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Post by stuartcapel on Jun 27, 2013 22:21:48 GMT 10
Good to see the Aces newsletters are now a staple in my inbox of a week. The content of them is more than sufficient for the current time and we all look forward to it ramping up as the season gets closer. Welcome to our two new front office staff who have joined us from America. I think we all hope they enjoy their time in Australia. Surprising that recently we had word of work being done on a 'social media' policy, but the front office has missed an excellent chance to post some simple social media info together to keep the Aces at the top of people's facebook pages. Over the past two days, two former players have enjoyed birthdays, so why not note that in a short facebook message? Something like... Aces fans, today marks the birthday of John Edwards, an integral part of the Aces team in our 2011-12 team that went to the Championship Series. Those in attendance on the night still fondly remember his walk off home run against the Brisbane Bandits. A little something like that keeps the club on peoples Facebook and Twitter accounts, with a little personal touch.
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Post by moose on Jul 4, 2013 7:48:32 GMT 10
Received a nice email from the Aces the other day responding to the confusion regarding seating for next season. As many here know I had been reassigned different seating than that which I had last season. This has now been rectified and I return to my seat of last season.
I would like to take the time to thank the Aces for their help in this case, it has been much appreciated! Thank you.
Neil W
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Post by lucadello on Jul 22, 2013 16:02:38 GMT 10
Good to have the front office on the forum, but the technical issues situation seems to be rearing its head a fair few times out at MBP. Happened last year too when it came to getting information out to members and supporters. My suggestion is you can use the same line only so often. Anyways, while we can ask some questions... 1) Following a season where the club was last in the league results wise (by some margin) and last in the league in attendance, where does the front office currently see the club at? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the club? Obviously we have much improvement to make from the starting pitchers to improving our RISP % so many areas to look at for next season. Our memberships were actually close to previous years numbers and we expected a bit of a drop moving to a new ground although we have higher expectations this year.2) What is the ongoing viability of the club beyond season 13/14, and beyond season five of the new ABL? Good3) For three straight seasons, we have never been aggressive in replacing the Japanese imports, instead taking the easy option by using club imports, which has been more miss than hit. Should the club choose the path of using Japanese players through December, what assurances can members and supporters get from our front office that they will leave no stone unturned in finding the best player they possibly can to fill the void(s) left by Japanese players? Our connection with the Nippon league is important and will continue, using club imports is not always the easy route and finding non affiliated players can be sometimes a complicated and expensive proposition, we continue to be aggressive in our efforts to attract the best players out there4) When will coaching appointments be made? By July 31st we should have a coaching staff announced5) How many coaches will the club use this season? Nine seemed overkill last year, especially with a couple of issues that surely one of nine coaches should have picked-up on. Canberra, for example won the title all while having a teenager coach first base for the majority of the season (appreciate they used an inexcusably high amount of imports last season - 17 on a roster for the most part). Not sure of the number from last season but we expect to have 4 or 5 this year6) What level of players are we sourcing for the 13/14 season? We went well below our import quota in 12/13, a strategy different to five other clubs, who all finished ahead of the Aces. Always looking to source the best possible players7) What is going on with the seating? Last year, a friend of mine was in row G and my wife and I were in row H. As it stands today, now he is in row H and my wife and I in row G. My suggestion would be to fix that. I think if you call the office they can sort through the issue and get you sitting together.8) What is being done to improve the ballpark experience in 13/14? The cheerleaders took a step back last season to the point where several members I spoke to, reckoned they could be done without, while the volume level of the speakers was for the most part too high. Further, you always had to cross your fingers to hope that parking would be OK, even if you were at the ground two hours before the first pitch. It was quite unsettling to be there with an empty car park, but be shunted at times to spots where foul balls would be more likely to hit your car than where you'd otherwise have preferred to park. Lots of lessons from last season, new ballpark and operationally we had to make adjustments as we went along. Parking will be extended to accommodate more cars away from foul ball areas. More entertainment is on the way and will be announced soonReally looking forward to next week when the coaching staff will be announced (see 4b.) Would anyone else also like to see some kind of roster and what we are doing regarding the Japanese?
