1997–98 Melbourne Monarchs season

1997–98 Melbourne Monarchs
1997–98 Melbourne Monarchs
Minor premiership
League	Australian Baseball League
Ballpark	Melbourne Ballpark
City	Melbourne, Victoria
Record	32–20 (.615)
Place	1st
General manager	David Oertle
Manager	Jon Deeble

Last updated December 27, 2025

The 1997-98 Melbourne Monarchs season was the 7th season for the team. As was the case for the Monarchs's previous seasons they competed in the Australian Baseball League (ABL).

Regular season

Standings

Pos	Team v t e	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
3	Melbourne Reds	51	30	21	.588	1.5
4	Gold Coast Cougars	53	31	22	.585	1.5
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

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

Record vs opponents

Opponent	W–L Record	Largest Victory			Largest Defeat			Current Streak
Opponent	W–L Record	Score	Date	Ground	Score	Date	Ground	Current Streak
Adelaide Giants	2-6	3-1	7 November 1997	Norwood Oval	2-7	15 November 1997	Melbourne Ballpark	L1
Brisbane Bandits	4-2	1 Run	Tied (3)		10-15	27 January 1998	Melbourne Ballpark	L1
Gold Coast Cougars	6-1	6-0	28 December 1997	Melbourne Ballpark	3-4	24 January 1998	Carrara Stadium	L1
Hunter Eagles	6-0	9-0	30 January 1998	Melbourne Ballpark	-			W6
Melbourne Reds	6–3	14–4	10 January 1998	Moorabbin Oval	2–8	2 November 1997	Moorabbin Oval	L1
Perth Heat	5-3	7-2	14 December 1997	Melbourne Ballpark	1-6	22 November 1997	WACA	W3
Sydney Storm	3-5	8-4	6 December 1997	Concord Oval	5-18	7 December 1997	Concord Oval	L1
Total	32–20				Sydney Storm			L1
Total	32–20	14–4	10 January 1998	Moorabbin Oval	5–18	7 December 1997	Sydney Showgrounds	L1

Game log

W	Monarchs win
L	Monarchs loss
T	Monarchs tie
	Game postponed
Bold	Monarchs team member

1997-98 Game Log

October

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Crowd	Record	Ref
1	31 October	@ Reds	8–6					1-0

November

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Record	Ref
2	1 November (DH 1)	Reds	10–6	2-0
3	1 November (DH 2)	Reds	7–2	3-0
4	2 November	@ Reds	2–8	3-1
5	7 November	@ Giants	3–1	4-1
6	8 November (DH 1)	@ Giants	0–3	4-2
7	8 November (DH 2)	@ Giants	4–9	4-3
8	9 November	@ Giants	4–7	4-4
9	14 November	Giants	?–?	4-5
10	15 November (DH 1)	Giants	2–7	4-6
11	15 November (DH 2)	Giants	?–?	5-6
12	16 November	Giants	?–?	5-7
13	21 November	Heat	7–6	6-7	^[1]
14	22 November (DH 1)	Heat	1–6	6-8	^[1]
15	22 November (DH 2)	Heat	5–9	6-9	^[1]
16	23 November	Heat	2–0	7-9	^[1]

December

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Record
17	5 December	@ Storm	2–3				7-10
18	6 December (DH 1)	@ Storm	5–6				7-11
19	6 December (DH 2)	@ Storm	8–4				8-11
20	7 December	@ Storm	5–18				8-12
21	14 December (DH 1)	@ Heat	9–10				8-13
22	14 December (DH 2)	@ Heat	7–2	P. Dale			9-13
23	15 December (DH 1)	@ Heat	3–0	E. Nelsen		R. Spear	10-13
24	15 December (DH 2)	@ Heat	6–4				11-13
25	19 December	Storm	3–5				11-14
26	20 December (DH 1)	Storm	6–3				12-14
27	20 December (DH 2)	Storm	1–0				13-14
28	21 December	Storm	5–6				13-15
29	26 December	Cougars	4–1	P. Dale	B. Cederbladd		14-15
30	27 December (DH 1)	Cougars	2–1	E. Nelson			15-15
31	27 December (DH 2)	Cougars	4–0	M. Bowie			16-15
32	28 December	Cougars	6–0	E. Byrne			17-15

