Results

Australian Baseball League 01/21 02:00 10 [5] Canberra Cavalry v Melbourne Aces [4] L 0-11
Australian Baseball League 01/20 08:00 10 [5] Canberra Cavalry v Melbourne Aces [4] W 4-3
Australian Baseball League 01/19 08:00 10 [6] Canberra Cavalry v Melbourne Aces [4] L 0-2
Australian Baseball League 01/18 08:00 10 [6] Canberra Cavalry v Melbourne Aces [4] W 2-0
Australian Baseball League 01/14 02:00 9 [2] Brisbane Bandits v Canberra Cavalry [6] L 4-2
Australian Baseball League 01/13 23:00 9 Brisbane Bandits v Canberra Cavalry L 5-2
Australian Baseball League 01/13 07:00 9 [3] Brisbane Bandits v Canberra Cavalry [6] D PPT.
Australian Baseball League 01/12 07:30 9 [2] Brisbane Bandits v Canberra Cavalry [6] W 3-4
Australian Baseball League 01/11 07:30 9 [2] Brisbane Bandits v Canberra Cavalry [6] L 7-4
Australian Baseball League 01/07 01:30 8 [6] Canberra Cavalry v Adelaide Giants [1] W 5-3
Australian Baseball League 01/06 08:30 8 [6] Canberra Cavalry v Adelaide Giants [1] L 3-10
Australian Baseball League 01/05 08:30 8 [6] Canberra Cavalry v Adelaide Giants [1] L 1-3

Wikipedia - Canberra Cavalry

The Canberra Cavalry (nicknamed Cavs) is a professional baseball team from Canberra, ACT, Australia. Established in 2010, the team is a founding member of the Australian Baseball League (ABL). The Cavs home ground is Narrabundah Ballpark, known as MIT Ballpark for sponsorship reasons. The Cavalry are one-time Claxton Shield Champions and one-time Asian Champions.

History

Canberra Cavalry baseball team, with the Championship Claxton Shield for 2012–13
2013 Asia Series champions banner
The Cavalry first primary logo used first eight seasons between 2010/11 – 2018/19
Special anniversary logo used on jersey sleeve patches to celebrate the Cavalry's 10 years of operation during the 2019–20 season

Bid and establishment

In 2009, Major League Baseball (MLB) invited Canberra to bid for the sixth and final licence to join the inaugural season of the reformed Australian Baseball League (ABL). The bid, named "Let's do it Canberra", was organised by ACT Baseball Association Commissioner Theo Vassalakis and was tasked with meeting the entry criteria of securing the needed sponsorship, community membership and facility upgrades by September 2009. This included three-year sponsorship deals worth $100,000 per annum, 5,000 $20 memberships and ACT Government funding to upgrade the Narrabundah Ballpark to AA standard. In November 2009, Canberra's bid was successful and the ABL in conjunction with the MLB made the announcement of the decision to grant an ABL licence to the successful bidding team.

The team was subsequently founded in 2010 as the Canberra Cavalry. The team entered the reformed Australian Baseball League (ABL) as sixth and final founding member, following the establishment of five other teams from capital cities around Australia.

Originally the team was going to be named the Canberra Colts, but a legal dispute with Canberra-based Super Rugby team, ACT Brumbies, resulted in the team changing their plans and choosing Cavalry instead. The Brumbies local rugby union premier division is named the Colts, with all teams competing in the division adopting the moniker at the end of their club names.

First season (2010–11)

The Cavalry started putting their front and back office staff in 2010 in the lead up to the ABL regular season starting in November 2010. Tony Fraser was appointed the team's founding general manager (GM) with Megan Salic joining as assistant general manager. On 8 September 2010, the Cavs announced former MLB and Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Steve Schrenk would be the team's inaugural head coach. Schrenk arrived in Canberra from New Jersey with over two decades of playing and coaching experience behind him.

On 7 November 2010, Canberra lost its first ever ABL game away in Sydney against the Sydney Blue Sox. At Blacktown Olympic Park, the game was the inaugural ABL game with ABL Operations Manager, Ben Foster, and young Australian baseballer, Louis Verdon, arriving on the pitch by helicopter to open the game by passing on the ball Foster caught off the final pitch of the original ABL in February 1999. Verdon then delivered the first ceremonial pitch of the new ABL. Steven Kent impressed for Canberra but the visitors lost the game 0–1.

The Cavalry won their first ABL game on 18 November 2010 at home in Narrabundah. In front of 1,300 fans, Korean import, Kyu-Hyun Moon inspired Canberra to a 5–2 victory over the Melbourne Aces with a left field home run, the first ever home run at the new Narrabundah Ballpark.

