Photos of the Day

One of my faithful twitter followers @flemo_k created a few memes to commemorate my signing with Kinheim in the Netherlands.I thought they were all quite funny and hit the spot perfectly.

First Appearance for Kinheim

Now you're probably going to ask me how my first outing went and I'm going to give you an answer you will not expect. I went 0 for 2 with a walk and a run scored. Is your mind blown yet? You're probably wondering why a team would fly me out, a pitcher, to hit in their national league. The answer is quite simple, and funny actually. Due to a league rule, all international players must play in 3 consecutive innings before the 5th inning of a game, before June 15th to be eligible to play the rest of the season. Since my arm isn't conditioned to start a game and throw 3 consecutive innings it was easier to get my eligibility out of the way by putting me in the DH spot and hit me in the  hole. Now you're probably thinking again, how did I get 3 at bats hitting 9? Well, simple really, our team went on an early offensive onslaught and we were ahead 13-0 by the end of the 3rd inning and ended up winning 15-0 after 7 innings due to the mercy rule. I never expected to get 3 at bats at all and I don't think anyone expected me to get 3 at bats, but I did and it was a memorable way to make my debut for Corendon Kinheim. We have another game tomorrow. Hopefully I will get to pitch and make it another memorable day.

Lineup card with my name penciled in at No.9

Travel Time to Netherlands

Like I always do, I used the stopwatch on my iPhone to time the trip.

Lap 1 - Flying time from Sydney to Guangzhou

Lap 2 - Time spent in Guangzhou

Lap 3 - Flying time from Guangzhou to Amsterdam

The Trip to the Netherlands

After falling asleep at 3:00am I had to wake up at 5:45am. You're probably wondering, why would I go to sleep that late when I have to be up so early. It's simple, I have this theory if I don't get sufficient sleep the night before I have to board an overseas flight, I will feel terrible once I get on the plane and sleep most of the journey. So far, my theory hasn't failed me.

I had a 9:50am flight to China first up, and like most flights I have to take internationally, it was delayed, but only for 30 minutes, so it was no big deal. That delay just meant I would spend less time in Guangzhou Airport which didn't bother me at all.

Once we boarded the flight I noticed two babies were ijnmy vicinity. I thought this was going to be a problem when I heard one of them crying, but the parents were able to control their child, so I started to relax a bit. When the plane took off I got my iPad out and started to watch the South Park episodes I had recently bought off iTunes. I got through four episodes before I decided to sleep, and a good sleep it was. I slept for about five hours straight which was more than half of the entire journey. That's a win in my book. After waking up I started to watch th Fresh Prince of Bel Air season that I bought and it got quite awkward as I was laughing out loud many times. People must have thought I was crazy, but I have a bad habit of laughing in public. Once again I was getting a little tired, so I tried to sleep again, and did quit successfully as I woke up about 45 minutes before landing. Pretty epic win if you ask me.

I got off the plane and even though we didn't have to walk on the tarmac I was met by this overwhelming heat and humidity. Something I haven't experienced since Extended Spring Training last year. Needless to say, my jacket came off pretty quickly. I made my way through immigration quite quickly and walked to the international transfers gates. I was stuck in this airport for a couple of hours so I was hoping there would be restaurants or at least a fast food joint to get some food from, but nothing. There was a cafe but I was too scared to go see what they had, seeing as the menu was written in Chinese. So I found a duty free shop and bought a chocolate bar and a bottle of water. Quite an athletes diet if you ask me. After I purchased my big meal I made my way to my gate which was quit empty. I made myself at home and layed on the ground, set up my iPad and started watching some more Fresh Prince episodes. Seeing as there was no one around me, I could laugh out loud as much as I wanted.

It finally became time to board my last flight and I only watched one episode of Fresh Prince before I fell asleep. I didn't wake up for nearly 10 hours, which is quite amazing. After I woke up I just watched Moneyball on my iPad and that was it. The flight was over. Apart from the boring delay in Guangzhou it was quite an easy trip to Amsterdam.

