Cleburne railroaders historic partnership with sydney blue sox
CLEBURNE RAILROADERS ENTER INTO HISTORIC PARTNERSHIP WITH THE SYDNEY BLUE SOX OF THE AUSTRALIAN BASEBALL LEAGUE
Cleburne, Texas (September 27th 2021) —The Cleburne Railroaders of the American Association announced today a historic partnership with the Sydney Blue Sox of the Australian Baseball League. This is the first time teams have partnered from their respective professional leagues.
“We are incredibly excited to partner with the Blue Sox, said Railroader co-owner Alan Miller. There are natural synergies based on our schedules that will allow us to collaborate on and off the field year around.” The Cleburne Railroaders season extends from May through September and the Australian campaign kicks off in December and lasts through February.
“Here at the Blue Sox we want to provide opportunities for young Australian players to develop and gain experience, '' said Mark Wilton, Blue Sox owner and Managing Director. “Many Australian players miss out on playing professional baseball and don’t get a chance to play in the US. It’s such an invaluable experience and we are glad to be a part of it. This will benefit both leagues and the sport as well, so we are very excited!”
One of these opportunities is for the Blue Sox to send promising youth players to the Portland Pickles to play in the Wild Wild West League this summer. The Pickles are owned by Miller and legendary NFL punter Jon Ryan.
Jason Pospishil, Director of Baseball Operations said “There is such huge potential for the growth of both organisations due to this partnership. Not only will this serve as a means for both teams to increase their international fanbase, but there will opportunities for on and off-field collaboration to promote both teams to their respective markets through merchandise, watch parties, social media and so on.”.
“The American Association couldn’t be more excited about the partnership between the Cleburne Railroaders and the Sydney Blue Sox. said Joshua Schaub, commissioner of the American Association. “This partnership only deepens an already innovative partnership between the Australian Baseball League and the American Association. The American Association looks for more innovations flowing from this partnership that will spread among other teams in both leagues.”
“It's a blue angry sock, '' said Miller. What's not to love?
About the Cleburne Railroaders
The Railroaders are the #1 Independent Professional Baseball Team in Texas! They play in the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball, a partner league of MLB. Originally founded in 1906, the Railroaders were reborn in 2017 to bring professional baseball to the South Fort-Worth region. The Depot at Cleburne Station is the home to the Railroaders, who are the only Texas Team in the American Association.
About the Sydney Blue Sox:
The Sydney Blue Sox are a professional baseball team in the Australian Baseball League (ABL) and owned by Sports Management Australia. Sports Management Australia’s mission is to provide memorable experiences in sport through events, holiday camps, tours and venue management.
The Blue Sox is an iconic part of creating these memorable experiences. Based at Blacktown International Sports Park, the Blue Sox brings innovation, creativity and professionalism to the game of baseball in order to create strong partnerships, fun family game day events, an opportunity for athletes to develop and in particular, a community of highly passionate fans. To share the love of baseball the Blue Sox want to have the same fans for both organizations and provide interchangeable tours for fans between the US and Australia.