The Claytons Washout

[Deleted]

With Victorian baseball starved of success in the ABL since its resurrection, followers will surely wish Melbourne Aces all the very best for success in the Championship Series starting in nine days.

A strong Aces club is vital if the ABL is to have a viable long-term future. And part of a strong Aces club will be an engaged and growing supporter base. It would be a great and wonderful thing if 3000, 4000 or 5000 people would pack Melbourne Ballpark for the two or three ABLCS games.

Self-evident, really.

But not so clear might be the ramifications of a memorandum, or more correctly an edict issued by Baseball Victoria cancelling club Division 1, Division 2 , Division 3 and Division 4 lower grade games for 11/12 February and deeming them as washouts for ladder purposes.

This Forum has been very quiet lately, though I reckon this decision might stir some response - one way or another.

Click on attachment below.

BV MEMORANDUM - Melbourne Aces ABL Champion....pdf (107.88 KB)

[baseless]

I was under the impression that BV was in place to look after and nurture the game in this state. How wrong was I!
Without any consultation, BV has deemed it is best for ALL lower grades NOT to play at all, on the off chance a game 3 is required in the ABL.
Thats about 60 games of baseball with 10 players on each team on average = 1200 players at all levels. Plus scorers and managers and umpires who also look forward to their weekly baseball fix!!! And don't even mention the loss of canteen and bars across all clubs!!
So all local baseball is stopped so a game 3 (if required) can be played by imports and semi pros. Last time I looked the Aces only had a handful of local club players.
To add insult they will let us watch this game 3 for a reduced entry of only $23 ( Your Welcome!)
NEWS FLASH for those in charge - There are guys of all playing levels who have put a whole season into being the best that they can. By making this round a washout it WILL cost some teams a place in the finals!
If you think this will increase your crowd numbers you are delusional!
You have alienated a whole lot of baseball people for a game that may not even take place!
I hope the clubs rally together to chance this rediculous ruling.

[player]

Just a lazy, thoughtless and insulting way to treat paying members of the baseball community. People who are in many cases working their backsides off for clubs, doing their best on and off the field over (for them) short, expensive seasons and who are already being dudded by a governing body that has for too long taken grassroots clubs for granted.

This has the potential to backfire big-time when our sport needs more than ever to come together, not be split between the elites and the grassroots clubs - who are obviously regarded by some as sh-tkickers who don't count anyhow.

Whoever came up with this stupid pseudo-marketing ploy to get more people at Aces games - one of them that may not even happen - should be held seriously to account. And without consultation? Whaaat?

Talk about the tail wagging the dog! Or at least trying to.

In the end, though, if the grassroots clubs are genuinely aggrieved about this decision, they are the ones who have to hold BV administration to account. No-one else is going to do it for us.

[oldburger19]

Heres an idea, play anyways! Contact tje club you are scheduled to be playing against and organise to play them anyway. Then proceed to send the match card through to BV and phone scores through as per normal. Then maybe they would get the hint!

[Deleted]

This decision is certainly not winning many friends throughout BV.

If they'd consulted the league and had a majority vote, then I could understand it.

If there was a definitive game to take place, then I could understand it.

Perhaps instead of cancelling games for 1000 odd people, they just moved the Aces fixture to a night game on the Sunday (if required)? Utilise the lights that the field has (IF REQUIRED).

I imagine there will be a lot of backlash (and probably a fair few that will boycott the Aces games regardless of theirs being canned).

I'd be interested to know the backlash if the ABLCS ends after 2 games...

[bigpapi]

It always seems to be the paying members of our sport who have absolutely no say in what happens then they wonder why people throw their arms up in the air and walk away. Why couldn't Baseball Australia move the ABLCS to Thursday, Friday and Saturday and ask BV to schedule all games on Sunday, I'm sure this would've only affected a few players and everyone still gets to play the games they've paid membership fees to play.

P.S. I don't remember the Aces reaching out to the clubs too often in the past, although I am told they've been a bit more engaging this year....to the Melbourne based clubs.

[doubleplay]

I haven't had much to say this Summer, but this just screams out for a comment or ten. On a good day, the Aces draw a crowd of no more than 3-500 people at the best of times. Maybe if the field was in the South East, the crowd would more than likely triple or quadruple. But to cut out Baseball for all lower grades is just a total disregard for the baseball playing population. Are the Summer League going to refund some of the excessive fee back to the individuals who have been denied their weekly baseball playing fix, I don't think so. Is BV trying to increase the gate at the Great White Elephant, yes but I doubt if stopping 1200 or so players from playing will increase the attendance alarmingly. Once again, BV is not thinking of the playing public but trying to justify their involvement with the Aces.
There you go, my rant is over. By the way I will be there on the Friday to support the Aces, but Saturday may be a bit hard, Cricket hasn't been called off yet, but who knows how far their tentacles stretch.

