1997–98 Sydney Storm season

1997–98 Sydney Storm
1997–98 Sydney Storm
League	Australian Baseball League
Ballpark	Concord Oval
City	Sydney, New South Wales
Record	32–22 (.593)
Place	2nd

The 1997–98 Sydney Storm season was the 6th season for the team, but first season known as the Storm. As was the case for the Franchises previous seasons they competed in the Australian Baseball League (ABL).

Offseason

During the offseason the franchise changed its name from the Sydney Blues to the Sydney Storm, This was done as a result of legal action taken by Cricket NSW, Who also used the name Blues for its teams.

Regular season

Standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	Melbourne Monarchs	52	32	20	.615	—	Advance to Finals Series
2	Sydney Storm	54	32	22	.593	1
3	Melbourne Reds	51	30	21	.588	1.5
4	Gold Coast Cougars	53	31	22	.585	1.5
5	Perth Heat	53	30	23	.566	2.5
6	Adelaide Giants	53	26	27	.491	6.5
7	Brisbane Bandits	53	20	33	.377	12.5
8	Hunter Eagles	53	10	43	.189	22.5

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Record vs opponents

Opponent	W–L Record	Largest Victory			Largest Defeat			Current Streak
Opponent	W–L Record	Score	Date	Ground	Score	Date	Ground	Current Streak
Adelaide Giants	5–3	6–3	Game 16	Norwood Oval	4 Runs (2)			L1
Brisbane Bandits	5–2	23–9	Game 33	Concord Oval	1–6	Game 48	ANZ Stadium	L2
Gold Coast Cougars	1–6	12–7	Game 52	Concord Oval	7–15	17 January 1998	Carrara Oval	W1
Hunter Eagles	9–1	14–3	10 January 1998	Concord Oval	4–6	Game 27	Marathon Stadium	W5
Melbourne Monarchs	5–3	18–5	7 December 1997	Concord Oval	4–8	6 December 1997	Concord Oval	W1
Melbourne Reds	4–2	8–4	5 January 1998	Moorabbin Oval	4–13	1 February 1998	Concord Oval	L1
Perth Heat	3–5	5-1 & 9-5	15 November 1997	WACA	3–10	8 November 1997	Concord Oval	L2
Total	32–22	Brisbane Bandits			Melbourne Reds			W2
Total	32–22	23–9	Game 33	Concord Oval	4–13	1 February 1998	Concord Oval	W2

Game log

W	Storm win
L	Storm loss
T	Storm tie
	Game postponed
Bold	Storm team member

1997-98 Game Log

November

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Record	Ref
1	1 November (DH 1)	Eagles	11–10	1-0
2	1 November (DH 2)	Eagles	5–3	2-0
3	2 November (DH 1)	Eagles	Re-Scheduled	2-0
4	2 November (DH 2)	Eagles	Re-Scheduled	2-0
5	7 November (DH 1)	@ Heat	5–3	3-0	^[1]
6	7 November (DH 2)	@ Heat	2-3	3-1	^[1]
7	8 November (DH 1)	@ Heat	3-10	3-2	^[1]
8	8 November (DH 2)	@ Heat	1-4	3-3	^[1]
9	15 November (DH 1)	Heat	5-1	4-3	^[2]
10	15 November (DH 2)	Heat	9-5	5-3	^[2]
11	16 November (DH 1)	Heat	3-4	5-4	^[2]
12	16 November (DH 2)	Heat	7-11	5-5	^[2]
13		@ Giants	1–5	5-6
14		@ Giants	3–2	6-6
15		@ Giants	5–2	7-6
16		@ Giants	6–3	8-6
17		Giants	6–5	9-6
18		Giants	1–4	9-7
19		Giants	8–7	10-7
20		Giants	2–6	10-8

December

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Record
21	5 December	Monarchs	3-2	11-8
22	6 December (DH 1)	Monarchs	6-5	12-8
23	6 December (DH 2)	Monarchs	4-8	12-9
24	7 December	Monarchs	18-5	13-9
25		@ Eagles	8–5	14-9
26		@ Eagles	4–1	15-9
27		@ Eagles	4–6	15-10
28		@ Eagles	Wash Out	15-10
29	19 December	@ Monarchs	5-3	16-10
30	20 December (DH 1)	@ Monarchs	3-6	16-11
31	20 December (DH 2)	@ Monarchs	0-1	16-12
32	21 December	@ Monarchs	6–5	17-12
33		Bandits	23–9	18-12
34		Bandits	3–2	19-12
35		Bandits	10–0	20-12
36		Bandits	10–7	21-12

