News

by Michael Dixon

Australian baseball fans are treated to something exceedingly rare this weekend – watch their national team play a game at home. A loaded 21-man Team Australia squad, all of whom have experience in the World Baseball Classic, are set to take on a top-tier professional Korean baseball team training in Melbourne.

The Hanwha Eagles of the Korean Baseball Organization chose Melbourne Ballpark to train at for many reasons, including the ease of access, the proximity to a major metropolitan city and the weather that would allow them to train outside on a regular basis. (This is the first time anyone’s said anything nice about the Melbourne weather, right?)

But with Hanwha in Melbourne for three weeks and completing their stay with a two-game exhibition series against Team Australia this weekend, it gives us a chance to explore: Who exactly are the Hanwha Eagles?

HISTORY

The Eagles – based out of Daejeon, South Korea, about 140 km south of Seoul – were founded in 1985 as the Binggrae Eagles (Binggrae was part of the Hanwha Corporation at the time).

The club found immediate success, reaching the Korean Series in four of the first seven years, but unfortunately never breaking through to win Korean baseball’s ultimate prize.

Not long after that run, the club renamed to the Hanwha Eagles in 1993. Nothing really changed; Hanwha was still one of Korean baseball’s top clubs, and on the back of Korean baseball legend Song Jin-woo (who holds KBO records for wins, strikeouts and innings pitched) the Eagles broke through to win their first and only Korean Series title in 1999.

That wasn’t it.

Hanwha continued to make the playoffs and continued to make a run at the title, reaching the Series but losing in 2006.

That marked a shift for the Eagles that they’re still trying to reverse. Hanwha has made the playoffs only once (2018) since 2007, and that year marked Hanwha’s only winning record over that span.

Watch the International Baseball Showdown this weekend on Baseball+.

AUSTRALIA INFO: 21-man roster revealed for Team Australia’s first games on home soil in four years

That said, there’s still plenty of room for optimism.

Hanwha improved drastically last year and with a handful of can’t-miss prospects coming to the Eagles through the KBO Draft (which functions similarly to most professional drafts across the world, where the teams lowest on the ladder usually get the best picks) and aggressive moves in free agency, there’s reason to believe 2024 could be Hanwha’s best season in a long time.

Our first test of that will come against Team Australia at Melbourne Ballpark this weekend.

THE STADIUM

Hanwha calls Hanwha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon home, and who doesn’t love a fun ballpark nickname? It used to be known as ‘The Ping Pong Table’ for having the smallest dimensions for a pro ballpark in Korea until its renovation that made the playing surface larger in 2011/12.

Though the stadium was built in the 1960s, it didn’t house a KBO team until 1982, when the OB Bears (now known as the Doosan Bears in Seoul) called the ballpark home for three seasons.

Binggrae then took over the park in 1985 and Hanwha has played there ever since, now with a capacity of 13,000 and larger park dimensions that can make the park play more pitcher friendly.

It’s a symmetrical ballpark – meaning you’d get the same image on both sides if you cut it in half from the plate to the centre-field fence. It’s 122m (400 ft) to straightaway centre, 110m (367 ft) to left- and right-centre, and 100m (328 ft) down the left- and right-field lines.

The outfield fence is also the same height (3.2m or 10 ft) from pole to pole.

OUTLOOK FOR 2024

There’s no doubt that 2024 is a huge year for the Eagles in their quest to return to Korean baseball supremacy.

Hanwha needs to score more runs, with just 604 – the fewest among the 10 KBO teams – in 2023.

The good news? The Eagles return arguably the KBO’s best hitter – 3B Roh Si-hwan – from a season ago.

Si-hwan hit .298 with a .929 OPS and a league-best 31 homers and 101 RBIs in the middle of Hawwha’s lineup last year. Si-hwan has shown steady progress in every season since he was drafted 3^rd overall by Hanwha in 2019 – becoming the first player born after 2000 to hit 10+ homers when he slugged 12 in 2020 and the first born after 2000 to hit 30+ when he led the league last year. There’s no reason to expect any serious regression in 2024.

The Eagles also got aggressive on the free agent market, inking KBO veteran INF An Chi-hong to a multi-year contract this offseason. T

he former 1^st overall pick of Kia Tigers in 2009 is a career .297 hitter in the KBO and hasn’t had a full season hitting below .270 since 2013 (!!).

Chi-hong is making big money to provide big results in the Hanwha lineup after spending the last four years with Chiba Lotte. The most dangerous power-hitting days might be behind the 33-year-old, but there’s no doubt his presence alone will make a difference in the new-look Hanwha lineup.

Hanwha has also clearly tried to draft pitchers in the earlier rounds of the most recent drafts, with both Kim Seo-hyeon and Hwang Jun-seo a part of what seems to be a deep organizational pitching depth chart. Seo-hyeon struggled in his pro debut last year, but he went No. 1 overall in 2023 after showcasing a fastball over 100 mph during his prep career, while Jun-seo went first overall this past September – another prized possession for Hanwha to add to its organization.

What they do have, though, is Moon Dong-Ju. The 20-year-old became the first player in KBO history to throw a 160kmh pitch (99.4mph) in April 2023. He is a player with a stock on the rise, and pitched for the Korean National Team vs Australia at the Asia Professional Baseball Championships.

While the Eagles still have work to do, the organization’s youth movement could blossom at the perfect time with Hanwha appearing to improve with some other moves made the last couple of years.

Team Australia has announced its Under 18 National Junior Squad.

The squad will head to the USA from September – October to play games in front of a big audience of scouts and college recruiters, with it being an off-year for the U18 World Cup.

