January 2003...
I was sitting in my office at Crossway chatting with my new boss, Andrew Shepherd. We were chatting between offices about what sports we were into and he was sharing with me how he loved AFL, the mighty Tigers and had a fanatical friend called Pete who was a committed supporter.
I shared how I loved baseball but on a national level, there was really only a very short Claxton Shield Championship competition held throughout the summer between states. I researched and that year it was interstate so I promised myself that at the least, I would commit to attend when Victoria hosted games.
At one point in our chat, I turned to Andrew and said, "I wish baseball was as big as AFL here. In America they pull crowds of 30,000+ a game and they play most days of the week! I dream of the day that baseball is as big as AFL! Imagine that! Imagine going with like 100 of your mates to a baseball game and you're all passionately supporting the Victorian boys!"
And staring off across the office, I tuned out to what was going on around me as I began to dream of a day where I would see 100 of my friends come along to a game to cheer on the boys!
It seemed achievable, almost inevitable, but there was only one problem...no one I knew really liked baseball!
I was sitting in my office at Crossway chatting with my new boss, Andrew Shepherd. We were chatting between offices about what sports we were into and he was sharing with me how he loved AFL, the mighty Tigers and had a fanatical friend called Pete who was a committed supporter.
I shared how I loved baseball but on a national level, there was really only a very short Claxton Shield Championship competition held throughout the summer between states. I researched and that year it was interstate so I promised myself that at the least, I would commit to attend when Victoria hosted games.
At one point in our chat, I turned to Andrew and said, "I wish baseball was as big as AFL here. In America they pull crowds of 30,000+ a game and they play most days of the week! I dream of the day that baseball is as big as AFL! Imagine that! Imagine going with like 100 of your mates to a baseball game and you're all passionately supporting the Victorian boys!"
And staring off across the office, I tuned out to what was going on around me as I began to dream of a day where I would see 100 of my friends come along to a game to cheer on the boys!
It seemed achievable, almost inevitable, but there was only one problem...no one I knew really liked baseball!