January

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Record
37	3 January	@ Reds	4-1	22-12
38	4 January	@ Reds	1-10	22-13
39	5 January	@ Reds	8-4	23-13
3		Eagles	17-14	24-13
40	9 January	Eagles	10-3	25-13
41	10 January	Eagles	14-3	26-13
42	11 January	Eagles	10-3	27-13
43	16 January	@ Cougars	12-17	27-14
44	17 January (DH 2)	@ Cougars	2-7	27-15
45	17 January (DH 2)	@ Cougars	7-15	27-16
46	18 January	@ Cougars	8-10	27-17
47		@ Bandits	3-2	28-17
48		@ Bandits	1-6	28-18
49		@ Bandits	1-2	28-19
50		Cougars	3-9	28-20
51		Cougars	5-8	28-21
52		Cougars	12-7	29-21
53	31 January	Reds	14–11	30-21

February

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Record
54	1 February	Reds	4–13	30-22
55	2 February	Reds	10-9	31-22
4		Eagles	11-5	32-22

Postseason

Finals Series at Melbourne Ballpark

In previous years the post season was played as home and away best of 3 games, with the two winner of each series meeting for a best of 5 series{fact}, in 1997-98 this was changed to a round robin play-off format with each team playing 3 games, 1 against each of the other 3 qualified teams, with the two highest places teams playing off in the Championship Series.^[3]

All games for the 9th ABL title were played at the Melbourne Ballpark from February, 10-12 with the best of three championship series February 14–15.^[3]

Finals Series (Storm games)

Full series results

Game 2: 10 February 1998


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Melbourne Reds	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	18	?	?
Sydney Storm	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	5	?	?
WP: ? (1-0) LP: ? (0-1) Sv: ? Home runs: Reds: ? Storm: ?

Game 3: 11 February 1998


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Melbourne Monarchs	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	1	?	?
Sydney Storm	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	5	?	?
WP: ? (1-0) LP: ? (0-1) Sv: ? Home runs: Monarchs: ? Storm: ?

Game 5: 12 February 1998


Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Sydney Storm	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	6	?	?
Gold Coast Cougars	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	8	?	?
WP: ? (1-0) LP: ? (0-1) Sv: ? Home runs: Storm: ? Cougars: ?

Postseason Ladder

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	RF	RA	RD	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	Melbourne Reds	3	2	1	25	18	+7	.667	—	Advance to Championship series
2	Gold Coast Cougars	3	2	1	16	13	+3	.667	—	Advance to Championship series
3	Melbourne Monarchs	3	1	2	18	17	+1	.333	1
4	Sydney Storm	3	1	2	16	27	−11	.333	1

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

ABL awards

Award	Name	Stat	ref

Most Valuable Player	Brendan Kingman
Golden Glove	Glenn Williams
Batting Award	Brendan Kingman
Rookie of the Year	Rodney Van Buizen

All-stars

Position	Name	ref

Catcher	Gary White
Designated Hitter	Brendan Kingman

Storm Awards

Award	Name	Stat	ref

Roster

Sydney Storm roster - 1997–98 ABL

Active roster

Pitchers

Right-handed pitchers

Left-handed pitchers

11 Shane Pepper

Catchers

15 Gary White

Infielders

Outfielders

Current as of February 1998. Incomplete

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Round 2: PERTH HEAT vs SYDNEY STORM". Perth Heat. Archived from the original on 6 May 1999. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Round 2: SYDNEY STORM vs PERTH HEAT". Perth Heat. Archived from the original on 6 May 1999. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
^ ^a ^b "FAI Cup Pitches new finals format and all star competition as baseball bats up for the summer of 1997/1998". Press Release. Australian Baseball League. Archived from the original on 30 June 1998. Retrieved 19 November 2012.

[Round_2-1] "Round 2: PERTH HEAT vs SYDNEY STORM". Perth Heat. Archived from the original on 6 May 1999. Retrieved 25 November 2012.

[Round_3-2] "Round 2: SYDNEY STORM vs PERTH HEAT". Perth Heat. Archived from the original on 6 May 1999. Retrieved 25 November 2012.

[FAI_Cup_Pitches_new_finals_format_and_all_star_competition_as_baseball_bats_up_for_the_summer_of_1997/1998.-3] "FAI Cup Pitches new finals format and all star competition as baseball bats up for the summer of 1997/1998". Press Release. Australian Baseball League. Archived from the original on 30 June 1998. Retrieved 19 November 2012.

[1]

[2]

[3]