Thursday 15th July 2004

The Australian Baseball Federation (ABF) is pleased to announce that the list of nominated athletes for the 2004 Australian Olympic Baseball Team has been finalised and submitted to the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) pending their approval.

The Australian Baseball Federation’s Operations Manager, Don Knapp anticipates that the nominated team will have great success from this point on.

“We are expecting a more stable period between the times of nominations to the time we get the team out on the field in Athens.
Some will recall that prior to the Sydney 2000 Games that we underwent a very destabilizing and unsettling time, especially through the loss of players to Major League call-ups.
We have both a greater depth of talent and better timed games in 2004.
This will help us immensely with our preparations for Athens.”

The selection of the 25-man team was narrowed down from an impressive 40-man squad containing some 35 professional Australian players and is said to be the strongest team the nation has produced in many years.

Head Coach Jon Deeble is confident that the 2004 team has the potential to succeed at the 2004 Games.

“This is by far the strongest team we have ever produced.
In 2000 we had a team combined of ABL players and ex-pros.
However, this team is made up of Major League players such as Graeme Lloyd, John Stephens and Dave Nilsson.
This really gives us the experience to compete for a medal at the Olympic Games.
We also have a vast majority of players on the verge of making the Major Leagues - for example Phil Stockman, Chris Oxspring, Craig Anderson, Adrian Burnside and Justin Huber.
I think this combination will allow us to stand in good stead.”

Whilst Australia is set to face strong competition in Athens including Canada, Cuba and Japan, Deeble still has gold in mind.
“Our aim is to finish in the top four and from there we feel we can win a medal.”

With the Games set to commence on the 13th of August, the Olympic team will depart Australia on the 30th July for a pre-Olympic training camp in Phoenix, Arizona.

The team will have a final meeting in New York on the 6th of August before departing for the Olympic city that night.

Trent Durrington and Justin Huber, two of Australia's biggest impact players, will miss the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.

Queensland infielder Trent Durrington was promoted to the Milwaukee Brewers Major League Team in the USA professional system on the 2nd August, just two days before he was set to meet the Olympic team in New York.
International rules prevent Major League players from competing in the Olympics and therefore Trent’s promotion has seen his Olympic position filled by fellow Queenslander Andrew Utting.

Victorian catcher Justin Huber will also miss the Games due to a knee injury that he sustained just 24 hours before he was due to depart for Athens.
Huber tore the muscle in his knee whilst playing in a minor league game for his US professional team the New York Mets on Thursday.
Huber will be replaced by South Australian catcher Ben Wigmore.

The Australian Baseball Federation’s Operations Manager Don Knapp has every confidence in the team’s new editions.
“The loss of players such as Trent Durrington and Justin Huber is a set back, but we have every confidence in Andrew Utting and Ben Wigmore.
They are both solid performers under pressure and very deserving of the Olympic opportunity.”

The 2004 Australian Olympic Baseball Team arrived in Athens on the 7th August and is set to begin an intensive week of training before they play their first game against Cuba on the 15th of August.

The Aussies will also take on the Greek baseball team in a pre-Olympic 3 game training match that will be played on the 8th-11th of August.

The Olympic opening ceremony will be held on the 13th of August 2004.