53-650: The Gold Coast Clippers were a foundation team in the now defunct Australian Baseball League . The Clippers changed their name to the Daikyo Dolphins following the signing of a major sponsorship deal with Daikyo to create one of the strongest teams in ABL history. This article about a baseball team in Australia is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Australian Baseball League (1989%E2%80%931999) The Australian Baseball League ( ABL )
106-988: A 40-game season between six franchises over 10 weeks from November to January, with a post-season finals series in February. On 5 August 2010, the team names for the Australian Baseball League were made public. They include the Brisbane Bandits , the Sydney Blue Sox , the Canberra Cavalry , the Melbourne Aces , the Adelaide Bite and the Perth Heat . Since its beginning in 2010, the Australian Baseball League has expanded to have 8 teams on its roster, with
159-622: A different player who was thought could benefit from playing in Australia. While no confirmation was forthcoming from either source, plans were apparently hatched between the Australian Baseball Federation and Major League Baseball to re-establish an Australian national league in November 2008. The new national league was proposed to run for 10 weeks from November 2008 to February 2009 and to be partly funded by Major League Baseball . On 10 August 2007 it
212-592: A hydraulics company with origins in Western Sydney winning the rights and naming it "Pirtek Stadium", which lasted until the demolition. After the conversion to an all-seater stadium, plans to further expand Parramatta Stadium were originally initiated in May 2007. The Parramatta Stadium Trust announced plans to build a new southern stand with room for 2,700 extra patrons as well as a players change room and gym. The plans were not followed through on and no construction
265-630: A joint announcement was made by the Australian Baseball Federation, Australian Federal Government and Major League Baseball stating the intention to resurrect a national baseball league for Australia, with the Government announcing A$ 400,000 towards the new league. It was originally planned that the Australian Baseball League would eventually have a 60-game season from November to February consisting of teams from Adelaide , Brisbane , Melbourne , Perth and Sydney with
318-469: A pending spot for Canberra . The league is 75% owned by Major League Baseball and 25% by the Australian Baseball Federation . The first ABL season is scheduled for November–February 2009/2010, but will be run under the banner of the 2010 Claxton Shield with 2011 season scheduled to be the first 'official' season. Some players will be paid, and some will not, with an average salary expected to be about A$ 800 per month. Players will be under contract, although
371-731: A reversal of the previous season, the 1991–92 ABL title was won by the Daikyo Dolphins, who defeated the Perth Heat three games to one. The first year of the four-team finals format, the championship series saw the Melbourne Monarchs face the minor premier Perth Heat at Perth's Parry Field , having eliminated the Sydney Blues and Waverley Reds, respectively. The Melbourne Monarchs defeated the Heat two games to nil in
424-713: A test match against France in 1994. Parramatta Eels is the main Rugby League team to use this stadium as their home-ground usage in the NRL premiership season. They have been here since 1986. In 1995 and 1996, the ground was also used for the short-lived Sydney Tigers, what became of Balmain Tigers . In 1997 the Sydney Tigers went back to being the Balmain Tigers and moved back to Leichhardt Oval . Also in 1995,
477-550: A total running cost of $ 6 million by the later half of the 1990s, due to a lack of sponsorship and gate takings the league was only raising $ 4 million by the final season. Due to these mounting debts the Australian Baseball Federation sold off the rights to the league and Claxton Shield to Australian baseballer David Nilsson for a reported $ 5 million who replaced it with the International Baseball League of Australia , which in turn folded in 2002. Over
530-654: The 1976 Grand Final 13–10 to Manly, and the 1977 Grand Final replay 22–0 to St George after the first Grand Final was drawn 9-9. The 1981 NSWRFL season saw the first premiership success for the Eels as they finished 3rd in the regular season before defeating the Newtown Jets 20 to 11 on Sunday 27 September 1981. As the Parramatta Eels secured their first-ever Premiership, defeating the Newtown Jets in
583-610: The 1981 Grand Final , wildly jubilant scenes erupted in Parramatta, the Leagues club quickly overflowed with Eels fans celebrating with thousands rallying at nearby Cumberland Oval and, in a frenzy of vandalism, burned the Oval's grandstand to the ground. For a while some junior rugby league matches were played on the unfenced oval before the site was eventually redeveloped. In November 1984 the construction company Civil & Civic won
