# 1997–98 Melbourne Reds season

The 1997-98 Melbourne Reds season was the eighth season for the team. As was the case for the Red's previous seasons they competed in the Australian Baseball League (ABL).

## 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 | 5-2 | 11–2 | 27 January 1998 | Moorabbin Oval | 4-5 | 16 January 1998 | Norwood Oval | L1 |
| Brisbane Bandits | 7–1 | 20–7 | 22 November 1997 | ANZ Stadium | 7–11 | 22 November 1997 | ANZ Stadium | W7 |
| Gold Coast Cougars | 4–3 | 10–6 | 7 November 1997 | Carrara Oval | 3–6 | 7 November 1997 | Carrara Oval | L1 |
| Hunter Eagles | 7–1 | 17–7 | 19 December 1997 | Marathon Stadium | 4–5 | 19 December 1997 | Marathon Stadium | W3 |
| Melbourne Monarchs | 3–6 | 8–2 | 2 November 1997 | Moorabbin Oval | 4–14 | 10 January 1998 | Moorabbin Oval | W1 |
| Perth Heat | 2–4 | 8–3 | 27 December 1997 | WACA | 6–13 | 26 December 1997 | WACA | L2 |
| Sydney Storm | 2–4 | 13–4 | 1 February 1998 | Concord Oval | 4–8 | 5 January 1998 | Moorabbin Oval | W1 |
| Total | 30–21 | Brisbane Bandits | Brisbane Bandits | Brisbane Bandits | Melbourne Monarchs | Melbourne Monarchs | Melbourne Monarchs | W1 |
| Total | 30–21 | 20–7 | 22 November 1997 | ANZ Stadium | 4–14 | 10 January 1998 | Moorabbin Oval | W1 |

### Game log

| W | Reds win |
| L | Reds loss |
| T | Reds tie |
| | Game postponed |
| Bold | Reds team member |
1997-98 Game Log :
October
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveCrowdRecordRef
1
31 October
Monarchs
6–8
0-1 :
November
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveCrowdRecordRef
2
1 November (DH 1)
@ Monarchs
6–10
0-2
3
1 November (DH 2)
@ Monarchs
2–7
0-3
4
2 November
Monarchs
8–2
1-3
5
7 November (DH 1)
@ Cougars
3–6
1-4
6
7 November (DH 2)
@ Cougars
10–6
2-4
7
8 November (DH 1)
@ Cougars
4–5
2-5
8
8 November (DH 2)
@ Cougars
Wash Out
2-5
9
14 November
Cougars
4–1
3-5
10
15 November (DH 1)
Cougars
6–2
4-5
11
15 November (DH 2)
Cougars
3–2
5-5
12
16 November
Cougars
1–2
5-6
13
21 November
@ Bandits
7–11
5-7
14
22 November (DH 1)
@ Bandits
20–7
6-7
15
22 November (DH 2)
@ Bandits
12–7
7-7
16
23 November
@ Bandits
12–8
8-7
17
28 November
Bandits
12–8
9-7
18
29 November (DH 1)
Bandits
12–1
10-7
19
29 November (DH 2)
Bandits
11–7
11-7
20
30 November
Bandits
11–7
12-7 :
December
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveCrowdRecordRef
21
5 December
Eagles
2–1
13-7
22
6 December(DH 1)
Eagles
10–6
14-7
23
6 December (DH 2)
Eagles
7–6
15-7
24
7 December
Eagles
8–1
16-7
25
19 December (DH 1)
@ Eagles
4–5
16-8
26
19 December (DH 2)
@ Eagles
17–7
17-8
27
21 December (DH 1)
@ Eagles
8–7
18-8
28
21 December (DH 2)
@ Eagles
7–0
19-8
29
26 December (DH 1)
@ Heat
6–13
19-9
30
26 December (DH 2)
@ Heat
0–1
19-10
31
27 December (DH 1)
@ Heat
3–2
20-10
32
27 December (DH 2)
@ Heat
8–3
21-10 :
January
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveCrowdRecordRef
33
3 January
Storm
1–4
21-11
34
4 January
Storm
10–1
22-11
35
5 January
Storm
4–8
22-12
36
8 January
Monarchs
2–6
22-13
37
9 January
Monarchs
7–3
23-13
38
10 January
Monarchs
4–14
23-14
39
16 January (DH 1)
@ Giants
4–5
23-15
40
16 December (DH 2)
@ Giants
10–6
24-15
41
17 January (DH 1)
@ Giants
10–8
25-15
42
17 December (DH 2)
@ Giants
11–10
26-15
43
22 January
Heat
0–2
26-16
44
23 January
Heat
6–9
26-17
45
24 January
Heat
No Result
26-17
46
26 January
Giants
1–0
27-17
47
27 January
Giants
11–2
28-17
48
28 January
Giants
5–6
28-18
49
31 January
@ Storm
11–14
28-19 :
February
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveCrowdRecordRef
50
1 February
@ Storm
13–4
29-19
51
2 February
@ Storm
9–10
29-20
52
5 February
@ Monarchs
4–5
29-21
53
6 February
@ Monarchs
5–4
30-21
54
7 February
@ Monarchs
Wash Out
30-21 :

## 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 (Reds 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 4: 11 February 1998

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

#### Game 6: 12 February 1998

| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Melbourne Monarchs | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | 12 | ? | ? |
| Melbourne Reds | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | 5 | ? | ? |
| WP: ? (1-0) LP: ? (0-1) Sv: ? Home runs: Monarchs: ? Reds: ? |||||||||||||

### 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 | |

### Championship Series
#### Game 1: 14 February 1998

| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Gold Coast Cougars | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ? | ? |
| Melbourne Reds | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | 4 | ? | ? |
| WP: David White (1-0) LP: ? (0-1) Sv: ? Home runs: Cougars: - Reds: Shane Hogan (1) |||||||||||||

#### Game 2: 15 February 1998

| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Melbourne Reds | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 6 | ? |
| Gold Coast Cougars | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ? | ? |
| WP: Jason Beverlin (1-0) LP: Paxton Crawford (0-1) Sv: - Home runs: Reds: Shane Hogan (1), Myles Barnden (1) Cougars: - |||||||||||||

### Award Winners
#### ABL awards

| Award | Name |
| Manager of the Year | Tom Nieto |
| All-Star Game Home Run King | Chris Ashby |
| Championship Series MVP | Shane Hogan |

#### All-stars

| Position | Name |
| 1st Base | Adam Burton |
| Short Stop | Ben Utting |
| Manager | Tom Nieto |

#### Reds Awards

| Award | Name | Stat |
| Batting Champion | Adam Burton | .388 (165 At Bats) |
| RBI Champion | Adam Burton | 55 |
| Home Run King | Adam Burton | 21 |
| Base Path Pirate | Adam Burton | 18 of 19 |
| Pitching Champion | Pat Ahearne | 3.36ERA 3–4, 56.1IP |
| Pitching Workhorse | Jason Beverlin | 72.1IP 2–4, 6.22 |
| Strikeout King | Jason Beverlin | 67 |
| Sigh of Relief | David Simpson David White | 2 Saves |