Overview

Queensland teams have enjoyed a successful renaissance in recent years enjoying two wins and a second place finish in the last four Claxton tournaments

Their resurgence to the forefront of Australian baseball was no more evident than last year when they completed a 7-0 sweep of the event in dominant fashion - the first time on record a team had won the tournament undefeated

2006 Coach of the Year Peter Gahan leads the Rams into battle again in ’07, and has the unenviable task of trying to live up to last year’s remarkable performance

Players to Watch

Phil Stockman, RHP
While there are mixed reports that Stockman still may be under the same injury cloud that prematurely ended his first stint in the Major leagues in ’06, there is no denying that the 6’8” right hander is key to QLD’s success - if he ends up pitching this year, there will be some nervous hitters facing his electric stuff

Brett Roneberg, OF
Roneberg has been a mainstay of QLD and Australian teams for the better part of the last decade - a 'Helms Award' winner in 2004, his left-handed bat should prove the lynch-pin for the Rams - at 27, Roneberg is just starting to reach his prime and could well dominate again in 2007

Tristan Crawford, RHP
Crawford is beginning to develop into one of Australia’s finest relief pitchers - he had a breakout year at AA, and uses a good fastball to compliment his nasty slider - a pitch that should see him bamboozle more than his fair share of opposing hitters - look for Crawford to close if Stockman is unavailable

Brad Dutton, SS
Dutton had a Claxton Shield to remember in 2006 - he took out the 'Helms Award', the batting title and played flawless defence to boot - his workman-like attitude makes him invaluable to the Rams, and his reputation as a “clutch” hitter is a priceless commodity to the QLD offence

David Sutherland, 1B
To say Sutherland is a quiet achiever is an understatement - you would be lucky to get two-words from the giant firstbaseman, but thankfully Sutherland lets his bat do the talking - an RBI machine with a career .360 Claxton Shield average entering 2007, look for him to drive in the bulk of QLD’s runs

Summary

While it will be difficult to replicate the magic of a year ago, the Rams still have enough weapons at their disposal to pose a threat to any team in ’07

Unfortunately for QLD some of their biggest military hardware will be absent this January - most notably, last years Pitching Champion Matt Gahan, and Major League veteran Trent Durrington

The Queensland bullpen might be the tournaments best, but depth in the starting ranks may be too big a hurdle for Coach Peter Gahan and his men

The key to a Rams repeat will be adhering to fundamentals and executing well in crucial scoring situations
If they are able to pull that off, don’t be surprised if the Shield flies north again this summer!!

My mind drifts back to ancient and bygone days when it was common for young Melbourne sports fans to barter and swap VFL (remember them?) player cards
Since the team rosters were announced I've been pondering the winner in the deal
"So I'll swap you a Durrington, a Foster and a Gahan - you give me a Bevis, a Mowday and a Veitch?"
"Well, OK - as long as you include a David Nilsson rookie card!!"

As I mentioned in the previous preview there have been some heavy losses and some good replacements when comparing the 2007 squad with the 2006 Queensland roster
Possibly because we know more about those who will not be playing than some of the new guys we came to the conclusion that, if anything, the 2007 squad has been marginally weakened

However, as we also explained, the Queensland Rams won only one game at Claxton Shield 2005, but they have not lost one since!

The undefeated 2006 Claxton Shield Champion Queensland Rams were a terrific team and it is pretty good news for rival teams that they may not be quite as strong in Perth - just how good this news is we're not too sure?

Who better to open the departures with than our most recent 'Flintoff & Dunn' HALL-OF-FAME inductee from 2006 in evergreen great Trent Durrington
'Durro' has been such a loyal stalwart of all Australian baseball competitions that we had to rub our eyes a few times to make sure that his name was really missing from the list!
We're guessing that there is a very good reason why he couldn't make it to Perth, but if he is simply taking a break this time, there is nobody in Australian baseball more deserving of a leave pass
Australia's eighth player to reach the major leagues, Durrington played regularly in the big leagues with both the Anaheim Angels and the Milwaukee Brewers, while he spent 2006 in 'AAA' with the Boston Red Sox
At home he is a stalwart of 245 games after starting with the 1993 East Coast Cougars in the ABL
He owns a career .249 average with 86 stolen bases in AMLB and he batted .417 for Queensland at Claxton 2006
We will bet every cent that we make from selling our book this year (big deal!) that we have not seen the last of Trent Durrington at showcase events in Australia
Once again we will repeat what we said last year in our tribute to this 2004 Olympic Silver Medallist and member of Australia's team at the inaugural World Baseball Classic
Here it is:-
We must pay another tribute to one of its most famous and underrated sons TRENT DURRINGTON
Major League stalwart Trent has been unable to do justice to his undoubted talents during the short tournaments in Australia, but he deserves tremendous credit as one of the few big name players who consistently makes himself available to support baseball on Australian diamonds
We dip our caps to you Trent, you are a true Aussie hero and it is high time that you got the respect you deserve!
As Australia's No.1 baseball journalist Adrian Dunn wrote in our latest publication - Trent Durrington is an example to all young and aspiring baseballers in the way he prepares himself to play every day and in the way he conducts himself on and off the field - could anyone disagree? - not likely!