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#1732797210567636-514: The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs team changed their name to 'Sydney Bulldogs', and played their home games at this ground. In 1996, they reverted to their original name and returned to Belmore Oval . The stadium was used as a host venue for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup and the 2010 Four Nations . Two of Ireland 's 2008 Rugby League World Cup Group C games were played at Parramatta Stadium: one against Tonga and
689-669: The Marconi Stallions was played at the venue. Olympic win the match 2–0 in what was the highest soccer attendance at Parramatta Stadium stands at 26,353. On 19 June 1992, the Parramatta Eels versus Great Britain Lions game on the Lions 1992 tour of Australasia attracted a crowd of 18,220, the largest non-Test match crowd of the Lions tour, with Parramatta winning 22–16. Prior to the match, Parramatta and Great Britain winger's Lee Oudenryn and Martin Offiah , generally regarded at
742-460: The 1940s. The first stand at Cumberland Oval was built in 1850 and others followed at various times up to the final stand was built in 1936. Players from the local cricket club erected a two-rail fence around the oval during the 1860s but a solid planked safety barrier was needed for motor cycle racing, although this did not stop several deaths occurring as a result of crashes. The dirt track was originally 18 feet in width until expanded to 30 feet for
795-754: The 2009–10 A-League season, Sydney FC defeated Perth Glory 3–2. The game had been moved from the Sydney Football Stadium due to the Edinburgh Military tattoo. On 26 July 2012, new A-League club Western Sydney Wanderers announced a five-year deal with Parramatta Stadium, and made its debut with a crowd of 10,458. On 25 October 2014, the stadium hosted the first leg of the 2014 AFC Champions League Final between Western Sydney Wanderers and Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal . Parramatta Stadium has been used for various rugby league matches such as pre-season Sevens tournaments in 1989 and 1990, and
848-405: The 2015 refurbishment. In 2013, the club imported seven sets of rail seats and worked with Parramatta Stadium to perform a test installation. The proposed installation would have been the first safe seating in the country, in any sport. However, it didn't move past the planning stage. It was included in the rebuilt stadium however, as a dual purpose modular system of seats or railings. In June 2014
901-618: The Australian leg of The New World Tour with two shows there on 22–23 March 1993. In 2015 the NSW Government announced that the stadium would be demolished and replaced, and to that end, Parramatta Stadium was demolished in February 2017, with the new Western Sydney Stadium built in the same location. Cumberland Oval was the main sporting venue for the Parramatta District from the mid 19th Century until 1982. It
954-875: The Blues. Won by the Perth Heat, who defeated the Brisbane Bandits in three games. Won by the Melbourne Reds, who defeated the East Coast Cougars in two games. The final ABL Championship, held as a test event at the new Sydney Showground at Sydney Olympic Park , was taken in two games by the Gold Coast Cougars (who defeated the Sydney Storm), after the Adelaide Giants dominated the regular season. The ABL had
1007-519: The Eels' 36 – 6 victory over the St. George Dragons . The only try for the Dragons came when centre Michael O'Connor fielded an infield kick from Eels front rower Paul Mares and raced 91 metres to score with a flying Eric Grothe only just failing to stop him as he came across in cover. On 20 May 1990, the 1989–90 National Soccer League Grand Final between western Sydney based clubs Sydney Olympic and
1060-723: The Giants winning 8-5. The inaugural season was dominated by the Waverley Reds a record of 34 wins and 6 losses, who only lost 2 games at home in 19 starts, and took the Championship series 3 games to 1 against their crosstown rivals, the Melbourne Monarchs . The 1990–91 ABL championship was won by the Perth Heat, who defeated the minor premiers, the Gold Coast's Daikyo Dolphins, by three games to two. In
1113-621: The NSL and the creation of the A-League , the club was wound-up at the end of the 2003–04 season . Parramatta Power contested the last NSL Grand Final against Perth Glory at the stadium. The ground hosted seven NSL Grand Final matches, in 1986 (second leg), 1988, 1989, 1990, 1993, 2001 and 2004. In April 2007, Sydney FC played one game in the AFC Champions League against Persik Kediri at Parramatta Stadium. In February 2010, during
