Tuatara ‘moving in right direction’
‘‘The group we have here, they’ve been out to eat, to the spas and bars, so they’re getting to know each other and they’re turning into a team, which is what we want.’’
Auckland Tuatara manager Steve Mintz
Auckland Tuatara manager Steve Mintz is confident the team is taking shape ahead of their first games this weekend.
The fledgling New Zealand baseball team came together last weekend, with players flying in from around the world. They will play the first of three games against Brisbane on Friday and Mintz says he’s spent the last few days assessing the quality of his roster.
‘‘We’re moving in the right direction,’’ Mintz said after the team’s training session yesterday.
‘‘We’re looking forward to going to Brisbane, we’ve got a few more guys over there that we’re going to look at, a couple of pitchers and a couple more position players, to see if they can help us in any way.
‘‘Then we’re going to play the three games in Brisbane and have our final roster, hopefully by Sunday, to play our first ever games in Perth.’’
Assembling a group of players who mostly don’t know each other isn’t easy.
They’ve all joined the Tuatara in the hope of advancing their baseball careers, but they also have to play for each other.
Players are also coming into camp in various conditions, some have had longer seasons in their northern hemisphere leagues than others, but all need to be at their best for opening day of the Australian Baseball League on November 16.
‘‘We’ve got people getting in shape,’’ Mintz said.
‘‘The starting pitchers are getting stretched out and the group we have here, they’ve been out to eat, to the spas and bars, so they’re getting to know each other and they’re turning into a team, which is what we want.
‘‘We’ve got people coming from America, Canada, Japan, Taiwan, China and all of the Kiwis.
‘‘One of the hardest parts of being a manager is putting all of that together, so they’ll all pull for each other.
‘‘Over the past few days, you can see the camaraderie that’s starting to build and the players are understanding where we’re heading.’’
Mintz has been on board for the past few months as the Tuatara comes to life, while for others this is the culmination of years of hard work, to bring professional baseball to New Zealand.
Even though the players don’t have any team gear yet, as it won’t be ready until they’re in Australia, Mintz says it’s all starting to become real.
‘‘We’re so happy to bring this to New Zealand and see what the Tuatara can do,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s very real now, we’ve got flights, we’re working on visas to make sure everyone can get in and out and I’m glad I don’t have to do any of that paperwork!’’
Over the rest of the time training and the three preseason games against Brisbane, Mintz will have to work out what his best batting lineup is, who his starting pitchers will be and how strong his bullpen can be.
‘‘We’ve got players coming from Japan and Taiwan and I haven’t even seen them yet, a bunch of them are meeting us over there [in Australia],’’ he said.
‘‘We’ll assess them and try to put them in situations where they can be successful.
‘‘Hopefully, we don’t overmatch anyone or put guys in situations they can’t handle.
‘‘I’m sure that will happen at times, but our goal is to try to put these people in the position where they have the best chance to be successful and we’ll see where they’ll take us.
‘‘If we’re going to have a great year, it’s going to take everyone here to play their part.’’