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Post by moose on Jul 23, 2013 3:20:06 GMT 10
To me the Japanese experiment, apart from season 1, is a really Bad idea. Yet we continue to stand by it, much to the fans dislike and the teams misfortune. Can't remember if any here have really been strong in their printed support for it and definitely at the games the talk from fans is how it has had a detrimental effect on the Aces since season 1. At least in season 1 we had some real talent sent to us and the team proffered by it until they went home when we collapsed into 4th place and a short finals appearance. Since then the players sent here have been... well underwhelming to say the least. Our Grand final appearance had more to do with our local players than any great input from the Japanese players from what I can remember. Unless its a contractual arrangement between the Aces and the ABL we should drop this and concentrate on imports that at least can play for the whole season or request a level of Japanese player that will provide a benefit for the team and available for the entire season. Most importantly the arrangement as it stands now does a great disservice to the Aces fans who for the most part feel let down when the Japanese players go home and who wonder, not so silently on occasions, what it is that we get from such an arrangement. Neil W (Insomniac at 3.00 am)
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Post by stuartcapel on Jul 24, 2013 15:25:35 GMT 10
The arrangement with the Japanese isn't overly a bad one Moose, on two provisos.
1) They are of sufficient caliber to help the team win.
Now, the club have decided this year they can't be bothered giving updates of current or former Aces players overseas, but Yusei Kikuchi is 9-3 with a 1.58era. He is the best performed pitcher on the Seibu roster. However Koishi (6.75era) has thrown just eight innings, Yuta Nakazaki must have good photos of someone as he's thrown just one out less than Koishi but has an 11.74era (we all could have told Seibu that was going to happen). Fumikazu Kimura was converted from a pitcher to a hitter (the Japanese Rick Ankiel?) and just hit his first NPB home run (pinch hitting for Kikuchi) while Shota Nakata is hitting a buck seventy two in the Ni-Gun. I'd suggest a 20%, and if I include Koishi at a stretch, a 40% success rate in your imports isn't going to help win in this league.
2) You have players to replace them with new imports immediately once they have gone.
Last year, Koishi, Nakazaki and Nakata left at Christmas and the Aces ventured north to Brisbane, with no replacement imports. The team won one of four games and scored seven runs for the series with just three imports on the roster (Arneson, Reese and Testa). For the record, that series (and I'm including Kohei Maso as an import for Brisbane), Bandits pitchers threw 25.1 innings for a 1.42era and struck out 31 Aces hitters. One of our imports, could only throw an innings at most per outing and had to have rest in between, while Kevin Reese once again pitched his rear off but got exactly zero runs in support.
The week after, all of a sudden, guys like Mitch Hodge and Adam Rowe become available and we sweep a series. Then, we get two ordinary efforts from Hodge and no more Rowe and win two of the final dozen games and finish dead last. Take out that Brisbane sweep, and of our other thirty-two games from December 1 onwards, the Aces won just six games.
We're just over 100 days out from opening day in Canberra, who will have a dozen or more imports gunning at us. What evidence is there that the experiments mistakes from the past will not be repeated?
By the way, Mike Walker - .231-10-31-1 at AA Huntsville. Surely as the team who finished last in season 12/13 will have first right of refusal on a 'free agent' Australian player?
Question for Aces Front Office too - what methods will the club be using to source its imports in season 13-14?