Selected off the back of the recent U18 Australian Youth Championships, the national squad will head to Florida to play in the highest level tournaments outside of World Cup events.

The training sessions and games will be played in front of professional scouts and college recruiters, while coming up against the best high-school players in the USA who are already committed to top Division 1 schools. There are many potential high MLB draft picks.

“This is a great opportunity to play in front of all the top junior colleges, universities of every level and professional organisations,” says National Player Development Manager Andrew Riddell. “Experiences like this provide a chance to represent your country, wear that green and gold, and face tough opposition.”

While there is no U18 World Cup this season, there is still plenty of Team Australia action to come. Australia will play in the U23 World Cup in China in October, and the Premier12 in November. The senior men’s team will play an exhibition game at home vs Hanwha Eagles from February 17-18 in Melbourne. You can watch those games on Baseball+.

Congratulations to all the players who will represent their country:

Baseball Australia – in partnership with Perfect Game – will be touring the USA with the Under 16 and Under 18 National Junior Squads in September and October 2024.

Australia will name an Under-18 and Under-16 national squad to play in Perfect Game-run events in America.

The Under-16 event will be held in Atlanta, Georgia in September.

The Under-18 event will travel to events in Florida – in Jupiter and Port St. Lucie – from late-September to early October.

The tour will be 12 days-long and see these players battle against some of the best American talent of the respective age groups.

The squads will be named in the coming weeks. This comes after the Australian Youth Championships last week in Sydney.

The international events will be played in front of an audience filled with scouts and colleges. It is run by well-known international baseball organisation Perfect Game.

“This is a great opportunity to play in front of all the top junior colleges, universities and professional organisations,” says National Player Development Manager Andrew Riddell. “Experiences like this provides an opportunity to represent your country while facing tough opposition including top college commits, all while representing our country in a non-World Cup year.”

Riddell says the teams Australia will play are all made up of players who have already committed to top schools.

“It’s about providing our players with a glimpse into what facing future college competition may look, while also helping create exposure for scholarships and college opportunities for our players as they graduate out of high school.”

Perfect Game is the world’s largest baseball scouting service. They host high-quality travel team tournament and individual showcases across the world. It offers major scouting, signing and MLB draft opportunities for players.

The USA-tours will be preceded by the hard work players do in their respective states through the Baseball Australia endorsed ‘State Performance Pathways Program.’

Baseball Australia’s General Manager of Performance Pathways & Player Development Michael Crooks says states are critical in developing Australian talent.

“We saw first-hand the talent from states across the country this week at the Australian Youth Championships. These are the principal environments for talented played across the country to work on and develop their skills for transitioning into places like college, the ABL and professional baseball,” says Crooks of the state-based Performance Pathways Programs.

The national team’s selection panel is concluding the player assessment process, with the National Junior Squads to be announced prior to the end of January.

Please visit one of our event hubs for recaps of the 2024 Australian Youth Championships.

• U18 Event Hub: 2024 U-18 Australian Youth Championships (U18 AYC)
• U16 Event Hub: 2024 U-16 Australian Youth Championships (U16 AYC)

It’s been a while since Australian baseball fans have been able to watch the senior men’s national team on home soil.

When Team Australia takes the field at Melbourne Ballpark on February 17 for the first game of a two-game series vs Korean baseball giant Hanwha Eagles, there will be no shortage of talent with international experience at the highest level.

All 21 players have played in at least one World Baseball Classic.

“After having success at the World Baseball Classic last year, it’s important we continue to win as a team,” says Team Australia’s head coach Dave Nilsson. “This group has the experience and the talent to do that.”

19 of the players on the list played in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, where Australia reached the quarterfinals for the first time. Two others – Tim Atherton and Lachlan Wells – may not have been on the most recent WBC quad, pitched in the 2017 version of the tournament.

SELLING FAST: GET YOUR TICKETS TO SEE TEAM AUSTRALIA AT HOME

The two-game series from February 17-18 at Melbourne Ballpark gives fans a chance to see their heroes in action. It’s the first time since 2020 the senior men’s squad has played a game in Australia.

It also launches a massive 2024 for the Australian national team. Team Australia will compete in the ‘Premier12’ in November 2024 – it’s effectively a World Championship for the planet’s Top 12 ranked baseball teams run by the World Baseball Softball Confederation’ (WBSC).

Watch all the action this weekend on Baseball+. Click here for download links and how to cast to your TV.

“If this group stays healthy, I expect them to be together for the Premier12 later this year,” says Nilsson.

The two games are supported by the Melbourne Aces and the Victorian Government. Australia will play two games vs the Hanhwa Eagles – a team which plays in the top professional competition in South Korea.

You can get tickets by clicking this link. Some sections have already sold out.

The Eagles are in Melbourne for Spring Training ahead of the 2024 KBO season. They are home to the KBO’s 2023 home run champion Si Hwan Roh. Team Australia co-captain Warwick Saupold played for Hanhwa from 2020-21.

Here is the roster:

UPDATE: Jordan McArdle has replaced Lachlan Wells on the roster.

OF – Tim Kennelly
OF – Aaron Whitefield
OF – Ulrich Bojarski
3B – Darryl George
SS – Logan Wade
INF – Jarryd Dale
1B – Rixon Wingrove
1B – Jake Bowey
C – Robbie Perkins
C – Alex Hall

LHP – Lachlan Wells
LHP – Steven Kent
LHP – Jon Kennedy
LHP – Dan McGrath
RHP – Tim Atherton
RHP – Sam Holland
RHP – Warwick Saupold
RHP – Coen Wynne
RHP – Josh Guyer
RHP – Luke Wilkins
RHP – Todd Van Steensel