January

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Record
33	3 January	@ Eagles	8–3			18-15
34	4 January	@ Eagles	7–5			19-15
35	5 January	@ Eagles	3–2			20-15
36	8 January	@ Reds	6–2			21-15
37	9 January	@ Reds	3–7			21-16
38	10 January	@ Reds	14-4	E. Nelson		22-16
39	16 January (DH 1)	Bandits	1–2	Williams	R Spear	22-17
40	16 January (DH 2)	Bandits	4–3	E. Nelson	Smith	23-17
41	17 January (DH 1)	Bandits	11–10	K. Gogos	Gooda	24-17
42	17 January (DH 2)	Bandits	12–11	K. Gogos	Foxover	25-17
43	22 January	@ Cougars	10–9			26-17
44	23 January	@ Cougars	5–1			27-17
45	24 January	@ Cougars	3–4			27-18
46	26 January	@ Bandits	–			28-18
47	27 January	@ Bandits	10–15			28-19
48	28 January	@ Bandits	Wash Out			28-19
49	30 January	Eagles	9–0			29-19
50	31 January (DH 1)	Eagles	9–5			30-19
51	31 January (DH 2)	Eagles	7–6			31-19

February

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Record	Ref
52	5 February	Reds	5-4	32-19	^[2]
53	6 February	Reds	4-5	32-20	^[2]
54	7 February	@ Monarchs	Wash Out	32-20	^[2]

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.^[3]

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.^[3]

Finals Series (Monarchs games)

Full series results

Game 1: 10 February 1998


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

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 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	Team v t e	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

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

Award Winners

ABL awards

Award	Name	Stat	ref

Pitcher of the Year	Erick Nelson

All-stars

Position	Name	ref

Starting Pitcher	Erick Nelson

Monarchs Awards

Award	Name	Stat	ref

Roster

Melbourne Monarchs roster – 1997–98 ABL

Active roster

Coaching Staff

Pitchers

Right-handed pitchers

21 John Challinor
43 Phil Dale
24 Jon Deeble
23 Cameron Forbes
9 Keith Gogas
25 Cameron Hardy
18 Steven Schram
8 Russel Spear

Left-handed pitchers

34 Micah Bowie
5 Earl Byrne
11 Erick Nelson

Catchers

14 Brett Caulfield
28 John Edwards
35 Tristen McDonald
36 Steve Dax Norris

Infielders

Outfielders

Manager

24 Jon Deeble

Coaches

Neil Bourke
Mike Deeble

Current as of February 1998.^[4]

References

1 2 3 4 "Round 4: MELBOURNE MONARCHS vs PERTH HEAT". Perth Heat. Archived from the original on 8 October 1999. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
1 2 3 "Reds March to Playoffs". Melbourne Reds. Archived from the original on 30 June 1998. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
1 2 "FAI Cup Pitches new finals format and all star competition as baseball bats up for the summer of 1997/1998". Press Release. Australian Baseball League. Archived from the original on 30 June 1998. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
↑ "Melbourne Monarchs Roster". Melbourne Monarchs. Archived from the original on 22 April 1999. Retrieved 24 November 2012.

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[Round_4-1] 1 2 3 4 "Round 4: MELBOURNE MONARCHS vs PERTH HEAT". Perth Heat. Archived from the original on 8 October 1999. Retrieved 25 November 2012.

[Reds_March_to_Playoffs-2] 1 2 3 "Reds March to Playoffs". Melbourne Reds. Archived from the original on 30 June 1998. Retrieved 19 November 2012.

[FAI_Cup_Pitches_new_finals_format_and_all_star_competition_as_baseball_bats_up_for_the_summer_of_1997/1998.-3] 1 2 "FAI Cup Pitches new finals format and all star competition as baseball bats up for the summer of 1997/1998". Press Release. Australian Baseball League. Archived from the original on 30 June 1998. Retrieved 19 November 2012.

[4] "Melbourne Monarchs Roster". Melbourne Monarchs. Archived from the original on 22 April 1999. Retrieved 24 November 2012.

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