# 1997–98 Sydney Storm season

The 1997–98 Sydney Storm season was the 6th season for the team, but first season known as the Storm. As was the case for the Franchises previous seasons they competed in the Australian Baseball League (ABL).

## Offseason

During the offseason the franchise changed its name from the Sydney Blues to the Sydney Storm, This was done as a result of legal action taken by Cricket NSW, Who also used the name Blues for its teams.

## Regular season
### Standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| 1 | Melbourne Monarchs | 52 | 32 | 20 | .615 | — | Advance to Finals Series |
| 2 | Sydney Storm | 54 | 32 | 22 | .593 | 1 | Advance to Finals Series |
| 3 | Melbourne Reds | 51 | 30 | 21 | .588 | 1.5 | Advance to Finals Series |
| 4 | Gold Coast Cougars | 53 | 31 | 22 | .585 | 1.5 | Advance to Finals Series |
| 5 | Perth Heat | 53 | 30 | 23 | .566 | 2.5 | |
| 6 | Adelaide Giants | 53 | 26 | 27 | .491 | 6.5 | |
| 7 | Brisbane Bandits | 53 | 20 | 33 | .377 | 12.5 | |
| 8 | Hunter Eagles | 53 | 10 | 43 | .189 | 22.5 | |

#### Record vs opponents

| Opponent | W–L Record | Largest Victory | Largest Victory | Largest Victory | Largest Defeat | Largest Defeat | Largest Defeat | Current Streak |
| Opponent | W–L Record | Score | Date | Ground | Score | Date | Ground | Current Streak |
| Adelaide Giants | 5–3 | 6–3 | Game 16 | Norwood Oval | 4 Runs (2) | | | L1 |
| Brisbane Bandits | 5–2 | 23–9 | Game 33 | Concord Oval | 1–6 | Game 48 | ANZ Stadium | L2 |
| Gold Coast Cougars | 1–6 | 12–7 | Game 52 | Concord Oval | 7–15 | 17 January 1998 | Carrara Oval | W1 |
| Hunter Eagles | 9–1 | 14–3 | 10 January 1998 | Concord Oval | 4–6 | Game 27 | Marathon Stadium | W5 |
| Melbourne Monarchs | 5–3 | 18–5 | 7 December 1997 | Concord Oval | 4–8 | 6 December 1997 | Concord Oval | W1 |
| Melbourne Reds | 4–2 | 8–4 | 5 January 1998 | Moorabbin Oval | 4–13 | 1 February 1998 | Concord Oval | L1 |
| Perth Heat | 3–5 | 5-1 & 9-5 | 15 November 1997 | WACA | 3–10 | 8 November 1997 | Concord Oval | L2 |
| Total | 32–22 | Brisbane Bandits | Brisbane Bandits | Brisbane Bandits | Melbourne Reds | Melbourne Reds | Melbourne Reds | W2 |
| Total | 32–22 | 23–9 | Game 33 | Concord Oval | 4–13 | 1 February 1998 | Concord Oval | W2 |