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#17327972105671166-574: The NSW State Government embarked on citywide "Stadium Strategy", intended to cease investment in small suburban grounds, and spend a large amount of money on a small number of new modern facilities. This strategy was developed as the Parramatta Stadium refurbishment completed new corporate hospitality facilities, player facilities, food and drink outlets, bathrooms, training field and gym facilities, all of which were located in
1219-683: The Parramatta District Rugby League Club, later renamed to the Parramatta Eels, was admitted into the NSWRL Premiership in 1947, Cumberland Oval became the club's home ground. The first match was played against Newtown (now Newtown Jets) on 12 April 1947, before a crowd of 6,000. The largest crowd to watch a rugby league match at Cumberland Oval was 22,470 when the Eels took on the South Sydney Rabbitohs on 26 April 1971. The club lost
1272-571: The Reds) and East Coast Cougars (defeated by the Heat) were eliminated in the semi-finals. Won by the Sydney Blues, who defeated the Melbourne Reds two games to nil in the Blues' only season at the old Sydney Showground at Moore Park. In the first time a team had reached the final from fourth place, the Reds defeated the minor premier Brisbane Bandits in the semi-final, while the Perth Heat were eliminated by
1325-692: The addition of the Auckland Tuatara and Geelong-Korea in the 2018/2019 Season. The League has also been divided into the South-West Division and the North-East Division. Parramatta Stadium Parramatta Stadium was a sports stadium in Parramatta , New South Wales , Australia , 24 km (15 mi) west of Sydney CBD . The stadium was the home ground of several western Sydney-based sports teams, at
1378-537: The championship series. Following the change to the top four format, both semi-finals and the championship series were played as best-of-three series. The Australian Baseball League formally got underway in October 1989, representing Australia's first professional "major league" of baseball. Officially, the first ABL game was contested between Perth Heat and Adelaide Giants at Parry Field in Perth on 27 October 1989, with
1431-479: The contract to design and build a new stadium. In November 1985 the stadium was complete, with a rectangular playing area several metres below the Cumberland Oval surface. On 5 March 1986 the Parramatta Stadium was opened by Queen Elizabeth II . On 16 March the first NSWRL Premiership match was played at the ground with 26,870 in attendance. Parramatta's Steve Sharp scored the ground's first try in
1484-584: The contracted players using wood . There were also allowances in place for pinch runners to run for a catcher if he made base safely, this was put in place for not only speed up the break between innings waiting for a catcher to change into his gear, but to create more excitement on the basepaths. Import restrictions also applied in the League as to nurture home grown talent The ABL experimented with many different types of scheduling to try to increase attendances, including day and night games at different times of
1537-475: The final to clinch the 1992–93 ABL championship. Won by the Brisbane Bandits, who defeated the minor premier Sydney Blues two games to nil in the championship series held at Parramatta Stadium . The Perth Heat and Adelaide Giants, respectively, were the two defeated semi-finalists. Won by the Waverley Reds, who defeated the Perth Heat two games to nil at Moorabbin Oval . The Sydney Blues (defeated by
1590-517: The franchise already has over $ 64,000 from 3200 people pledging support at $ 20 a head during the bid attempt. ActewAGL , Rolfe Audi were announced as major sponsors of the team. In May, 2010, the Australian Baseball League made steps towards marketing their product, producing a website and two advertisements shown on ESPN Australia and ONE HD . The logo was officially unveiled and the Melbourne franchise's general manager, Stephen Nash, announced
1643-693: The ground between 2001 and 2002. Australia A also played a match against Canada in 2002 at Parramatta Stadium. During 2007, Parramatta Stadium was also the home ground for the Western Sydney Rams club side that participated in the now defunct Australian Rugby Championship . Baseball was played at Parramatta Stadium with the Sydney Blues playing home matches there. The Blues entered the Australian Baseball League in 1992 and played out of Parramatta Stadium. Due to
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1696-551: The ground was the 2016 Intrust Super Premiership NSW grand final between Mounties and Illawarra with Illawarra winning their first and only premiership 21–20. Between 1999 and 2004, the stadium was home to Parramatta Power , a National Soccer League (NSL) club owned and operated by the Parramatta Leagues Club (owner of the Parramatta Eels rugby league club). With the announcement of the demise of