The Cavs missed out on the play-offs in their first season despite having a very good defensive record. Their offense however was not as impressive, ranking sixth in runs scored. Dutch born shortstop Didi Gregorius, was named ABL Golden Glove winner for the inaugural ABL season. Didi, who attracted 43 votes, beat Perth catcher Allan de San Miguel (39 votes) and Adelaide's Stefan Welch (38 votes) to the award.

Australian and Asian champions

In 2012–13, the Cavs claimed the ultimate titles on offer to Australian baseball teams. They finished the regular season in top spot in the league standings, clinching the minor premiership and qualifying for the playoffs. Canberra was selected as the home venue for the best of three Championship series, which would be broadcast in 40 countries worldwide and a possible audience for 40 million people. Canberra defeated the Perth Heat in the Championship series to claim the ABL Championship and lift the historic Claxton Shield. The Cavs won the series 2–0 with a 6–4 first game win followed by Michael Wells scoring the final home run to secure a 7–6 game two victory. Aaron Sloan was named series MVP. This was a turnaround for a team that finished last in the regular ABL season in 2011–12. A fun fact, during the 2012–13 season, fan action caused the team to change the shirt number of player Marcus Knecht. He was originally wearing shirt number 51 but fans requested he should wear the number 4, in allusion to the game Connect Four; and, this became his catch-cry.

By winning the championship, the Cavalry qualified for the 2013 Asia Series, where they would face the best teams from across Asia, including Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China. The Cavs went into the Asia Series as underdogs with the Canberra outfit's wage bill of $47,000 for their roster tiny compared to some of their rivals, the Golden Eagles for example spending $23.5 million on their roster.

On the road to the Asian Series final, Canberra won two of three games. They defeated EDA Rhinos 2–0 and lost to Rakuten Golden Eagles 6–3 in the group stage to finish second in their group before defeating Korean team Samsung Lions 9–5 in the semi-finals to qualify for the Asia Series final. It was the first time an Australian team had won a game at the Asia Series and the first time an Australian team had qualified for the final.

In the final, held on 20 November 2013 in Taichung, Taiwan, the Cavs played Taiwanese team Uni-Lions in a one-game winner takes all final. Canberra won the coin toss and was designated the 'home' team. The Cavalry started the game well, leading 2–0 at the end of the first innings. The Lion responded and took a 4–2 lead. The Cavs pulled one back in the fourth innings before a seventh innings blitz saw Canberra score five runs and take a commanding 8–4 lead. The free scoring continued in the eighth innings with the Cavalry scoring a further six runs, including a loaded bases home run, hit by American catcher Jack Murphy. The Cavs pitcher Sean Wesley Toler then sealed the 14–4 victory by pitching out the Lions at the top of the ninth to end the game. The Canberra Cavalry were crowned Asian Champions, with Jack Murphy named most valuable player. The title netted the ABL $500,000 in prize money. It would be reinvested in the league, not just the Cavalry.

2014 to 2021

In 2013–14, the Cavalry looked to go back-to-back and secure a second consecutive Claxton Shield and ABL Championship title. The Cavs finished the regular season in third place in the league standings and qualified for the preliminary final against rivals Sydney Blue Sox. Canberra lost the first game against Sydney in the best of three preliminary final, but fought back and defeated the Blue Sox in the remaining two games to claim the series win. There was a controversial umpire call in the second game that gave the Cavalry the victory and a shot at the series win. Keon Broxton, Sydney outfielder, went 'berserk' when he was called out attempting to run to home base.

Canberra come up against Perth Heat once more in the ABL Championship final series. However, unlike the previous season, Perth took the lead in the series, Canberra levelled before Perth won game three and took out the series and were crowned champions. The Cavs left one win short of their goal for the season.

Between 2014–15 and 2017–18, Canberra made the playoffs twice. In 2015–16, the Cavs finished second in the league standings to qualify for the preliminary finals. The Cavalry had the best attack in the league that season, averaging 5.71 runs per game across the 56-game season, however they had the league worst pitching statistics. In the preliminary final, Canberra came up against Adelaide Bite at home at MIT Ballpark, after ABL operations manager, Ben Foster, locked in the Canberra venue early for the series regardless of league positioning. A decision made due to the proximity of Australia Day and a desire to get ticket sales moving before then. The series went to three games, with the Canberrans forcing a deciding game, with a close 3–2 win, after losing the first game 6–4. The Cavs could not contain the Bite in the third crucial game however, and lost 9–2, in what was a comfortable win for Adelaide in the end.