### Game log

| W | Storm win |
| L | Storm loss |
| T | Storm tie |
| | Game postponed |
| Bold | Storm team member |
1997-98 Game Log :
November
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveCrowdRecordRef
1
1 November (DH 1)
Eagles
11–10
1-0
2
1 November (DH 2)
Eagles
5–3
2-0
3
2 November (DH 1)
Eagles
Re-Scheduled
2-0
4
2 November (DH 2)
Eagles
Re-Scheduled
2-0
5
7 November (DH 1)
@ Heat
5–3
3-0
6
7 November (DH 2)
@ Heat
2-3
3-1
7
8 November (DH 1)
@ Heat
3-10
3-2
8
8 November (DH 2)
@ Heat
1-4
3-3
9
15 November (DH 1)
Heat
5-1
4-3
10
15 November (DH 2)
Heat
9-5
5-3
11
16 November (DH 1)
Heat
3-4
5-4
12
16 November (DH 2)
Heat
7-11
5-5
13
@ Giants
1–5
5-6
14
@ Giants
3–2
6-6
15
@ Giants
5–2
7-6
16
@ Giants
6–3
8-6
17
Giants
6–5
9-6
18
Giants
1–4
9-7
19
Giants
8–7
10-7
20
Giants
2–6
10-8 :
December
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveCrowdRecordRef
21
5 December
Monarchs
3-2
11-8
22
6 December (DH 1)
Monarchs
6-5
12-8
23
6 December (DH 2)
Monarchs
4-8
12-9
24
7 December
Monarchs
18-5
13-9
25
@ Eagles
8–5
14-9
26
@ Eagles
4–1
15-9
27
@ Eagles
4–6
15-10
28
@ Eagles
Wash Out
15-10
29
19 December
@ Monarchs
5-3
16-10
30
20 December (DH 1)
@ Monarchs
3-6
16-11
31
20 December (DH 2)
@ Monarchs
0-1
16-12
32
21 December
@ Monarchs
6–5
17-12
33
Bandits
23–9
18-12
34
Bandits
3–2
19-12
35
Bandits
10–0
20-12
36
Bandits
10–7
21-12 :
January
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveCrowdRecordRef
37
3 January
@ Reds
4-1
22-12
38
4 January
@ Reds
1-10
22-13
39
5 January
@ Reds
8-4
23-13
3
Eagles
17-14
24-13
40
9 January
Eagles
10-3
25-13
41
10 January
Eagles
14-3
26-13
42
11 January
Eagles
10-3
27-13
43
16 January
@ Cougars
12-17
27-14
44
17 January (DH 2)
@ Cougars
2-7
27-15
45
17 January (DH 2)
@ Cougars
7-15
27-16
46
18 January
@ Cougars
8-10
27-17
47
@ Bandits
3-2
28-17
48
@ Bandits
1-6
28-18
49
@ Bandits
1-2
28-19
50
Cougars
3-9
28-20
51
Cougars
5-8
28-21
52
Cougars
12-7
29-21
53
31 January
Reds
14–11
30-21 :
February
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveCrowdRecordRef
54
1 February
Reds
4–13
30-22
55
2 February
Reds
10-9
31-22
4
Eagles
11-5
32-22 :

## Postseason
### Finals Series at Melbourne Ballpark

In previous years the post season was played as home and away best of 3 games, with the two winner of each series meeting for a best of 5 series{fact}, in 1997-98 this was changed to a round robin play-off format with each team playing 3 games, 1 against each of the other 3 qualified teams, with the two highest places teams playing off in the Championship Series.
All games for the 9th ABL title were played at the Melbourne Ballpark from February, 10-12 with the best of three championship series February 14–15.

### Finals Series (Storm games)

Full series results

#### Game 2: 10 February 1998

| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Melbourne Reds | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | 18 | ? | ? |
| Sydney Storm | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | 5 | ? | ? |
| WP: ? (1-0) LP: ? (0-1) Sv: ? Home runs: Reds: ? Storm: ? |||||||||||||

#### Game 3: 11 February 1998

| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Melbourne Monarchs | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | 1 | ? | ? |
| Sydney Storm | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | 5 | ? | ? |
| WP: ? (1-0) LP: ? (0-1) Sv: ? Home runs: Monarchs: ? Storm: ? |||||||||||||

#### Game 5: 12 February 1998

| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Sydney Storm | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | 6 | ? | ? |
| Gold Coast Cougars | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | 8 | ? | ? |
| WP: ? (1-0) LP: ? (0-1) Sv: ? Home runs: Storm: ? Cougars: ? |||||||||||||

### Postseason Ladder

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | RF | RA | RD | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| 1 | Melbourne Reds | 3 | 2 | 1 | 25 | 18 | +7 | .667 | — | Advance to Championship series |
| 2 | Gold Coast Cougars | 3 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 13 | +3 | .667 | — | Advance to Championship series |
| 3 | Melbourne Monarchs | 3 | 1 | 2 | 18 | 17 | +1 | .333 | 1 | |
| 4 | Sydney Storm | 3 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 27 | −11 | .333 | 1 | |

#### ABL awards

| Award | Name |
| Most Valuable Player | Brendan Kingman |
| Golden Glove | Glenn Williams |
| Batting Award | Brendan Kingman |
| Rookie of the Year | Rodney Van Buizen |

#### All-stars

| Position | Name | ref |
| Catcher | Gary White | |
| Designated Hitter | Brendan Kingman | |

#### Storm Awards

| Award | Name | Stat | ref |