brewery sponsership) and is rented to the Norwood Football Club. It’s primary use is for Australian rules football, but is also use for a variety of other sporting events including soccer, rugby, American football, and baseball. it has a grass surface. An interesting twist for infielders – less certain bounces off grass but maybe a little less velocity on some ground balls. Continue reading Winter Ball Round Up; Feb. 2 – Fini
