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Southern Cross Pitch, December 2009

THE SOUTHERN CROSS PITCH The Australian Baseball Task Force Newsletter Issue 3 – December 2009

"Baseball is the only endeavor where a man can succeed three out of ten times and be considered a good performer. — Ted Williams News and announcements The last few months have seen a steady progression of articles being improved, with increases in numbers in all categories (except FA and GA) Welcome to the returning dan027, and to the new members of the task force: BigPadresDUDE Eagle4000 Halvorsen brian MascNL If you've got an idea for the newsletter or for the task force as a whole, please add it to the task force's talk page. Featured content The following articles have been promoted past start-class, or included in the task force's scrutiny, since the last edition: B-Class status: Ryan Rowland-Smith & Redcliffe Padres C-Class status: Australian Baseball League, Darwin Baseball League & Sydney Uni Baseball Club

News from the diamond Australian Baseball League: Canberra secures the 6th and final spot for the inaugural season of the reborn league, joining Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. The ABF has also launched the "Name Your ABL Team" competition, offering fans the chance to nominate the names and colour schemes of the six franchises. 2009 World Cup: Australia completed their run in the World Cup with their best ever finish in the tournament: 5th. Despite this result, they failed to improve their IBAF World Ranking, staying in 11th position behind Puerto Rico From the Editor I just want to take this opportunity to wish everyone a (belated) Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, that the holiday season so far has been good for you, and that what remains will be just as good, if not better. I'd also like to thank everyone who has been involved with the task force over the last year. I'd ask everyone to keep up the good work, and to invite anyone they can think of to join us: there's always room for more here. This newsletter was composed by  Afaber012 . If you would like to contribute to future newsletters, please leave a message on the newsletter talk page. If you don't wish to receive this newsletter anymore, please remove your name from the subscribers list on the mainnewsletter page.

 Afaber012  (talk)  07:18, 27 December 2009 (UTC)

Southern Cross Pitch, August 2010

THE SOUTHERN CROSS PITCH The Australian Baseball Task Force Newsletter Issue 4 – August 2010

"I have only one superstition. I touch all the bases when I hit a home run." — Babe Ruth News and announcements Welcome to the newest member of the task force, baseballclarity. Though they haven't been active in recent days, its always good to see a fresh face round these parts. 2010 Claxton Shield passed its Good Article nomination, meaning the task force has its second baseball-specific Good Article, to go along with Australia national baseball team. (Bill Ponsford is a Featured Article, and Neil Harvey is a Good Article, but they're primarily known as cricketers.) As always, if you've got an idea for the newsletter or for the task force as a whole, please add it to the task force's talk page. Featured content The following articles have been promoted past start-class, or included in the task force's scrutiny, since the last edition: GA-Class status: 2010 Claxton Shield C-Class status: 1939 Claxton Shield, 1946 Claxton Shield, 1947 Claxton Shield, 1948 Claxton Shield, Claxton Shield, Australian Baseball League & Australian Baseball League (1989-1999) This newsletter was composed by  Afaber012 . If you would like to contribute to future newsletters, please leave a message on the newsletter talk page. If you don't wish to receive this newsletter anymore, please remove your name from the subscribers list on the main newsletter page.

News from the diamond Claxton Shield: Congratulations to the Victoria Aces for winning the trophy once again, the state's 22nd title. Commiserations to the other teams, particularly to South Australia who made the finals series only to be beaten two games to nil. Though the new league will be commencing this summer, the Shield will still be awarded to the champions, as was the case during the previous incarnation of the ABL. Australian Provincial Championships: The Australian Capital Territory beat teams representing Country New South Wales, Northern Territory, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia, as well as New Zealand in the Australian Provincial Championships held during April in Geelong. Australia Women's Championships: Western Australia won their first title at the Women's Championships on the Gold Coast in April. Australian Schools Championship: New South Wales took out their 11th title in the Schoolboys Championships, held during May in Perth. World Junior Baseball Championship: Australia took out second place at the 2010 World Junior Baseball Championship in Thunder Bay, Canada. They went down to Chinese Taipei in the final, but not before beating tournament heavyweights Cuba and USA. It's the best result for an Australian team in the tournament's history, and the first Australian medal since 1995. Australian Baseball League: On 19 May, the new league had its primary brand launch. Some of the details can be seen at the Australian Baseball Federation's website - www.baseball.com.au - or you can take a look at the brand spanking new website just for the new league: www.theabl.com.au. Earlier this month the new team's names and logos were announced, and work has already started on the new articles for the league and its teams.

 Afaber012  (talk)  22:04, 10 August 2010 (UTC)

Southern Cross Pitch, November 2010

THE SOUTHERN CROSS PITCH The Australian Baseball Task Force Newsletter Issue 5 – November 2010

"Ninety percent of the game is half mental." — Yogi Berra News and announcements Welcome to Qwertyqwas, the newest member of the task force. They've already made some great contributions, particularly to the various ABL roster templates and to the Sydney Blue Sox article. Keep up the good work! The Bill Ponsford article has been selected for inclusion in Wikipedia:Version 0.8; a collection of articles packaged together for offline release. As always, if you've got an idea for the newsletter or for the task force as a whole, please add it to the task force's talk page. Featured content The following articles have been promoted past start-class, or included in the task force's scrutiny, since the last edition: B-Class status: Australia national baseball team at the Summer Olympics & 2010 Claxton Shield finals series C-Class status: Australia at the Baseball World Cup This newsletter was composed by  Afaber012 . If you would like to contribute to future newsletters, please leave a message on the newsletter talk page. If you don't wish to receive this newsletter anymore, please remove your name from the subscribers list on the main newsletter page.

