Big News - Year 3, Round 2

As quickly as you can say "Almere Magpies 2009 Dutch Eerste Klasse Honkbal Kampioens" I was back to the States from Holland, and then half-way around the world to begin the second part of my 2009 season playing winter ball in Perth, Australia. Some of you may remember that I played in the South Australia winter league in Adelaide two seasons ago (the Northern Hemisphere winter of 2007/2008) but this time around I am one of two imports for the West Stirling Indians Baseball Club in the Perth league (on the west coast of the continent), widely considered the third best state competition in Australia. I will be pitching once a week and hitting every so often from now until early March 2010. After 4 flights totaling over 40 hours beginning  in Washington DC last Monday then stopping in Detroit, LA, Sydney, before landing in Perth 12 hours ahead of the Eastern Standard Time zone and 3 whole days later... I needed the last week to let my body figure out where in the world it was before even thinking about playing a baseball game. I will be making my first start for my club, 4 weeks into the season with a 2-4 won-loss record, this coming Sunday.  Pretty much all the game recaps can be followed throughout the season on this website:
          http://www.fielders.net/wordpress/

Furthermore, I have been selected to represent Team USA in Western Australia as we battle last year's Claxton Shield champion Perth Heat, consisting of many current and former pro U.S. Australian players, beginning Thursday night in an exhibition series at Perth's amazing national league baseball park. The roster can be found here and the games/photos/etc. will also be linked through this site:         http://www.perthheat.baseball.com.au/?Page=59101

Many are probably wondering whatever happened to that law school experiment/adventure/(most important thing in the world if you happen to be my Mother), that began last Autumn in Detroit. Amazingly enough, the great administration at University Detroit Mercy Law School have approved a year-long leave of absence from the school in Detroit, however, they have granted me permission to take a number of credits at Murdoch University Law in Perth during the summer sessions in January, as well as possibly taking some classes at Amsterdam Law during their summer offerings in July.

Amsterdam? July? So does that mean?....
The best news yet, after winning the promotion series against 8th place Hoofdklasse team RCH in September, the KNBSB, governing board of Dutch baseball, formally granted Almere's promotion to the top league in Europe on October 1st. A day before I left for Australia, one week ago, I received word from the Almere's Board, President, and Manager that they would be renewing my contract for the 2010 season and thereby cementing my personal goal.  A goal that began 4 years ago when I set out for my first post-college baseball job in Europe, by playing in Belgium, which was to make it to the highest level of competition on the continent and one of the best pro leagues in the world. Normally, the 8-team league will not take any foreign imports that do not have at least A or AA minor league baseball experience in the U.S. (mainly because the rules stipulate allowing only 1 to 2 non-Dutch imports per team) but I have somehow, someway made it to the top level. Should be another exciting year of baseball... stay tuned.