I got my bags and met up with someone from the team who took me to my apartment in Haarlem which is 20 minutes out of Amsterdam. I'm living with one American who's had professional experience with the Cubs, so I'll talk about him a little later. So far all I have done on my first day in the Netherlands is go to the supermarket and sleep. Soon I'll be heading out to check out the town before settling in and relaxing for the night before my first game tomorrow afternoon

Off To The Netherlands

After spending a semester at college hoping that an opportunity to play baseball would come around, it did. I am now at the end of my 1st semester and a few days ago I was offered the opportunity to go play professional baseball in the Netherlands. I couldn't accept the offer straight away because I have school exams to do.  The team, Corendon Kinheim wanted me there before June 9th and my exam was scheduled on June 15th. After speaking with my lecturers and the Dean at college, they are allowing me to take my exam early so I can accept the offer to play overseas. A similar offer to play in the Netherlands was brought to me a few weeks before this one, but I couldn't have accepted since I still had more than 3 weeks of semester to go and seeing as I had gone that far, I thought it was only right to complete my semester.

It all happened quite quickly actually. Vaughan Harris, who is a pitcher on the Sydney Blue Sox played over in the Netherlands a few years ago and his old coach came to him about a week ago asking him if he knew anyone that was interested in playing for his team Corendon Kinheim. Vaughan contacted me and obviously I was interested but had to sort out everything with college first.

I contacted the staff at my school telling them I've been given an opportunity to play baseball in the Netherlands and they were very cooperative with me in allowing me to take my exam 9 days earlier than the rest of my course. That just means I'll have to cram a whole lot of studying in, in a short amount of time.

I will take my exam on June 6th, then fly out the next day to Netherlands. It may not be the Minor Leagues, but it gives me a chance to do something I love once again on the other side of the world. Like my mum always tells me, God has a plan for all of us, and his plan has taken me all over the world to play a sport I love. I can't complain about that can I?

Uni Games

I know I haven't posted in a while, but if you follow me on twitter you would know that I've been getting stuck into college trying to earn that degree. Now when I first started at the Australian College of Physical Education, the tutors and older students told us to get the most out of your college experience you should join in extra curricular activities. Since I've started at college I've played in the Oz Tag team and I am also in the mixed netball team to play at the University Games.

In America college sports is huge, but here in Australia its not taken as seriously. The University Games in a 5 day tournament where all the Universities come together and compete in different sporting events. We don't have a baseball team at school so I decided that I should try out for the netball team. At the tryout I didn't do too good, but I think I only got it because I was taller than most people. You're probably wondering what netball is, and the easiest explanation I can give you is that it's a bit like basketball but you can't bounce the ball or move once you have possession of the ball. It's also designed to be a women's sport but I'm playing on the mixed team with guys and girls. Today I had my first practise with the team and after quite a while I think I may finally understand some of the rules but with a little less than two months to go until we go away for the University Games, I'm pretty sure I'll know the finer points of the game.

Highlights from the ANZ Championship, the professional netball league in Australia

Back to Petersham Oval

Anyone who has ever played baseball in Sydney will surely be familiar with Petersham Oval. Petersham Oval is sacred ground to cricket and to baseball. For those of you who didn't know, Sir Donald Bradman scored his maiden 1st class century there and walked down the same path I walk down many times to enter the field.

I joined the Petersham family back in 2007 when I was 16 years old and have nothing but good things to say about the club. I say Petersham family because it really does feel like family. When I joined I didn't know many people at the club but they welcomed me with open arms and make me feel apart of the Petersham tradition. In my first year at the club I played in what is called 3rd Grade which is essentially the 3rd division team. We won the tournament that year and ever since then, I have bled 'Tersham' blood. Although I had a minor stint with another club in the same league, Petersham will always be my true home for winter baseball.

Last weekend I decided to go watch the opening round of the Sydney Winter Baseball League and it felt special being back to Petersham Oval. I initially wasn't going to play, but when I arrived I was persuaded to strap on the cleats and throw an inning in 1st Grade. It ended up being a good inning as I struck out the inside in the 8th inning. Safe to say at the end of the game, it felt good to be wearing my number 21 Petersham jersey one more time.