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).

Offseason 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

Standings

Record vs opponents Opponent W–LRecord Largest Victory Largest Defeat CurrentStreak Score Date Ground Score Date Ground 5–3 6–3 Game 16 Norwood Oval 4 Runs (2) L1 5–2 23–9 Game 33 Concord Oval 1–6 Game 48 ANZ Stadium L2 1–6 12–7 Game 52 Concord Oval 7–15 17 January 1998 Carrara Oval W1 9–1 14–3 10 January 1998 Concord Oval 4–6 Game 27 Marathon Stadium W5 5–3 18–5 7 December 1997 Concord Oval 4–8 6 December 1997 Concord Oval W1 4–2 8–4 5 January 1998 Moorabbin Oval 4–13 1 February 1998 Concord Oval L1 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 W Storm win L Storm loss T Storm tie   Game postponed Bold Storm team member

|- bgcolor=#bbffbb | 1 | 1 November (DH 1) | | 11–10

| 1-0 | |- bgcolor=#bbffbb | 2 | 1 November (DH 2) | | 5–3

| 2-0 | |- bgcolor=#bbbbbb | 3 | 2 November (DH 1) | | Re-Scheduled

| 2-0 | |- bgcolor=#bbbbbb | 4 | 2 November (DH 2) | | Re-Scheduled

| 2-0 | |- bgcolor=#bbffbb | 5 | 7 November (DH 1) | @ | 5–3

| 3-0 | |- bgcolor=#ffbbbb | 6 | 7 November (DH 2) | @ | 2-3

| 3-1 | |- bgcolor=#ffbbbb | 7 | 8 November (DH 1) | @ | 3-10

| 3-2 | |- bgcolor=#ffbbbb | 8 | 8 November (DH 2) | @ | 1-4

| 3-3 | |- bgcolor=#bbffbb | 9 | 15 November (DH 1) | | 5-1

| 4-3 | |- bgcolor=#bbffbb | 10 | 15 November (DH 2) | | 9-5

| 5-3 | |- bgcolor=#ffbbbb | 11 | 16 November (DH 1) | | 3-4

| 5-4 | |- bgcolor=#ffbbbb | 12 | 16 November (DH 2) | | 7-11

| 5-5 | |- bgcolor=#ffbbbb | 13 | | @ | 1–5

| 5-6 | |- bgcolor=#bbffbb | 14 | | @ | 3–2

| 6-6 | |- bgcolor=#bbffbb | 15 | | @ | 5–2

| 7-6 | |- bgcolor=#bbffbb | 16 | | @ | 6–3

| 8-6 | |- bgcolor=#bbffbb | 17

| 6–5

| 9-6 | |- bgcolor=#ffbbbb | 18

| 1–4

| 9-7 | |- bgcolor=#bbffbb | 19

| 8–7

| 10-7 | |- bgcolor=#ffbbbb | 20

| 2–6

| 10-8

|- bgcolor=#bbffbb | 21 | 5 December | | 3-2

| 11-8 | |- bgcolor=#bbffbb | 22 | 6 December (DH 1) | | 6-5

| 12-8 | |- bgcolor=#ffbbbb | 23 | 6 December (DH 2) | | 4-8

| 12-9 | |- bgcolor=#bbffbb | 24 | 7 December | | 18-5

| 13-9 | |- bgcolor=#bbffbb | 25 | | @ | 8–5

| 14-9 | |- bgcolor=#bbffbb | 26 | | @ | 4–1

| 15-9 | |- bgcolor=#ffbbbb | 27 | | @ | 4–6

| 15-10 | |- bgcolor=#bbbbbb | 28 | | @ | Wash Out

| 15-10 | |- bgcolor=#bbffbb | 29 | 19 December | @ | 5-3

| 16-10 | |- bgcolor=#ffbbbb | 30 | 20 December (DH 1) | @ | 3-6

| 16-11 | |- bgcolor=#ffbbbb | 31 | 20 December (DH 2) | @ | 0-1

| 16-12 | |- bgcolor=#bbffbb | 32 | 21 December | @ | 6–5

| 17-12 | |- bgcolor=#bbffbb | 33

| 23–9

| 18-12 | |- bgcolor=#bbffbb | 34

| 3–2

| 19-12 | |- bgcolor=#bbffbb | 35

| 10–0

| 20-12 | |- bgcolor=#bbffbb | 36

| 10–7

| 21-12

|- bgcolor=#bbffbb | 37 | 3 January | @ | 4-1

| 22-12 | |- bgcolor=#ffbbbb | 38 | 4 January | @ | 1-10

| 22-13 | |- bgcolor=#bbffbb | 39 | 5 January | @ | 8-4

| 23-13 | |- bgcolor=#bbffbb | 3

| 17-14

| 24-13 | |- bgcolor=#bbffbb | 40 | 9 January | | 10-3

| 25-13 | |- bgcolor=#bbffbb | 41 | 10 January | | 14-3

| 26-13 | |- bgcolor=#bbffbb | 42 | 11 January | | 10-3

| 27-13 | |- bgcolor=#ffbbbb | 43 | 16 January | @ | 12-17

| 27-14 | |- bgcolor=#ffbbbb | 44 | 17 January (DH 2) | @ | 2-7

| 27-15 | |- bgcolor=#ffbbbb | 45 | 17 January (DH 2) | @ | 7-15

| 27-16 | |- bgcolor=#ffbbbb | 46 | 18 January | @ | 8-10

| 27-17 | |- bgcolor=#bbffbb | 47 | | @ | 3-2

| 28-17 | |- bgcolor=#ffbbbb | 48 | | @ | 1-6

| 28-18 | |- bgcolor=#ffbbbb | 49 | | @ | 1-2

| 28-19 | |- bgcolor=#ffbbbb | 50

| 3-9

| 28-20 | |- bgcolor=#ffbbbb | 51

| 5-8

| 28-21 | |- bgcolor=#bbffbb | 52

| 12-7

| 29-21 | |- bgcolor=#bbffbb | 53 | 31 January | | 14–11

| 30-21

|- bgcolor=#ffbbbb | 54 | 1 February | | 4–13

| 30-22 | |- bgcolor=#bbffbb | 55 | 2 February | | 10-9

| 31-22 | |- bgcolor=#bbffbb | 4

| 11-5

| 32-22

Postseason

Finals Series at Melbourne Ballpark 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.

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.

Finals Series (Storm games) Full series results

Game 2: 10 February 1998

Game 3: 11 February 1998

Game 5: 12 February 1998

Postseason Ladder

ABL awards Award Name Stat refMost Valuable PlayerBrendan KingmanGolden GloveGlenn WilliamsBatting AwardBrendan KingmanRookie of the YearRodney Van Buizen

All-stars Position Name refCatcherGary WhiteDesignated HitterBrendan Kingman

Storm Awards Award Name Stat ref

Roster

References