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Post by melbourneacesofficial on Jul 24, 2013 20:22:23 GMT 10
The arrangement with the Japanese isn't overly a bad one Moose, on two provisos. 1) They are of sufficient caliber to help the team win. Now, the club have decided this year they can't be bothered giving updates of current or former Aces players overseas, but Yusei Kikuchi is 9-3 with a 1.58era. He is the best performed pitcher on the Seibu roster. However Koishi (6.75era) has thrown just eight innings, Yuta Nakazaki must have good photos of someone as he's thrown just one out less than Koishi but has an 11.74era (we all could have told Seibu that was going to happen). Fumikazu Kimura was converted from a pitcher to a hitter (the Japanese Rick Ankiel?) and just hit his first NPB home run (pinch hitting for Kikuchi) while Shota Nakata is hitting a buck seventy two in the Ni-Gun. I'd suggest a 20%, and if I include Koishi at a stretch, a 40% success rate in your imports isn't going to help win in this league. 2) You have players to replace them with new imports immediately once they have gone. Last year, Koishi, Nakazaki and Nakata left at Christmas and the Aces ventured north to Brisbane, with no replacement imports. The team won one of four games and scored seven runs for the series with just three imports on the roster (Arneson, Reese and Testa). For the record, that series (and I'm including Kohei Maso as an import for Brisbane), Bandits pitchers threw 25.1 innings for a 1.42era and struck out 31 Aces hitters. One of our imports, could only throw an innings at most per outing and had to have rest in between, while Kevin Reese once again pitched his rear off but got exactly zero runs in support. The week after, all of a sudden, guys like Mitch Hodge and Adam Rowe become available and we sweep a series. Then, we get two ordinary efforts from Hodge and no more Rowe and win two of the final dozen games and finish dead last. Take out that Brisbane sweep, and of our other thirty-two games from December 1 onwards, the Aces won just six games. We're just over 100 days out from opening day in Canberra, who will have a dozen or more imports gunning at us. What evidence is there that the experiments mistakes from the past will not be repeated? By the way, Mike Walker - .231-10-31-1 at AA Huntsville. Surely as the team who finished last in season 12/13 will have first right of refusal on a 'free agent' Australian player? Question for Aces Front Office too - what methods will the club be using to source its imports in season 13-14? Stu, Your questions are good and we will look to provide the best talent for the Aces to compete, We have been upgrading our website that also includes links to our players playing overseas for over a month now, Go to web.theabl.com.au/roster/page.jsp?ymd=20130628&content_id=52030290&vkey=roster_t4067&fext=.jsp&sid=t4067
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Post by stuartcapel on Jul 25, 2013 10:49:30 GMT 10
I'll put my hand up and admit I was wrong - there have indeed been updates for overseas players. You will however appreciate the fact that I, and I dare say many others had no reason to click on the roster section at this stage of the year. I'd have thought an addition to the website such as this would have warranted a mention in the newsletter.
As for the questions, there seems to be little point asking any if they're not going to be answered. How about giving the answers another go?
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player
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Post by player on Jul 25, 2013 22:10:28 GMT 10
While it might be useful busy work to keep the Aces volunteers occupied, upgrading the website with player links is a limited exercise, unless it is accompanied by some hard news, some feature stories or at least some regular reporting on what is happening to help improve the club's onfield performance.
Supporters and others surely want to know WHO will or might be on the roster next season. At the very least those supporters are looking for an indication of the club's strategy on recruitment of imports and the compilation of a competitive playing and coaching group.
I saw somewhere that a coaching panel is to be appointed by the end of July. Hopefully when that happens, we will be given something in-depth and meaningful about club strategies and prospects for the new season that is only a couple of months off after all.
On the Aces website player updates......
Travis Blackley and Peter Moylan will surely not be playing with the Aces. Josh Spence has never played with the Aces (despite the club's sad attempt to claim him as one of their own). The likes of Beresford, Russell, Hussey, Gibbons, McGrath, Thorpe and the like will again only be bit players, even if they appear at all because of their professional commitments.
Is the Aces club again going to go with Japanese imports? Has the club changed tack and sought to form relationships with specific MLB organisations (such as the Heat has done with Baltimore)? Are we going to place greater trust in our emerging, uncontracted younger players in the spirit of being a "development league" according to the ABL charter? Having finished last in 2012/13, have the Aces sought to negotiate concessions to allow a larger number of established professionals to counteract the arguably over-generous concessions elswhere?
There are many other questions that can be asked. Please, melbourneacesofficial, do not insult the Victorian baseball community by talking meaningless rot and engaging in window-dressing. Talk sense and deliver information that is specific and concrete if your club really wants to get people onside. Over the past three seasons, we have put up with enough mealy-mouthed and disingenuous crap.
People are sick of being treated with disdain and regarded as "add-ons" to the Aces project when they clearly crave a more positive engagement and a far greater sense of ownership of their ABL team. I expect that disenchantment is why there has been so little discussion on this Forum and so little interest in the new ABL season when the league - and particular the Aces - should be doing much better into its fourth year.