[pirates]

that's correct the championship could be won or lost on the Saturday anyway, no game required on the Sunday?
I would have thought that the best way would be to encourage Friday's game and the big one on Saturday.
By the way for the record I understand that Team Aces(Jon and Phil)had no idea of this fixture change so hopefully the back lash wont be directed at the team. They have a big task to complete and those that can should support them as the more successful they are the more of a spotlight will be on our sport, potentially, from the main media.

[lonewolf75]

I would love to see the results of a poll run on all those people involved in baseball and the reasons why they dont attend games, if they havent been, for me its just too far. I am the only baseball person in my family and I am not going to go all the way to the otherside of town to see a team where I dont know half the guys.

I will say that I did go to a couple of games at the show grounds from the city after work but havent been since.

[Goblin]

-------- Original message --------
From: Ashley Blair <[e-mail]>
Date: 2/02/2017 17:34 (GMT+10:00)
To:
Subject: Melbourne Aces - ABL Championship Series

After much consideration Baseball Victoria took the decision earlier this week to change the schedule for the Summer Season to provide the best possible opportunity for our grassroots members to attend the Australian Baseball League finals over the weekend of 10 -12 February 2017 to support the Melbourne Aces.

While not unprecedented, this decision was not taken lightly and was done so in the context of the significant advances achieved this season with the integration of Melbourne Aces into the total baseball product available across the whole of sport in Victoria.

This year the Melbourne Aces finished as the minor premiers, broke both attendance and financial records and importantly the Melbourne Aces provided many new opportunities for the baseball community to participate and benefit from the Melbourne Aces as an integral aspect of our sport.

This season, 25 Victorian players were selected to represent the Aces which is more than any other season. Over 18 clubs bought club packages throughout the season which resulted in 1,000+ members attending Aces games with another 600+ juniors participating directly through the Bendigo Buddies. With a focus on giving back to the Baseball Community the Melbourne Aces visited eight clubs and ran very successful clinics.

The decision to reschedule and cancel games was taken after it was confirmed the Melbourne Aces would host the finals series and importantly a discounted ticket price for Victorian Baseball Members was confirmed.

However in the last 24 hours since announcing what was intended to be a positive reinforcement of the Melbourne Aces based upon the significant uplift in local support the team has achieved this season, the overwhelming response from Club Presidents and Committees has been to proceed with the round as originally scheduled.

Given this clear message Baseball Victoria confirms this round will now proceed as originally published.

For members of the Victorian baseball Community who are able to attend the series, the discounted ticket offer is still available by clicking here and entering the promotion code “ABLCSBV”.

A successful and well attended final series will play a key role in our sport’s ability to Gain, Train and Retain and raise the profile of our sport in order to access funding the whole of sport will ultimately benefit from.

Good luck to the teams playing club games over the weekend of 10-12 February and to the Melbourne Aces.

Kind regards,

[Deleted]

While the fallout from what was an ill-considered decision was unbecoming and caused unnecessary rifts between baseball people - even unpleasantness that our game needs like a hole in the head - kudos to Baseball Victoria for acting promptly in response to the legitimate concerns expressed by clubs.

The success of the Aces club and the Australian Baseball League are absolutely vital to our future development of the sport. However, what this sorry episode shows is that grassroots clubs should never be taken for granted. They should always be encouraged to feel ownership of the sport and should always be consulted on matters of importance to their membership.

We can move on. Best wishes to the Melbourne Aces - and to the Bite and Bandits. May it be a ripping finals series that draws the support becoming of a high-quality national competition.

[redhotswinger69]

And the Russian Judge scores Baseball Victoria a 9 for that back flip

[Deleted]

Hmm. Seems like this unbecoming episode may still not have run its course. Stay tuned.

[perfeckt]

Feb 5, 2017 21:10:07 GMT 10 kc said:

Hmm. Seems like this unbecoming episode may still not have run its course. Stay tuned.

[larry42]

Feb 5, 2017 21:10:07 GMT 10 kc said:

Hmm. Seems like this unbecoming episode may still not have run its course. Stay tuned.

Come on KC. Whats the latest??