Adelaide Giants

Adelaide Giants
Most recent season:
2018–19 Australian Baseball League season
Adelaide bite.png
Team Details
LeagueAustralian Baseball League
Previous namesAdelaide Bite
CityAdelaide, South Australia
BallparkDiamond Sports Stadium
Year founded2009
Inaugural season2010–11
Postseason
ABL ChampionshipsNil
Minor premierships1 (2014–15)
Uniforms
Adelaide Bite uniform.png
Colours     Prussian blue
     Crimson
     Gold
Management
ManagerAustralia Chris Adamson
OwnerAdelaide Football Club
General ManagerNathan Davison

The Adelaide Giants are a professional baseball team who plays in the Australian Baseball League and is one of the six foundation teams of the league which is owned and operated by the Adelaide Football Club as of June 2018.

The Giants have multiple alumni who have played in the MLB in following years and many players who play for Team Australia in an international level. The team is made up of up-and-coming MLB draft prospects who play minor league baseball in the USA or established Australian players. Former big-league players often play in the ABL.

Their home ballpark was the historic Norwood Oval in Norwood, South Australia which is based in the city of Adelaide, South Australia from 2009 to 2016, They however made the moved to West Beach in the 2016/2017 season. The team name originates from the nearby hydrographic landmark, the Great Australian Bight as well as the Great White Shark which inhabits the coast of South Australia.[1]

The Bite are famous for their Shark Tank - the only section in Australian sport where you can sit on the actual playing surface during the play of the game.

Adelaide's first general manager was former New York Yankees infielder Pat Kelly.[2] He served as the General Manager from 2009-2013. Since the beginning of the 2013/14 season, former Adelaide Giants and Team Australia baseball player Nathan Davison took over the team as GM and CEO.[3]

In three seasons under Davison the Bite have made the Australian Baseball League Championships Series twice - falling to the Perth Heat in 2015 and the Brisbane Bandits in 2016.

In 2010 South Australian power company ETSA Utilities was announced as the major sponsor of the Adelaide Bite and that the team would be known as the Adelaide ETSA Bite.[4] After an ETSA rebrand to SA Power Networks the Bite became the "Adelaide Bite, proudly presented by SA Power Networks."

Game day atmosphere

The Adelaide Bite are known for their unique sports atmosphere. Their speciality is the Shark Tank - a section where fans can sit on the field right next to the Adelaide Bite home dugout and interact with players. They also served a pig roast on the field as well as a drinks package. [2]

The nature of baseball allows kids to run around and chase foul balls. They even can run on the field in-between innings. There are many catchy songs, quirky Walk up music selections from the players, and lots of in-game activations.

In 2016, players from the Adelaide Football Club, Port Adelaide Football Club and Adelaide Strikers showed up to participate in a pre-game home-run derby that brought thousands of people to the stadium.[5]

Various entertainers appeared for their games including Ethan Hall (or "Hiccup Kid") who sang the national anthem while hiccuping before a game.[6] Other famous anthem singers include Darth Vader.

The Bite are known for their quirky off-field antics. On April 1, 2016, the Bite fooled the world by announcing that baseball legend Derek Jeter would be joining the club as a player manager. It would have been the most high-profile signing in Australian sports' history. The practical joke garnered international headlines including a story in The New York Times and the Yankees' Twitter account.[7]

Recent history

The Adelaide Bite has experienced recent heartbreak having been to the Claxton Shield final four times since 2009 and unable to win in the championship game.

The Bite went to the ABL Championship Series back-to-back years in 2015 and 2016 but fell to the Perth Heat at home and the Brisbane Bandits on the road respectively. The Adelaide Bite hosted the 2015 ABL Championship Series and set a record for single game attendance in the ABL on the Saturday night with over 5,000 people attending the game.

In Mid 2016 they shifted, their home down to the 5,000 capacity Diamond Sports Complex located at Barratt Reserve on West Beach Road, West Beach adjacent to the Adelaide International Airport. This was due to scheduled renovations at Norwood Oval.

Late Summer 2019, the team announced they would be rebranding as the Adelaide Giants, the name of the city’s original ABL team from 1989 to 1998.[8]

Team Australia players

The Adelaide Bite send numerous players to represent team Australia on various international stages including the World Baseball Classic, World Baseball Classic qualification, Olympic baseball and Honkbal Hoofdklasse in Harlem.