So the questions are "good", are they? What an insulting and condescending reponse to thoughtful, legitimate and reasonable inquiries such as those posted by stuartcapel earlier.
How about something more intelligible, satisfying and reassuring for this rapidly-diminishing supporter base? Are you up to it?
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Post by perfeckt on Jul 26, 2013 18:28:53 GMT 10
I might add to 'players' post, that the mainstream media are similarly disengaged when faced with nothing but promotional material about a "novelty" sport and no real grist for the mill. The MLB opener in Sydney 2014 is a huge commitment that is obviously aimed at bolstering baseballs' stocks in Oz and by extension Asia/Pacific. Are Oz sports reporters and their producers/editors being offered VIP access to seating,players.admin'? Are they being schmoozed yet? Liverpool and Man U have been playing to stadium attendances of up to 95,000. They can afford to be arrogant. MLB,ABF, cannot.
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Post by secondbase on Jul 26, 2013 19:17:31 GMT 10
Players post says all you need to know as to why officials from sporting organisations are reluctant to participate on social forums..talk about lack of basic respect and invective!
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player
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Post by player on Jul 26, 2013 19:58:54 GMT 10
secondbase, if you are alleging "lack of basic respect" on my part then I would suggest that you are sadly mistaken.
Respect, as you would know, is not a commodity that is automatically delivered because one might be an "official" of this, that or any other sporting organisation. It is something that needs to be earned, especially by an organisation that wants to put itself out there as being "professional".
The fact is that the new ABL is struggling to gain any sort of traction in Victoria. The Aces are struggling to gain any sort of traction. That gives no pleasure to any of us who long anticipated the rebirth of a viable national league and who would dearly love to see it be a success.
The buck has to stop somewhere, second sacker. The Aces had a terrible season - on and probably off-field - in 2012/13. That was the third year of the new league, yet the club still struggles for credibility and appears to treat its own membership and its potential supporter base with - should I say it - a certain "lack of respect" (evidenced by some of the exchanges in this thread).
Over the past three years there has been a litany of stuff-ups associated with building of the Melbourne Aces organisation. Let us not gild the lily in that regard. Let us not pretend that everything is going great when clearly there are ongoing challenges and difficulties in getting the club and the league off the ground.
If Melbourne Aces or any other baseball organisation shuns this Forum because of a perceived "lack of respect", then so be it. I would suggest, though, that members of this particular social medium might have a considerable amount to offer the ABL project (directly or indirectly) notwithstanding the criticisms and what you call the "invective" expressed from time to time on these pages.
At least this Forum again has people talking about the Aces and the ABL!! There is not much (if anything) happening anywhere else, including with mainstream media, the club's own online communications and those of major partners in Baseball Victoria and the Australian Baseball Federation.
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Post by secondbase on Jul 26, 2013 21:38:49 GMT 10
Player..Not questioning your commitment, knowledge or right to make any judgement you want. Simply making the point that the "official" does not have to contribute to the forum as part of his/her job and the accusation of being "insulting" and "condescending"is possibly more a reflection of your frustration with the Aces management than a fair assessment of the reply that was posted.As for the point of respect being earnt, it works both ways..presumably,you expect the "official" to have some respect towards your comments.
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player
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Post by player on Jul 26, 2013 22:24:19 GMT 10
Absolutely right, secondbase! Any Aces "official" does not have to contribute to this Forum or any other online vehicle for that matter.
But if he or she chooses to sally into the bear pit (and why should they not?), then he/she should expect some fur to fly.
Of course I don't expect this "official" to have any automatic respect for my comments (or those of anybody else just by virtue of comments being made). Especially since I have not identified myself.
All I would ask is that any "official" might reflect upon comments made in response to their posts. Any person is free to contact me by PM if they have an issue or wish to discuss any matter further with a simple bloke who just plays baseball at a modest club level and would like to see the Aces be part of a successful ABL project.
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Post by lucadello on Jul 29, 2013 16:13:04 GMT 10
Can't wait until Wednesday when our coaching staff will be announced. Then we can surely look forward to some players being named for our 2013-14 roster. Have any of you forum members heard any whispers?