News from the diamond Australian Baseball League: The ABL is back, with its official start on 6 November at Blacktown Olympic Park. The Sydney Blue Sox hosted the Canberra Cavalry, winning the openning game 1–0. At the end of round 1, the Adelaide Bite and Sydney Blue Sox are tied at the top, having swept the Melbourne Aces and Canberra Cavalry respectively, while the Perth Heat are in third, winning their series against the Brisbane Bandits 3 games to 1. Major League Baseball: The San Francisco Giants won the 2010 World Series, defeating the Texas Rangers 4–1 for their 6th World Series title in franchise history and first in San Francisco. The Giants last won the Fall Classic in 1954, when as the New York Giants they swept the Cleveland Indians. Women's Baseball World Cup: Congratulations to the Australian Women's Team, who finished in 2nd place at the 2010 Women's World Cup in Venezuela in August. It surpassed the 4th place finishes at all three previous World Cups. Congratulations especially go to Laura Neads, Christina Kreppold and Kim McMillan for their selections in the tournament All Star team, and to Katie Gaynor for leading the tournament with the most RBIs. As a result of this silver medal, the team is now ranked 3rd in the world behind Japan and United States. Intercontinental Cup: The final edition of the the Intercontinental Cup was held in Chinese Taipei in October. Cuba won the tournament, beating Netherlands in the final for their 11th IC title. Italy took out the bronze for their first ever medal at an Intercontinental.

 Afaber012  (talk)  22:30, 14 November 2010 (UTC)

Southern Cross Pitch, January 2011

THE SOUTHERN CROSS PITCH The Australian Baseball Task Force Newsletter Issue 6 – January 2011

"The Australian baseball public really deserve this." — Comment from a fan at the ABL's opening night between Sydney and Canberra. News and announcements A belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all. Things have been a little quieter around hear, no doubt due to the holiday season. With the first ABL postseason coming up, let's see if we can get things going again. As always, if you've got an idea for the newsletter or for the task force as a whole, please add it to the task force's talk page. Featured content The following articles have been promoted past start-class, or included in the task force's scrutiny, since the last edition: B-Class status: 2010–11 Australian Baseball League season C-Class status: Australian Baseball League (1989–1999)

News from the diamond Australian Baseball League: The regular season for the ABL has come to a close, and the Sydney Blue Sox have finished in first spot earning two guaranteed home finals series. They'll face the Perth Heat in the major semi, where the winner will go straight to the championship series and the loser will have a second chance. The Adelaide Bite will host the Melbourne Aces in the sudden death minor semi. Commiserations to the Brisbane Bandits and the Canberra Cavalry, both on missing out on the finals, and on not getting to play the makeup games from round 9, cancelled because of the Queensland floods. Perth and Sydney split their season series 4–4, with the Heat sweeping 4–0 playing in Sydney. Adelaide convincingly won their season series with Melbourne 7–1, including a 4–0 sweep in Adelaide. This newsletter was composed by  Afaber012 . If you would like to contribute to future newsletters, please leave a message on the newsletter talk page. If you don't wish to receive this newsletter anymore, please remove your name from the subscribers list on the main newsletter page.

 Afaber012  (talk)  02:00, 23 January 2011 (UTC)

Southern Cross Pitch, May 2011

THE SOUTHERN CROSS PITCH The Australian Baseball Task Force Newsletter Issue 7 – May 2011]

"We did what you have to do to win. We got three very good starts, we played some outstanding defence and the bats came alive and we peaked at the right time." — Perth Heat manager Brooke Knight after winning the Australian Baseball League Championship News and announcements We have a new baseball-exclusive Good Article to take our tally up to three: 2010–11 Australian Baseball League season. New ABL-themed userboxes are now available to go on your user page. Each of the six teams have a standard one ready to go, while the Blue Sox have an additional one using the crowd chant as heard on Triple H FM. If fans of the other teams want a similarly adjusted userbox, let me know and I'll have it up as soon as I can. As always, if you've got an idea for the newsletter or for the task force as a whole, please add it to the task force's talk page. Featured content The following articles have been promoted past start-class, or included in the task force's scrutiny, since the last edition: Good Article status: 2010–11 Australian Baseball League season B-Class status: Australian Baseball League

News from the diamond Australian Baseball League: The inaugural ABL champions are the Perth Heat. They defeated the Adelaide Bite 2 games to 1 in the championship series, held at Baseball Park in Perth. In late breaking news, the Heat will now get the opportunity to compete in the Asia Series in November this year, against the winners of the Japan Series, Korean Series and Taiwan Series. Australia Women's Championships: Congratulations to the Victoria Blue team, defeating New South Wales in the final at Narrabundah Ballpark in Canberra to claim the National Championship. Country New South Wales defeated Western Australia to claim the bronze medal. Australian Provincial Championships: After the finals were washed out at Blacktown Olympic Park in Sydney, Western Australia were declared champions at the conclusion of round robin play. They finished in a three-way tie with Country New South Wales and Victoria with a 3–1 record, but finished ahead having given up fewer runs. With its head-to-head win, Country New South Wales claimed silver and Victory bronze. This newsletter was composed by  Afaber012 . If you would like to contribute to future newsletters, please leave a message on the newsletter talk page. If you don't wish to receive this newsletter anymore, please remove your name from the subscribers list on the main newsletter page.

 Afaber012  (talk)  07:41, 20 May 2011 (UTC)