1749-423: The ground's capacity to 21,500, down from the previous capacity of 27,000. On 23 March 2013, the third A-League Sydney derby saw the highest A-League attendance at Parramatta Stadium, with 19,585 turning out for the occasion, which ended in a 1–1 draw. Parramatta Stadium announced on 9 October 2013, that for the first time in the history of the stadium that it would take on a naming rights sponsor, with Pirtek ,
1802-541: The history of the competition. Many of these import players were sent to Australia from rookie ball up to advanced A (with some exceptions) as a winter ball league that provided a different environment to winter leagues in Latin America. It proved to be a good 'instructional league' for MLB organisations or even for extended rehabilitation. Many of the import players would not come back for a second season as they were either advanced in their organisation, or replaced by
1855-578: The main grandstand. They were completed in mid-2015, while the additional seating at either end of the ground was halted pending a decision on where Parramatta would stand in the new stadium strategy. In September 2015, the New South Wales Government announced that the stadium would be replaced with a new 30,000 seat venue on the same site, officially named the Western Sydney Stadium . Construction began in 2017 and
1908-583: The other against Samoa . When the Parramatta Eels were playing the ground's eastern grandstand is named the Mick Cronin Stand and the western grandstand, the Ken Thornett Stand in honour of two of the club's leading former players. On 18 September 1997 two 1999 Rugby World Cup qualifiers – Western Samoa vs Tonga and Australia vs Fiji —were played at Parramatta Stadium. A number of NSW Rugby Union club matches were played at
1961-547: The rectangular pitch there was controversy due to the extremely short home run fence that was only 230 feet, 100 less than is typical for a baseball game. The Sydney Blues were later known as the Sydney Storm and played there occasionally until the collapse of the Australian Baseball League in 1999. During the 93/94 Finals series, Game 2 between Sydney and the Brisbane Bandits attracted a record Australian baseball league crowd of 13,700 fans at Parramatta that saw Brisbane win
2014-407: The speedcars. The boundary fence and track remained in place after all speedway racing ended in 1959. Some of the early touring English cricket teams played at Cumberland Oval at a time when Parramatta was "way out in the country". The cricket club evolved as Central Cumberland for the initial Sydney Grade Competition in 1893/94. When the nearby King's School moved to North Parramatta during the 1970s
2067-453: The stadium. A pre-existing fund of $ 8 million for upgrading the stadium was combined with $ 20 million of new funding. The expansion was expected to increase the capacity of the stadium to 24,700. Western Sydney Wanderers along with active support group the Red and Black Bloc campaigned for the installation of German style rail seating to enable safe standing in the northern stands as part of
2120-553: The system of player-league relations will be highly centralized in the ABF for the league's early years in order to ensure cheap and efficient league operation. In November 2009 referendums were held on team names. In November 2009, the Australian Baseball League approved Canberra's bid for a 6th spot in the inaugural ABL season with the ACT Government contributing $ 75,000 for the first season, and $ 30,000 every other season. Also,
2173-450: The ten years of the Australian Baseball League, a total of twelve franchise licences were issued; most seasons the ABL had a total of eight teams, but had as many as nine, and, for the final season, six. The founding eight teams of the Australian Baseball League were: Later additions to the league were: The ABL experienced a lot of baseball talent not only from Australia, but from overseas, with over 90 MLB or future MLB players playing over
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2226-451: The time as the fastest player in rugby league, faced off in a Tooheys Blue Label challenge race over 100m (try line to try line). Oudenryn caused what many believed to be a huge upset by defeating Offiah by approximately half a metre. In December 2002, work began on converting the formerly grassed hill areas (The Brett Kenny Hill and The Peter Sterling Hill) into seated terrace areas (holding 4,500 spectators). This redevelopment reduced
