Bio and for Oeltjen at MiLB and Baseball Cube
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fmmiraclegal
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Posts: 1253
(7/28/05 6:21 am )
Aussies find places to play ball during younger days Down Under
By David Dorsey
Fort Myers News Press
They come from the land Down Under, and they come hoping to break into Major League Baseball despite coming from Australia, a country best known for rugby and cricket.
Tristan Crawford, Peter Tautor and Trent Oeltjen of the Fort Myers Miracle represent three of the 17 Australians in the 239-player Minnesota Twins organization.
One of the largest land areas in the world, Australia provides the fourth-most players within the Twins, trailing the United States, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic.
This week, The News-Press is looking at the diversity and cultural differences that abound in the Miracle's clubhouse.
The Miracle roster has players from 12 states, six countries and three continents.
"We've had a lot of success within the Twins," said Oeltjen, an outfielder and native of Sydney.
Pitchers Grant Balflour and Brad Thomas and third baseman Glenn Williams, all Australians, have all played in the big leagues for the Twins over the past two seasons.
"Baseball's getting bigger," Oeltjen said. "There's more and more players in the minor leagues."
Oeltjen, 22, began playing baseball as a 5-year-old. His father, an American, encouraged his son to play the sport.
Tautor, 24, began playing as a teenager.
"It's not common at all," Tautor said. "I got into it through my sister's boyfriend. He played. They said I had a pretty good arm, so I started pitching. I was 13. I haven't played as long as some people."
Crawford, 23, a dual citizen whose mother is American, was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, until he turned 7. That's when his father relocated the family back to Australia.
Crawford switched to playing cricket, a game that resembles baseball in that the ball's about the same size. Players hit the ball with a flat wooden bat.
But the similarities end there.
They play cricket on an oval-shaped field, with 10 position players fielding around that oval while a "baller" throws with an awkward windup to the hitter.
"Come on, you're putting me to sleep," Miracle outfielder and American Scott Whitrock said as Crawford attempted, with little success, to explain cricket, drawing a diagram on a blank sheet of paper.
Rolling his eyes, Crawford said: "It's a complicated game. Americans have a tough time understanding it. You have to be basically born and bred."
When Crawford moved to Australia, he knew nothing of baseball being played there.
"The closest thing to it was cricket," Crawford said. "One of my coaches was like, 'Why don't you play baseball?' I said, 'Well, where can you play baseball?' "
Most Australian schools only field rugby and cricket teams. Baseball players must play independently on club teams throughout the country.
That's what Crawford, Oeltjen and Tautor each did.
Major league scouts are catching on to the increase in Australian players. The Twins have Howard Norsetter, a scout based in Ascot Vale, Victoria, in Australia. He signed all three of the Miracle Australians.
"I got scouted when I was 13 years old," Crawford said. "They basically followed me from there.
"When I signed in 2000, I was like the 50th Australian to sign. Now, there's maybe 70 more."
Unlike other countries, Australia has yet to produce a definitive player a perennial All-Star like Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki (Japan), Mets pitcher Pedro Martinez (Dominican Republic) or emerging Twins ace Johan Santana (Venezuela).
"There aren't many that come to mind, except maybe for Dave Nilssen and Graeme Lloyd," Tautor said, referring to the former Brewers catcher and Yankees relief pitcher.
"It's definitely a motivator, looking at them," Tautor said. "They came back to Australia and they really helped out with the game there.
"It's definitely motivation knowing that the icon status is still open. It's certainly there to be taken over."
Other than the Aussie accent, the players said they do not have too many cultural differences from their American counterparts.
"The portions are a lot smaller in Australia," Oeltjen said. "Over there, you order a pancake and it's like this big around," he said, forming a small circle.
"Over here, the pancakes are like this big around," he said, outreaching his arms in the shape of a much bigger circle.
"Americans eat a lot more," said Oeltjen, who, since arriving to the United States has gained 25 pounds. He now weighs 195.
There were a couple of other differences.
"I didn't ever think about meeting the Latin guys," Oeltjen said. "That was different, getting used to the different languages. I know all of the cuss words now."
Having 16 peers from Australia within the system also has helped.
"I couldn't imagine going through the system as the only Australian," Oeltjen said. "We all have something in common."