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Post by duke on Jul 29, 2013 16:46:41 GMT 10
Like you, luca, I'm looking forward to this week's announcement of a coaching panel. Surely then we'll start to see the Aces show getting on the road for the new season.
Still no public indication, though, of a recruitment strategy and the role that imports are likely to play for 2013/14. I guess that has to wait until after the coaches are appointed.
Maybe the club should conduct tryouts for spots, like the provincials and even Claxton Shield used to do a few years ago. Invite all locals who might be up to it, invite U.S. and Asian players prepared to come out at their own expense. See who is prepared to turn up. Have a few practice or demonstration matches. Get them all to try out for the team before any contracts are signed.
Feasible? Nah, maybe not.....
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Post by perfeckt on Jul 29, 2013 19:28:11 GMT 10
Good idea duke. Feasible ? Viable ? I don't know but it's still a good idea, in my humble opinion.
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Post by mc15 on Aug 1, 2013 8:29:30 GMT 10
The great Casey Stengel once said "I don't make prediction, especially of the future" If melbourneacesofficial is in fact the new guy, I applaud your enthusiasm and optimism, and I'll encourage you to maintain that during your time with the Aces. I don't believe for one second that the above comes from the new guy though. Heard all these songs before. Here is my prediction... The first date mentioned above, the 31st of July will come and go without the coaches being appointed. Hmmmm...
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Post by The Puma on Aug 1, 2013 8:37:36 GMT 10
Probably just waiting on the LOI....
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Post by mc15 on Aug 1, 2013 8:42:56 GMT 10
Probably just waiting on the LOI.... Very good Puma. I just spat coffee all over my keyboard
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Post by bobby on Aug 2, 2013 9:15:32 GMT 10
Just got a tweet from the Aces regarding naming their coaches on the 31st of July it said " That was our goal should be soon!"
Soon could be tomorrow, next week, next month, during the season who really knows. Just seems like nothing has changed.
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Post by parentofone on Aug 4, 2013 15:50:23 GMT 10
C'mon Aces. Make a call on the coaches & playing roster. I'm wondering if they have made a decision on the coaching position but don't have anyone man enough to tell us? Pre Season is scheduled to start on October the 18th....Let's go.
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Post by stuartcapel on Aug 6, 2013 15:32:35 GMT 10
Melbourne Aces Official,
I would like to draw your attention to a post from June 11 this year where in response to a question "When will coaching appointments be made?" the date provided by yourself was the 31st of July.
That date came and went a week ago, with no announcement as to who will be coaching the Aces this coming season. Further, there has been no correspondence from the club in regards this issue since, aside it seems from a single 'tweet' which was only provided by the club when prompted by a follower of the Aces and Victorian Baseball.
What date can members and fans of the club expect the coaching staff to be announced by the club, and when will the playing staff begin to be made known to the club members who have already shown their financial commitment to the club for the coming year?
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Post by moose on Aug 9, 2013 7:38:44 GMT 10
Phil Dale has been re-appointed for his fourth year as Aces Manager. Wish him all the best for hopefully our revival season. Onwards and upwards! Neil W
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Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2013 12:03:54 GMT 10
Saw the Aces ad on Fox today (the Baseball/Golf ad) and it is a ripper idea/concept and well thought out however the production is poor it must be said which is a shame.
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Post by stuartcapel on Aug 15, 2013 16:08:16 GMT 10
Since the upgrade of the forum, I often find that when I click on threads, it opens to the initial page, not the current page of the thread (page five as in the case of this one).
Opening this thread a while ago, I noticed a response I sent to bobby on March 26th:
"Perhaps a more accurate question is what are the goals for next season? Are we looking to continue to play young player after young player, or will the club be looking to peak at or above .500 for the first time and challenge for the Championship?
Even to get to .500, plenty needs to change."
The countdown clock, which is taking pride of place in the 'Fan Zone' of the club web page has now wound its way down to 77 days before the beginning of the season, in Canberra against the defending Champions, who you can bet the ABL will be willing to keep strong so they are not embarrassed in the Asia Series, which Perth has contested the past couple of years.
So, where are we placed with exactly eleven weeks to go? We have a coach in Phil Dale, but we have absolutely nothing else to provide the fans and members.
