The Adelaide Giants baseball team are finishing up an incredible year. Their commercial manager, Jamie Taylor talks to us amidst a classic South Australian downpour from the Diamond Sports Stadium, though not even heavy rain can dampen the achievements of the Giants in 2023. “We’ve received the ‘23 ABL Best Digital Media Award, the ‘23 ABL Broadcast of the Year and, of course, we won the Claxton Shield.” This coveted inter-state award secures their status as the current Australian champions. If you lived in Adelaide, you may have seen it driven through town by General Manager, Nathan Davidson in one of our Dual Cab Utes. It also spent some time proudly displayed at our easyauto123 Mile End South offices.
Legends, Far & Wide
But the achievements of the Giants do not stop here. Nine members of the 22/23 Giants have gone on to represent Australia, with four in the ‘23 World Baseball Classic, playing to tens of thousands of international baseball fans with 30 million tuning in worldwide. The Australian team beat Team Korea, advancing from the group stage for the first time. Adelaide Giants closing pitcher Todd Van Steensel had the opportunity to pitch to the “best baseball player in the world” Shohei Ohtani, and successfully struck him out, Jamie tells us with a grin. The Giant’s success even reaches the heights of American Major League Baseball with Adelaide’s own Curtis Mead currently playing for the Tampa Bay Rays - the 4th South Australian to play in the MLB.
The Method
So how do they do it? What’s the Giants’ secret to success? “We’re committed to growing baseball in Adelaide. We’ve concentrated on giving young South Australian talent a pathway to develop as players - a competitive platform to launch to both college and overseas baseball.” This pathway includes the opportunity to learn from some of the best talent in the world. This is where easyauto123’s partnership with the Adelaide Giants comes in.
“easyauto123 provides us with our vehicles. They’re safe, suitable cars that are used by our visiting interstate and overseas players. When Curtis has a break with the Tampa Bay Rays, he can come back and train with us. He’s incredibly driven and supportive of the Adelaide Giants, having grown up with the team. Providing transport for Curtis allows us to keep him for longer. Thanks to easyauto123, our players are in the cage hitting with a Major League player every day.” Another such opportunity takes the shape of visiting members of the Korean team, The Samsung Lions. Bringing out players, a coach and a translator, the 7 seater vehicle they drive plays an integral role in what makes their time with the Adelaide Giants possible - allowing the whole group to get to training and back without hassle.
The Future
“Joel from easyauto123 is a big baseball fan. We have seen their generous support in various community initiatives for Adelaide and we’re very grateful that they were keen to help the Giants out. Matt has picked up where Joel has left off and we’re very excited for the future of our partnership with easyauto123”.
So what does the future of our partnership look like? With the incredible efforts of the Adelaide Giants, we too are excited for the road ahead and very proud to be taking the drive with them.
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