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 Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2005 1:57 pm Post subject: Red Sox Target Gilly |
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| Quote: |
Sox it to me, Gilly
Robert Craddock
07 April 05
BATTING dynamo Adam Gilchrist has received an approach from the world champion Boston Red Sox baseball club, despite having played the game once in his life.
Gilchrist's thunderous strokemaking has echoed around the world and led to the offer of a personal assessment to see whether his dynamic skills were transferable from cricket to a game he played only once as a 14-year-old in Lismore.
Australia's Olympic baseball coach Jon Deeble, a Red Sox recruiting agent, informed the club of Gilchrist's freakish power and triggered the interest that could rise when the 33-year-old retires from cricket.
"We expressed interest in him and we think he has a lot of potential and the club has tapes of him batting," Deeble said last night. "Boston has a pay roll of US$160 million ($208.7 million) a year and it's something worth having a look at."
Gilchrist's manager Stephen Atkinson said no decision had been made on whether to accept the offer of a skills assessment session, most probably before pitchers and a pitching machine in Perth, and Gilchrist's primary focus was on the Ashes series.
"Adam has taken this as a compliment," Atkinson said.
"There are any number of collegiate players in America who would cut their non-pitching arm off to get a call from a major league team saying we would like to come down and have a look at you.
"Cricket remains his number one priority and the approach may not come to anything, but it is genuine. If we did anything, it would have to fit in with his cricket commitments. But it is not pub talk or someone daydreaming. It is this guy's job to identify players and he likes the look of Adam. Baseball people have been saying for years that Adam would be suitable."
Major league salaries dwarf those earned by Australia's top cricketers, who make about $1 million a year from Cricket Australia and often as much again in sponsorship.
The average major league salary last season was US $2,555,476 ($3,331,810), according to the Associated Press.
New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez, arguably the league's best all-round player, will earn US$25 million ($32.6 million) this year.
Mike Young, fielding coach with the Australian cricket team and a former Australian baseball coach, said several years ago Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds and Matthew Hayden had major league potential had they started as youngsters in the sport.
"Had Adam played baseball as a youngster, he would have had a real good shot at it," Young said. "I commend Boston for having an open mind, but he is too old now.
"I don't think there is any chance he could make it."
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Personally i don't beleive Gilly will go for this, he has such a big commitment to the Australian Cricket Team and would not want to give up what he has acheived there just to chase the dollars.
But hey who nows, money does strange things to people.
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SBR
Reserves
Joined: 31 Mar 2005
Posts: 201
Location: Adelaide, SA
60 Credits
Team: Adelaide Crows
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| Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2005 3:53 pm Post subject: |
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| footygeek wrote: |
well.. that is very interesting.. could be just like ben grahem going to the jet..  |
I don't think it would be like it, yes he would go to the states like Ben but it would be much more of a loss to Australia. Gilly holds a very stable position in the Australian Cricket Squad and can very much win games for us at times, if we were to lose him it would be a tragedy... especially with only young boys coming through the ranks at the moment.
Anyway, i don't beleive this will happen... as Gilly said at the moment he's just taking it as a "Compliment".
Cheers.
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