PITCH FOR FIRST BASE
GEELONG is a key target for an expanded Australian Baseball League. The six-team national competition is looking to add extra clubs, potentially in time for the 2018-19 season, and league bosses are eyeing off regional cities as locations for new franchises.
Geelong is viewed as an ideal location by Baseball Australia and the ABL is expected to meet with state and local governments in the coming months to help garner support for top-level baseball in the region.
The Geelong Advertiser understands a potential club would be based at Waurn Ponds Baseball Centre, while games could also be played on the Surf Coast.
There is also the possibility of a Geelong franchise playing its finals at Simonds Stadium.
Baseball Australia boss Cam Vale said discussions were in their infancy, but urged a call to arms from the region’s baseball teams to help fast-track an elite club in the region.
“It’s a tremendous option to look at Geelong and other expansion areas. We need to come to the area and talk to government, to business, to baseball associations and Baseball Victoria about the potential and capability for Geelong to be in the ABL,” Vale said.
“Geelong, on face value, I see as a huge opportunity for the sport of baseball. We will be pursuing it and hopefully that generates the interest in the area that suggests Geelong wants a team in the ABL.
“We are saying we are open for business and Geelong should be a high priority.”
A club needs about $700,000 in revenue to remain self-sufficient, making it a relatively cost-effective franchise compared with other sports.
The six teams in the ABL are based in Australia’s capital cities. Victoria’s team, Melbourne Aces, plays at Altona.
The ABL, which features a condensed season between November and February, fits in perfectly with Geelong’s summer population explosion.
It would also fill a significant summer sport void with cricket’s Big Bash and soccer’s A-League seemingly snubbing the region as a location for a permanent team.
“The timing of the league is ideal for markets that have tremendous increases in population. I can envisage this team having such a strong prominence through the month of January,” Vale said.
“It seems to be an ideal fit and it’s important sports like baseball take a leadership position and not wait.”
The Greater Geelong area is a breeding ground for top level baseballers.
Graeme Lloyd is our most famous baseball export with the former New York Yankees pitcher winning the 1996 and 1998 World Series with the global baseball giant.
The 50-year-old would likely be targeted as the franchise’s first head coach if the club could get off the ground.
The ABL also has ties with the US’s Major League Baseball, Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball and Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League.
“They are genuine partnerships,” Vale said.
“Geelong being broadcast into those three countries has to be great for tourism for Geelong and the surrounding areas.”