Newport Rams have backed Baseball Victoria’s all-star concept with two of its own stars preparing to take part in east-versus-west clash at the Melbourne Ballpark on Wednesday (January 18).
The Rams have praised the lateral thinking of the competition power brokers in naming the west team the Monarchs and the east team the Reds in a nod to Melbourne baseball history.
Those nicknames go back to the days when the Monarchs and the Reds were Melbourne’s two representatives in the Australian Baseball League. These days, it’s the western suburbs-based Melbourne Aces who have made the city their own in terms of the national competition.
“When the concept of the all-star game was first floated, the names Monarchs and Reds weren’t part of it, so it was simply going to be east versus west,” Rams assistant coach Dean Anglin said. “For them to think a bit more laterally and embed some history of the competition is brilliant.
“From our club point of view, there’s always risks with games like this and our two best players involved, but we’ll make them available – we’re happy to support it and hopefully it can become an annual thing. We’ll be behind it for as long as it keeps going.”
Rams stars Matt Lawman and Jimmy Jensen will play for the Monarchs in the all-star game.
Lawman has endured a tough summer with his body but is still a key cog for the Rams despite not being at 100 per cent fitness.
Due to his ongoing hamstring niggle, Lawman will likely work as a designated hitter for the Monarchs.
“Matty’s been in fine form all season,” Anglin said. “Every time he steps to the plate, he’s a threat to put the ball out of the park.”
Lawman, a shortstop, made it all the way to the US minor leagues with the Minnesota Twins in a decorated career. He is rightly put on a pedestal at Newport for what he has achieved at home and abroad, with all at the club taking pride in calling him their all-star.
Jensen’s association with Newport has been far briefer – he arrived at the start of this season as the club’s import player.
In six months, Jensen has made an incredible impression on his new teammates, holding down a starting pitching role and excelling at the plate to be the second-best hitter behind Lawman. “It’s amazing to have a guy that comes to your organisation essentially for a six-month period and then just wears the club’s logo on his sleeve and goes out and competes every day and never wants to lose,” Anglin said. “He sits second on our batting average behind Matty. The guy is phenomenal.”
Baseball Victoria has announced entry to the all-star game will be free. The first pitch will be at 7pm.