Player Name Years Represented Level(s)
Angus Roeger 2015 2015 ABL All-Star Game
Stefan Welch 2009-2016 World Baseball Classic
Steven Chambers 2015-2016 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers, Honkbal Week, ABL All-Star
Josh Tols 2015-2016 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers, Honkbal Week, ABL All-Star
Matthew Williams (baseball) 2009-2016 Baseball World Cup, World Baseball Classic, World Baseball Classic Qualifiers, ABL All Star
Tom Brice 2002 - 2008 Olympics, Baseball World Cup
Wilson Lee 2016 Honkbal Week Harlem
Dushan Ruzic 2009 - 2016 Baseball World Cup, World Baseball Classic, Honkbal Week
Aaron Whitefield 2016 - Present Australian National Senior Team
Mitch Edwards 2019 - Present Senior Team Call Up

Notable alumni

The Adelaide Bite are the only ABL team who have had a former player progress to the big leagues every Major League Baseball season since the ABL's reincarnation. Some notable players include:

Brandon Maurer - Kansas City Royals pitcher, played for the Bite in 2010/11

Tom Brice - 2004 Olympic silver medalist for Team Australia

James Jones (baseball) - Seattle Mariners outfielder. Played for the Bite in 2011/2012.

Rinku Singh - The subject of the film Million Dollar Arm. Played for the Bite in 2011/2012.

Ji-man Choi - Tampa Bay Rays outfielder. Played for the Bite in 2012/2013

Rocky Gale - San Diego Padres Catcher. Played for the Bite in 2014/15.

Mitch Dening - Australian baseball player. Played in the top league in Japan for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows

Chang Tai-shan - Taiwanese baseball player. Holds record for all-time most CPBL home runs. Played for the Bite in 2017/18.

Year by year results

Season Record Finals Manager Team MVP
2010/11 23-17 (3rd place) Lost in Championship Series to Perth (1-2) Tony Harris
2011/12 20-25 (4th place) Lost in semi finals to Sydney (1-3) Tony Harris
2012/13 21-25 (5th place) No finals Tony Harris
2013/14 21-25 (5th place) No finals Charles Aliano/Brooke Knight
2014/15 32-16 (1st place, minor premiers) Lost in Championship Series to Perth (1-2) Brooke Knight Aaron Miller (baseball)
2015/16 30-26 (3rd place) Lost in Championship Series to Brisbane (0-2) Steve Mintz
2016/17 23-17 (2rd place) Lost in Preliminary Final Series to Brisbane (1-2) Steve Mintz
2017/18 11-29 (6th place) No finals Chris Adamson
2018/19 19-21 (6th place) No finals Chris Adamson Markus Solbach

Current Roster

Adelaide Giants roster - 2018–19 ABL
Active Roster Reassigned Players Coaching staff
Pitchers

Right-handed pitchers

  • 48 Australia Jackson Brebner-Russ
  • 32 United States Ryan Chaffee
  • 41 Australia Tom Fitzgerald
  •  9 Australia Michael Gahan
  • 13 United States Kurt Heyer
  • 20 Japan Tohru Kikue
  • 37 Australia Greg Mosel
  • 35 United States Jorge Perez
  • 27 Germany Markus Solbach
  • 34 United States Jared Wilson

Left-handed pitchers

  • 17 Australia Wilson Lee
  • 43 Japan Ryo Takeuchi
Catchers
  •  6 Australia Mitchell Edwards
  • 38 China Bruce Wang

Infielders

Outfielders

Pitchers

  • 18 Australia Nick Hutchings

Infielders

  • 25 Australia Nathan VanDerLinden

Catchers

  • 33 United States Ryan January
Manager
  • 30 Australia Chris Adamson

Coaches



Disabled list : 7-day disabled list

17 November 2018.

See also

References

  1. ^ Stockman, Jennifer (6 August 2010). "Adelaide takes a BITE at new ABL". Adelaide Bite. Australian Baseball League. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
  2. ^ Our Staff[permanent dead link] Adelaide Bite
  3. ^ [1] Archived 15 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine Boris Kilpatrick
  4. ^ "ETSA Utilities named naming rights sponsor". Adelaide Bite. Australian Baseball League. 16 September 2010. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
  5. ^ PTV: Home Run Derby Port Adelaide vs Adelaide - portadelaidefc.com.au, retrieved 22 July 2016
  6. ^ "Boy who hiccupped through national anthem becomes internet sensation". ABC News. 22 November 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  7. ^ "Australian team uses Derek Jeter in April Fools' Day prank". Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  8. ^ Bite, Alex Jacobs / Adelaide. "Adelaide Giants return as Bite rebrand | Adelaide Giants News". Adelaide Giants. Retrieved 21 September 2019.

External links


This page was last updated at 2019-11-10 13:51 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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