Published on July 28, 2005
edit to add bio link
Posted by:
fmmiraclegal
Moderator
Posts: 1253
(7/28/05 6:21 am )
Aussies find places to play ball during younger days Down Under
By David Dorsey
Fort Myers News Press
They come from the land Down Under, and they come hoping to break into Major League Baseball despite coming from Australia, a country best known for rugby and cricket.
Tristan Crawford, Peter Tautor and Trent Oeltjen of the Fort Myers Miracle represent three of the 17 Australians in the 239-player Minnesota Twins organization.
One of the largest land areas in the world, Australia provides the fourth-most players within the Twins, trailing the United States, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic.
This week, The News-Press is looking at the diversity and cultural differences that abound in the Miracle's clubhouse.
The Miracle roster has players from 12 states, six countries and three continents.
"We've had a lot of success within the Twins," said Oeltjen, an outfielder and native of Sydney.
Pitchers Grant Balflour and Brad Thomas and third baseman Glenn Williams, all Australians, have all played in the big leagues for the Twins over the past two seasons.
"Baseball's getting bigger," Oeltjen said. "There's more and more players in the minor leagues."
Oeltjen, 22, began playing baseball as a 5-year-old. His father, an American, encouraged his son to play the sport.
Tautor, 24, began playing as a teenager.
"It's not common at all," Tautor said. "I got into it through my sister's boyfriend. He played. They said I had a pretty good arm, so I started pitching. I was 13. I haven't played as long as some people."
Crawford, 23, a dual citizen whose mother is American, was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, until he turned 7. That's when his father relocated the family back to Australia.
Crawford switched to playing cricket, a game that resembles baseball in that the ball's about the same size. Players hit the ball with a flat wooden bat.
But the similarities end there.
They play cricket on an oval-shaped field, with 10 position players fielding around that oval while a "baller" throws with an awkward windup to the hitter.
"Come on, you're putting me to sleep," Miracle outfielder and American Scott Whitrock said as Crawford attempted, with little success, to explain cricket, drawing a diagram on a blank sheet of paper.
Rolling his eyes, Crawford said: "It's a complicated game. Americans have a tough time understanding it. You have to be basically born and bred."
When Crawford moved to Australia, he knew nothing of baseball being played there.
"The closest thing to it was cricket," Crawford said. "One of my coaches was like, 'Why don't you play baseball?' I said, 'Well, where can you play baseball?' "
Most Australian schools only field rugby and cricket teams. Baseball players must play independently on club teams throughout the country.
That's what Crawford, Oeltjen and Tautor each did.
Major league scouts are catching on to the increase in Australian players. The Twins have Howard Norsetter, a scout based in Ascot Vale, Victoria, in Australia. He signed all three of the Miracle Australians.
"I got scouted when I was 13 years old," Crawford said. "They basically followed me from there.
"When I signed in 2000, I was like the 50th Australian to sign. Now, there's maybe 70 more."
Unlike other countries, Australia has yet to produce a definitive player a perennial All-Star like Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki (Japan), Mets pitcher Pedro Martinez (Dominican Republic) or emerging Twins ace Johan Santana (Venezuela).
"There aren't many that come to mind, except maybe for Dave Nilssen and Graeme Lloyd," Tautor said, referring to the former Brewers catcher and Yankees relief pitcher.
"It's definitely a motivator, looking at them," Tautor said. "They came back to Australia and they really helped out with the game there.
"It's definitely motivation knowing that the icon status is still open. It's certainly there to be taken over."
Other than the Aussie accent, the players said they do not have too many cultural differences from their American counterparts.
"The portions are a lot smaller in Australia," Oeltjen said. "Over there, you order a pancake and it's like this big around," he said, forming a small circle.
"Over here, the pancakes are like this big around," he said, outreaching his arms in the shape of a much bigger circle.
"Americans eat a lot more," said Oeltjen, who, since arriving to the United States has gained 25 pounds. He now weighs 195.
There were a couple of other differences.
"I didn't ever think about meeting the Latin guys," Oeltjen said. "That was different, getting used to the different languages. I know all of the cuss words now."
Having 16 peers from Australia within the system also has helped.
"I couldn't imagine going through the system as the only Australian," Oeltjen said. "We all have something in common."
Published on July 28, 2005
edit to add bio link
