The personal opinion of Trevor Rowse.
February 13, 2004

The Black Sox team was the highlight of the NZ Community Trust series, not because of the title win, but for the style of the win and the batting explosions which peppered all opponents, except the Samoans on opening night.

If the star of the final was Mark Sorenson, for sentimental and batting reasons, as well as his timeless ability behind the mask, there were many other local heroes, notably Brad Rona who stepped into Dean Rice’s shoes and played with panache and real ability.

Captain Jarred Martin was the star of some games, Thomas Makea of others, and Donny Hale in his times. If one did not step into the breach, then another did. When a group of Sox batters started hitting it often meant three or four opposing pitchers in a game.

Then there was Patrick “Paddy” Shannon. When he came into the games the offence became so much more powerful. His six hits from seven turns in the semi and the final should have been the feature of the stories.

All the critics, and that means all, said that he probably would not bat at world championship level, given his curious batting stance. Compared with the classic batting stance of Sorenson, especially in the final, Shannon is a novice, but results showed something different. The leadoff ability of Dion Nukunuku was a key to many successful batting sprees while brother Nathan was a great defensive shortstop. We did not see enough of Roman Gabriel but was a hustling player he is.

Yet New Zealand went into the series behind in the pitching stakes. Jimmy Wana stepped up a notch while Michael Gaiger was affected by his earlier injuries, either hurting or a little under-prepared after working so hard to get fit. Losing Marty Grant could have been crucial but Wana did the job.

There has been criticism that the Canadians were unfit. There were two big men, but pitcher Dean Holoien was tough and fit enough to run a speedy triple, as well as to play in the outfield. And which team would turn down Colin Abbott, the mighty batter? There were plenty of young fit Canadians and they came to play, and to bat, and they deserved to be in the final.

Samoa could have been in the top three. The loss to the United States, forgetting about theories that the US side entered an illegal batter, could have been reversed with some more determined batting. As it was, Heinie Shannon was a pitching star, showing courage when pitching with injuries in an under-staffed pitching squad. Shannon was full of fire and any side would have welcomed him.

Mike Roberts did the job each time he was called on and his performance against the Sox was outstanding, slowing the batters down to the ordinary for five innings. He and Shannon made the difference for Samoa and there were many other individual performances, but they were not consistent enough.

Jeremy Stanley, Duane Jerard and Kurt Allan kept going with Gene Lutton, Travis Allan and Aaron Neemia having good patches while Wayne Laulu kept improving. There is a great deal to do if Samoa is to stay an international force as a team cannot keep going just on spirit as it so often did in the ten days.

Hats off to coaches Mike Forsyth and Eric Kohlhase for the attacking style on the base paths. Speedy running was the key to all successful sides.

If Canada did prove a fine team, what was the story with the USA? A glance at the US record in recent world championships, and at the Pan American Games, shows that the former glory has gone and it is time to recruit some bright new stars and to change the attitude that “all you need is to turn up to win a medal”. That did not happen, again.

Australia self-destructed in the semi against Canada and it was all over after the first inning. Young Andrew Kirkpatrick was let down by the fielders and the team lost its nerve. But you have to love the quote of Bob Harrow, the Aussie coach. Congratulated on being in the medal hunt, he said, “We are all just happy to be here on the Sunday,” meaning the final day. 12th last time, Australia will be back, seeking more than a bronze.

There were other sides which could have come through, such as Venezuela, Argentina or Japan. The Japanese yet looked so convincing in the early games and in the pre-series warm-ups in Auckland, but lost it later on. Where Japan looked relentless, to use coach Don Tricker’s key word for the Black Sox approach, Japan then switched to being robotic. They need some life and spark.

Forsyth, Tricker and Mark Smith were the coaches of note. All spoke well, thought things through and acted on the diamond. With the quality of the batting now, there is no room for sentiment in leaving pitchers on too long. When Tricker did that, against Canada in the last round robin game, it cost Kurt Gollan the win.

The lively balls, the power of modern batters and the tight strike zone makes life really hard for pitchers and they need some protection, being so close to the batting box with so little time to recover from the pitching action before the ball rockets back at them. The hit back past the pitcher was very effective in the whole series.

The other desperate place was right field. At some time there should be an analysis of the percentage of hits landing there, short and long. At one time there was a ratio of three to one compared with left field.