Next on the illustrious list of missing persons is 2006 "wrecking ball" Matt Gahan who almost carried the Rams to the title on the back of his prodigious pitching
Gahan played two years and reached 'A' ball with the New York Mets, while he owns a lifetime AMLB record of 5-1, 1.48ERA from 15 appearances since the 2001 IBLA
At Blacktown in 2006 Gahan took his status to a new level with his Golden Arm Award performance that took him all the way to the World Baseball Classic

You don't replace this type of performance, but the names of Bevis, Mowday and Veitch do somewhat soften the blow!

Queensland may find it tougher to match their offensive depth from 2006 with Ben Foster, Michael Simpson and Wade Dutton joining Durrington among the absentees
Foster has been a underrated utility player for Queensland teams since starting with the ABL's 1997 Gold Coast Cougars
He batted for a .269 average from 142 AMLB games but he was in career best form at Claxton Shield 2006 when he batted .444
Most would know that Ben has "moved up" to the front-office of Baseball Australia where he has also earned a positive reputation in a short time
Light-hitting 28yo infielder Michael Simpson has also been a stalwart of Queensland teams, having made 45 appearances since starting with the 1998 Brisbane Bandits in the ABL
Simpson batted a pesky .270 over this time with not a hint of power, but he was selected mostly for his defence
Wade Dutton batted only .167 in ten games over the past two Claxton Shields but it is tough to judge a batter from only 18 total at bats

Aside from the "main man" Gahan, the Rams will also be without very useful bullpen arms Matthew Haynes, Mark Kearney and Luke Thwaites
Haynes spent four years reaching 'A' ball with the Cleveland Indians and he compiled a 1-0, 5.25ERA record in three Claxton Shield appearances from 2002 to 2006
Kearney had three appearances at Claxton 2006 for his valuable 1-0, 4.26ERA record
Thwaites played rookie ball with the Minnesota Twins in 2004 and he left Claxton 2006 with a 0-0, 13.50ERA from two outings

It's great to see two of Queensland's Claxton Shield Championship heroes from 2003 making a return in the form of Golden Arm Award winner John Veitch and Championship Game MVP P.J Bevis
Veitch owns a very solid 6-2, 3.25ERA record from 16 AMLB appearances since the 2001 IBLA competition
Bevis reached 'AA' with the Arizona Diamondbacks before playing at 'AAA' level with both the New York Mets and Colorado Rockies
P.J also started his AMLB career at the 2001 IBLA for his miserly 3-1, 1.51ERA record from 18 ventures on the mound
If these guys are a shadow of their 2003 best, the Queenslanders may not mention the name Matt Gahan too often during Claxton 2007

Also adding experience to the bullpen is Chris Mowday who spent seven years in the US pro ranks, playing 'A' ball with the Toronto Blue Jays, Oakland Athletics and Chicago Cubs until the end of 2004
His 0-3, 6.42ERA record in AMLB since he started with the 1998 Brisbane Bandits may not look too special, but he is capable of being MUCH better than that!

22yo righty Matthew Bates is completely unknown to us but he'd have to be pretty good to make this roster!

26yo infielder Brendan Kleidon makes a return to Claxton Shield action after a couple of seasons in hibernation - he will hope to improve his career .169 average from 20 appearances from 2002 to 2004

Highly rated 18yo Alan Shoenberger was signed by the Philadelphia Phillies during 2006 so we will be looking forward to seeing what he has to offer at this early stage of his career

So too 18yo Jacob Rooke and 23yo Matthew Coco who are listed as utility players and no doubt hoping to make their AMLB debuts at Thornlie in the next week or so

The Conclusion

So, we've traded our player cards and even though we're not convinced that we got the better of the transaction, we still shuffle through our Queensland pack with some comfort seeing the faces of Brett Roneberg, Phil Stockman, Andrew Utting, Wayne Ough, Tristan Crawford, Brad Dutton, David Sutherland, Jay Nilsson - I can't go on!!

A good baseball mate of mine pointed out the apparent situation that finds not one single LEFTY among the pitching stocks of this Queensland Rams team - but then he also commented that their right-handers are pretty darn good!

I agree, it's by no means a perfect science to try to predict success based mainly upon previous teams and performances but, in the absence of a crystal ball, it's about the best that we or anyone else can do!

To be mildly arrogant, we do have a very good overall record of predicting the "finishing order" at Claxton Shields since we stated these previews in 2002
Our record in forecasting the ultimate winner is not quite so good - so there's a bit of good news for teams who hope to wrest the Claxton Shield from the Rams in Perth this year

We reckon that they will all find this a very difficult assignment, but we can't wait to find out