In In 2017–18, on the way to the Cavalry finishing third in the league standings to again qualify for the preliminary finals, 10 Cavs players were called up to the ABL All Stars game. Canberra faced Perth Heat in the preliminary final series and in a familiar manner the Cavs lost the opening game, 6–3 and won the second game, 6–3, to force a third game decider. Unlike in 2016, the Cavs won game three in Perth, 3–1, to win the series and advance to their third ever ABL Championship series. In the Championship series, the Cavalry played the Brisbane Bandits, with the first game played in Canberra and the second and third games played in Brisbane at Holloway Field. Canberra was looking for its second Claxton Shield, while the Bandits were looking to become the first team in ABL history to go threepeat and win the championship for the third season in a row. Canberra won at home in game one and then headed north to Brisbane where the Bandits drew the series level and forced a deciding game. Tempers flared in the third game as a tightly contested game saw the Cavalry come up short and lose 4–2, granting Brisbane their historic threepeat ABL title win.

In 2018, the Cavs retired their first jersey number ahead of the opening game of the 2018–19 season. Long time ABL pitcher, Brian Grening, would not be convinced to keep going and retired from playing duties. To mark this occasion, the Cavalry retired his number 41 jersey at Narrabundah Ballpark ahead of then opening home series against the Brisbane Bandits. Grening's number was the first number retirement in Cavs history. The cavalry also decided to celebrate the 998 people and businesses that donated $20 to the 'Let's Do It, Canberra!' bid in 2009 that led to the Cavalry creation in 2010 by inviting all 998 to the opening game of the season for a Campaign Pledge Reunion. Each of the 998 people and businesses were given free double passes to the game as well as an exclusive commemorative game day program, and took to the field before the game for a campaign reunion photo.

In July 2018 the Cavalry management announced they had signed a strategic partnership agreement with Japanese baseball team Yokohama BayStars. The agreement would cover on and off-field aspects of Cavs operations and provide an opportunity pathway for Australian and Japanese players and staff to experience both organisations. The agreement took 12 months to be finalised from first concept.

Canberra also celebrated its history in baseball in 2018, with a throwback night held at Narrabundah in a home series against Auckland Tuatara. The event marked 25 years since the ACT arrived on the national baseball scene and saw the Cavalry play in a throwback Canberra Bushrangers white kit with black pinstripes, teal trim and black caps. The Bushrangers competed in the old Australian Baseball League between 1993 and 1995. A dozen Bushranger alumni attended the event and were presented to the crowd, including current Cavalry manager, Keith Ward, and coach, Michael Wells.

On 3 July 2019, ahead of the new 2019–20 ABL season, the Cavalry announced a major brand redesign at MIT Ballpark that encompassed new logos, uniforms and merchandise to mark the team's ten-year anniversary.

Canberra's primary logo would remain a horse head but would become a grey horse with orange mane, rather than the original brown horse with black mane. The secondary logo would be updated from an interlocking 'CC' typography into interlocking stylised horseshoes positioned sideways to keep the 'CC' effect.

The new home uniforms would become primarily white with orange accents and feature 'CAVALRY' script on the front with away uniforms predominantly orange with black accents and feature 'CAVS' script on the front. A third uniform was also introduced that is predominantly black with orange accents and featured 'The Capital' script on the front. Home and away uniforms would feature grey pants and either black or grey socks. The new hats included a black, orange, and white colored panel hat with the primary horse logo on the front and an all orange hat with a single sideways horseshoe from the secondary logo.

In October 2019, the Cavalry and MLB team Houston Astros signed an official affiliate partner agreement that would see Astros pay to send players to Canberra each season of the agreement. The length of the agreement was not released publicly.

Also in 2019, the Cavs submitted a bid in July to become part of the new Australian Baseball League women's league. On 24 October 2019, it was announced the Canberra Cavalry was successful in their bid to join the new women's league and was granted one of four licences, alongside Adelaide Giants, Baseball Victoria and the Brisbane Bandits.

2022 to present

Ahead of the 2022 season, it was revealed the Cavs had signed a new overseas partnership agreement with MLB team Toronto Blue Jays. The agreement would see two players from Toronto join the Cavalry for the 2022–23 ABL season. The successful partnership with Yokohama BayStars was renewed, after being suspended during the COVID-19 affected period. Two Japanese pitches would be sent to the Cavalry for the 2022–23 ABL season, off-field support and community engagement would be resumed, including school visits, coaching clinics and a dedicated Japanese themed night at MIT Ballpark.