The communication, which for a few weeks had become of a quality standard, has quickly, and silently dried-up, while the Aces official answer service on the forum has decided to stop answering questions, either because it doesn't want to, or simply can't.
Despite communicating that a coaching 'staff' should be in place by July 31st, there were no appointments made by that time (as predicted by a fellow forumite), and the press release for coach Dale did seemed rushed at best. Certainly it wasn't proof-read. Given the club had all but as many coaches as it did players last season, surely coach Dale's assistant coaches shouldn't have been far behind in terms of being announced, however we are still to hear anything from the club, either on their website, or via the forum. I would imagine given the relationship coach Dale and former Adelaide manager Tony Harris have, the club may be exploring having the South Australian as part of the coaching structure, but while we get the continued silence, the countdown clock keeps ticking...and ticking...and ticking, and we keep chalking off days on the calendar without any sign of positivity about the 2013/14 season.
Much can happen in eleven weeks, and the baseball public realises that not everything can be sorted by this point for various reasons however I contend however that we should be further down the path than what we are at present.
We finished 15-31 for the season in 2012-13. Membership is up apparently, but there is no evidence to suggest that it is because people all of a sudden want to watch a perennial sub .500 team who has seen attendance drop from year one to year two and year two to year three, or because of peoples desire to get in for MLB tickets (certainly there will be no championing of a membership decline for 14-15 if that is indeed the case). We have adverts on television, which is excellent regardless of the quality (I am yet to see any of them), however if someone asks us as baseball people about the club, what does our front office expect us to say to them to make sure we get them along? We can't say anything aside from "Phil Dale is coaching" or "The Cheerleaders are never in sync".
I look at Perth, and their updates on players overseas leave the Aces to shame. Adelaide's social media updates (Facebook especially) have us looking second rate and we all know that media streams of the five other clubs leave us in the 1800s. Heck, every club but the Aces could send a mascot to the Little League Championships. Our club simply couldn't be bothered.
"Even to get to .500, plenty needs to change."
No wonder every day at the ballpark is themed this year. After all, we lead the league in smoke and mirrors.
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Post by moose on Aug 16, 2013 7:22:04 GMT 10
I'm sorry but I'm still laughing over that one! Really? Tell that to the Perth team who will bust a gut to redeem top spot after last season and being stitched up by a virtual American team. Tell that to Essendon fans (the innocent ones in the drug scandal) who are about to finish last for the first time since the 1930's. Membership increase. Great news. Getting them on deck is one thing, keeping them is a totally different thing. Being competitive for all the season would be a start. Understanding that the ABL is not a level playing field is another. Hopefully management will supply a good team to Phil Dale so that we can all enjoy seeing our players do well this season. Neil W **written in reply to a post since removed.**
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Post by rhricho on Aug 17, 2013 20:55:35 GMT 10
Not sure if anyone else saw this, however I knew you would make SportsCenter one day Scotty! I only just caught it, but I think it was top 10 also!!! Not sure what number tho!!
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Post by braves6 on Aug 18, 2013 10:09:27 GMT 10
it is now trending on Cut4 on MLB.
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Post by pirates on Aug 20, 2013 18:26:19 GMT 10
Phil Dale has been re-appointed for his fourth year as Aces Manager. Wish him all the best for hopefully our revival season. Onwards and upwards! Neil W ok so who is the coach!!! i heard some talk and some whispers but really did not put the dots together. now I hear that Tony Harris is the new Aces coach is that right. can anybody confirm this for us. wow a week is a short time in this game.
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Post by Goblin on Aug 20, 2013 18:53:48 GMT 10
Phil Dale has been re-appointed for his fourth year as Aces Manager. Wish him all the best for hopefully our revival season. Onwards and upwards! Neil W ok so who is the coach!!! i heard some talk and some whispers but really did not put the dots together. now I hear that Tony Harris is the new Aces coach is that right. can anybody confirm this for us. wow a week is a short time in this game. Whilst I can find nothing on the Melbourne Aces website, the following link is to a story credited to them that is currently on the Baseball Victoria website. It lists Harris as just a member of the coaching panel. www.vic.baseball.com.au/default.asp?Page=95026
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