2279-904: The time of closure the most notable were the Parramatta Eels of the National Rugby League and the Western Sydney Wanderers of the A-League . Cumberland Oval was the local name for the cricket, motor sports and rugby venue that had existed prior to Parramatta Stadium being built, with the area having been used for recreational activities since 1788, the founding year of the British colony in New South Wales. The stadium also hosted numerous other sporting and cultural events since its opening in 1986. Michael Jackson performed there during his Bad World Tour on 20–21 November 1987, and Paul McCartney concluded
2332-726: The turf pitches were removed and the cricket club moved to the oval that had been the school's main sports ground. The club now known as the Parramatta District Cricket Club still has the Old Kings Oval as its main ground. The Parramatta Rugby Union club now plays at Granville Rugby Park. Cumberland Oval was originally used for rugby league by the Parramatta Iona and Endeavours clubs and the Western Districts representative side. When
2385-446: The week, seven-inning double headers. The length of games became a problem as many grounds had night curfews . The Australian Baseball League consisted of between six and nine teams over its 10 years of existence, with its highest point being in 1995, with nine teams competing. Championships were decided by a top-two five-game playoff series for the first three seasons before changing to a top-four playoff series with winners advancing to
2438-430: The world, with teams playing home and away series during a regular season, playing to compete in the playoffs , the winner of which being crowned champions. The season length ranged from 42 to 62 games, depending on the number of teams in the season. The competition used the designated hitter rule, much like the Major League Baseball 's American League , but allowed aluminium bats for non-MLB contracted players, with
2491-405: Was a baseball league, established in 1987 and disbanded in 1999. Before the formation of the Australian Baseball League, the Claxton Shield , established in 1934 , was Australia's premier baseball tournament. The idea of an Australian baseball league was first conceived in 1987 , possibly prompted by the success of Australia's National Basketball League . The final Claxton Shield competition
2544-456: Was announced the 2008 Claxton Shield would be run as a "home and away" series. The revamped series was made up of two pools of three teams, with each team playing three home and three away games against the other two teams in its pool. Pool A was to be made up of the Victoria Aces , Perth Heat and South Australia , and Pool B was to be made up of the New South Wales Patriots , Queensland Rams and Australia Provincial . The revamped series
2597-455: Was completed in April 2019. Parramatta Stadium's last A-League match was a semi-final between the Western Sydney Wanderers and Brisbane Roar where the Wanderers came from a 3–0 deficit to win the game 5–4 in extra time. The Parramatta Eels hosted the final game of first grade rugby league at the ground, defeating St George Illawarra 30–18, with Bevan French scoring three tries in a blowout scoreline. The final ever game to be played at
2650-479: Was done. In 2010, a commission was done to establish a "Master Plan" for the future development the stadium. The master plan, if completed, would have the stadium finish with a capacity of 31,300 seats as well as extensive redevelopment of the facilities at the stadium for players, corporate sponsors, the media and supporters. On 2 July 2013, the Australian Federal Government, the New South Wales State Government and Parramatta Local Council announced an expansion for
2703-422: Was held in 1988 by the Auburn Baseball Club in New South Wales at its home ground of Oriole Park . Auburn funded all visiting teams' fares and accommodation with the expectation of recouping from gate takings and increased revenue at its social club. Soon after, the ABL was formed, with eight teams from around Australia. The Australian Baseball League was much like many other professional baseball leagues around
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#17327972105672756-425: Was initially a venue for horse-racing, cricket and athletics then for rugby union from 1879 and rugby league from 1909. Motorsports racing started in 1930 with motorcycles, then speedcars in 1936. Among the famous names who used the oval in their respective sports were English cricketer W. G. Grace , and Australia's triple Formula One World Champion Jack Brabham who raced in midget cars at the Cumberland Speedway in
2809-408: Was run from late December 2007 to early February 2008. The 2009 series followed a similar format, but without the Australia Provincial team, resulting in each team playing each other team once in either a home or an away three-game series, in addition to a "showcase" round to start the season, held in Sydney with each team playing every other team once over the course of the week. On 1 July 2009,
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