Pool A was much more formidable than Pool B. When it came to A v B playoffs, all the A teams won. Then Japan and the USA dropped out, leaving New Zealand, Canada and Australia. Samoa did well, Venezuela showed outstanding qualities at times, South Africa was competent and the Australians had wonderful athletic ability. The Dutch just lacked the extra pitching spark, but they could bat and field while the Philippines always looked better than the results they achieved.

In the other section, Botswana made plenty of friends, Great Britain struggled but surprised against some of the top sides, Hong Kong was simply not good enough to be there and the Czech Republic showed outstanding skills, but then flopped when it counted. The Czechs and Argentina will be threats later on, like the Aussies.

The umpires: Having a set of very competent men made a great difference to the quality of the play and there were some outstanding showings. It was hard to see how so many can miss some incidents, or the reason why the umpire refused to get involved in the first rhubarb between Canada and the Black Sox, and was trying to pull the other blues away. The better the umpire, the better the game, in every case. Bryan Smith (USA) outstanding.

Scorers and statisticians: The greatest area of improvement in the game in my time. A cheerful and competent crew in every way, always happy to assist and doing such a great job under constant pressure.

Publicity: The Christchurch Press gave outstanding coverage, day after day, with a wonderful edition on the Monday with front page and two sports’ page glowing. Tim Dunbar and Tony Smith showed their experience in watching and winkling out the stories. The Herald’s pre-tournament pages were excellent but day to day was not up to that mark while the Dominion came somewhere in between. Internet coverage from Andrea Blackshaw and Kelly Mitchell flowed out continually, giving the whole country the details.

At the park, Graham Latta’s publishing skills resulted in daily broadsheets, in outstanding colour. They were coveted by players and fans.

The ball by ball coverage by the ground commentators kept the fans up to date with the action and the scoreboard had most of the basics covered, except that the actual names of the teams would have made a difference, rather that Home Team. Also the addition of a light to indicate hit or error would add spice.

The scoreboard on the alternate ground gave inning by inning scores but nothing else, and there was no commentator, which made the fans do their own thinking.

Everyone has their own opinion about the music selections, but there was often some humour in them, and we need humour.

Timing of the series: It was the same week as in 1976 and had similar weather, excepting the final storm of 76. Being the first week of school all over the country, the dates meant that almost all families were affected. With youngsters starting at new schools, being away in that first week is unacceptable and that cut back attendances.

Some complained about the cost of day after day attendance. The decision to cancel parking charges certainly made many friends. Going to Christchurch, staying ten or eleven days, and with extra costs, makes it a hard time for many, and softball is a family sport. A series in the school holidays would have been much more acceptable.

There were not enough people in the ballpark, even on finals day.

The organisation: Everything had been done. If anyone is going to complain, it will be the fans on the wet days, and there was rain, plus the cold, but the fans survived. There were few complaints heard. The press, not always the happiest of people, under pressure and looking for angles to spice their stories, had a very suitable venue and the after-match interviews were always interesting.

No traffic jams at the gates, plenty of places to sit and talk and eat, or drink, made the series a happy affair and there was even the “compound” for the smokers at Smokefree Park.

Although Cheryl Kemp and Danae Goosman were the key organisers, there was an army of volunteers doing all sorts of things, from scoring to cleaning, ground crew to liaison or driving teams to and from the ground. The quality of these volunteers is the secret of the success. Well done everyone.

Dumb ideas:
1. The seven run mercy rule after five innings when many teams scored five or six in an inning, and not only when winning.
2. Having the next world champs in five years time, or longer. Three years will encourage players to stay in the game, and for whole teams to return and improve.
3. Putting the hospitality tent on the first base line. It would have been better in place of the distant bleachers at the back of left field. If people want to watch they can go to their seats.

Final summary: I have never seen such batting. The hitters dominated the pitchers more than ever before, I believe. It was a fine series in all ways, with the only thing missing being summer. What a great thing it would have been just to sit there and feel warm. It took the softball feel out of the event, making it more a football situation.

And was I being paranoiac, but was the title accepted a little too blithely by New Zealand this time, with no hard luck stories to tell? It seems that the comparison from 1966 to 1984 was a big enough jump but the 2004 team effort, on and off the field, on attack or defence, was superlative.

Which team will they pick up this time around to edge out the Black Sox in the Halberg Awards?