2014 Summary

This post is a summary and a bringing the reader up to speed for the real blog, which begins on 1 January, 2015.

List of People

Pop – my father

Bobby – Host dad

Cathy – Host mom

Mitchell – host brother, teammate and recruiter

Sally – host dog

Jake – Other macarthur import living with us

Tom – My superior at work

Decided in mid-2014 to come to Australia to continue my baseball career with the MacArthur Orioles in the New South Wales State League. Then, after explaining my intentions to a connection, I was able to get in touch with the MLB office in Sydney, about an internship opportunity.

I flew down to Sydney in early September, not knowing anyone except through email and facebook with my host brother/recruiter. That was a bit intimidating, but as is often the case in baseball and with host families, everything worked out extremely well. No issues with flight delays, baggage, or having them pick me up at the airport when I landed.

Since Tom, who I had contacted about an internship, was out of the country, I had a few weeks to adjust to the area and explore before heading to work. One of the first stops was circular quay, the famous part of Sydney Harbour with the Opera House and bridge, and the beaches and Blue Mountains weren’t far behind.

In list form, here are a few of my favorite places to visit and things to do during this time (in no particular order):

-Circular Quay

-Darling Harbor

-Manly Beach and Ferry

-Bondi Beach

-Bondi to Coogee coastal walkxx

-Royal Botanical Gardens

-Hyde Park

-Art Gallery of New South Wales

-Blue Mountains

-Australia v South Africa cricket

-Sydney Sixers and Sydney Thunder big bash t20 cricket

-Sydney Roosters v Queensland Cowboys rugby league playoffs

-ABL games

-MCG tour

-Exploring Melbourne

Baseball began my first weekend, and though we dropped the first two games, we quickly began to gel as a team and start winning games. It was pretty entertaining the first few times in the dugout and hearing everyone say “C’mon mate!” as a serious cheer, as was the time Beno’s post-training talk focused on the importance of mateship. Entering the holiday break, we sat comfortably in second place

Tom eventually returned and I began work in early October. Tom has been great to work with, and I’ve been able to have a hand in many projects and events. It’s been extremely rewarding to do both something I love and something of consequence, and MLB has given me the opportunity to do both.

I had the opportunity to go to Melbourne for the ABL All-Star Game right before the holiday break (in Australia the entire country shuts down for and almost everyone has off for a few weeks around the holidays). After working a few days, I decided to not go back right away but instead stay another day and fly back on my own accord. This proved to be a great decision as I go to explore downtown Melbourne, including the beautiful city parks, CBD, and tour the Melboure Cricket Ground.

During this time mother and I had discussions about bringing pop down for a visit. Those discussions eventually led to a planned trip from December 31 to January 14, including a weeklong trip to queensland during his stay.

Sometime during this time I began looking into opportunities for the northern summer. Europe seemed like the best option, but I wanted to go somewhere where I could also find a quality internship in my field. MLB has an office in London, so I talked to both a team and Tom about the possibility of moving to London after my time here and doing the same thing. After a quick and easy discussion, I have agreed to play for the London Mets in the summer. The work is yet to be decided, but I’ll have a lot of options, including MLB, Baseball Softball UK, and even the Mets club, which Erick offered if it doesn’t work out anywhere else.

It was weird missing the holidays at home, but hitting Manly beach on Christmas eve wasn’t a bad alternative. Bobby and Cathy do very little on Christmas but have a big party on boxing day, including watching the Boxing Day test match.

I’ve also fallen in love with cricket since coming down here, partially because it’s so good here and partially because it’s a wonderful sport. I’ve gone to see the cricket almost every chance I get, and have loved it every time. I wish we had cricket in the states. I’ve also noticed an importance on international sports, instead of domestic leagues. I definitely prefer the international contests.

The Sydney siege also merits a mention here. I was completely safe and not really ever worried, although it happened less than a km from my workplace. Having such a major global event, especially a terror event, occur so close was a bit unusual for me. The loss of civilian lives was tragic, but the outpouring of local and global support for the victims from people of all races and religions was inspiring.

Pop arrived late on new years eve. We didn’t do anything much that night, but got a good night’s sleep in preparation for a big two weeks in front of us.