Canberra Cavalry Charge - well maybe not so much

Seems that Ben and I know something that many Canberrans don't know - this city has a baseball team.  The Canberra Cavalry is part of the Australian Baseball League (which has backing from Major League Baseball).  Along with the Cavalry, five other teams include:  Adelaide Bite, Brisbane Bandits (unfortunately as I write this much of Brisbane is going under water from the horrible flooding), Melbourne Aces, Perth Heat, and Sydney Blue Sox.  The new Canberra field seats a whopping 1500 people (no, I did NOT leave out a 0 - it's one thousand five hundred).

We attended the match-up with the Brisbane Bandits on Saturday night.  While the game was GREAT fun, it was not close, not by a long-shot.  Final score 16 - 7, with 11 of those 16 scored in the first two innings (thought we were in for an ugly night).  But, our guys (Ben and I have established ourselves as honorary Canberrans, at least in our minds) came to life somewhat and made the rest of the game, well..., not awful.  The infield is a bit lackluster.  I didn't know how many errors could take place on one play, but now I do know that it's at least 3.

Before wrapping this up, I have to note some of the highlights.  The fans were AWESOME!  While I found myself explaining many rules to those around me, their lack of baseball fan experience did not diminish their enthusiasm.  The ragging those poor Bandits took from the Canberra fans was extensive.  Cannot leave-out the scoreboard.  After Ben and I sat down, I looked at the scoreboard in the outfield only to notice that it was dark.  The man next to me explained that the scoreboard didn't work anymore (the field opened in November, so anymore???).  A manual scoreboard was at the top of the stands.  The fans sitting under this scoreboard were responsible for keeping-up and changing the scores.  Yeah, just like Major League Baseball.  I believe I noted the same system in the last Yankees game.  I love Australia.

Don't think I have ever had such fun at a baseball game (sorry Ems)!  In the photos below:  the manual scoreboard (with a shot of Elvis climbing the stairs - it was Elvis night at the ballpark, in honor of his birthday), Ben with the Cavalry mascot, and a shot of our Canberra Cavalry on the field (that's Ben in the red shirt next to the field)!