1997–98 Sydney Storm season

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).

1997–98 Sydney Storm
LeagueAustralian Baseball League
BallparkConcord Oval
CitySydney, New South Wales
Record32–22 (.593)
Place2nd

Offseason

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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

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Standings

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Pos Team 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

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Opponent W–L
Record
Largest Victory Largest Defeat Current
Streak
Score Date Ground Score Date Ground
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
23–9 Game 33 Concord Oval 4–13 1 February 1998 Concord Oval

Game log

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W Storm win
L Storm loss
T Storm tie
  Game postponed
Bold Storm team member
1997-98 Game Log
November
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Crowd 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 Win Loss Save Crowd Record Ref
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 Win Loss Save Crowd Record Ref
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 Win Loss Save Crowd Record Ref
54 1 February Reds 4–13 30-22
55 2 February Reds 10-9 31-22
4 Eagles 11-5 32-22

Postseason

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Finals Series at Melbourne Ballpark

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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)

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Full series results

Game 2: 10 February 1998

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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

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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

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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

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Pos Team 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
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

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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

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Position Name ref
Catcher Gary White
Designated Hitter Brendan Kingman

Storm Awards

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Award Name Stat ref

Roster

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Sydney Storm roster - 1997–98 ABL
Active roster
Pitchers

Right-handed pitchers

Left-handed pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders


Current as of February 1998. Incomplete

References

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  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ 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.