When the Auckland Tuatara lost their second home playoff game 6-2 to the Melbourne Aces on February 1, 2020, it felt like baseball had finally arrived in New Zealand.
More than 4,000 people came to North Harbor Stadium that day and although the Tuatara did not reach the Australian Baseball League final, during that season, which started with just a few hundred people going to the matches, they have shown that there is a sports market in this country.
But then Covid-19 hit. The following season, the Tuatara withdrew at the last minute, infuriating ABL officials, who threatened to permanently kick them out of the league, then the entire completion halted for the 2021 season- 22.
But 1027 days after the Tuatara’s last game in New Zealand, they are back on Friday night for the first of a four-game series against the Sydney Blue Sox.
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“We are thrilled to be playing baseball again in Albany. You’d have to have rocks in your head not to be,” said Tuatara CEO Regan Wood.
Abigail Dougherty / Trucs
The North Harbor Stadium is transformed into a baseball stadium to host the Auckland Tuatara.
However, Wood acknowledges that going two years and nine months without any professional baseball in New Zealand means fans who previously followed the team will not automatically return.
“It’s going to be really tough, because we’re out of mind, out of sight,” he said.
“We are back to square one, but we accept it and that doesn’t surprise me. »
What will help keep spectators coming back is winning baseball and manager Steve Mintz is confident this year’s roster, which includes a few players who have played at the MLB level, as well as some exciting prospects, can be crowned with hit.
“New Zealand loves a winner,” Mintz said.
“If we’re able to go out there and do what we think we can do on the baseball field, we have no reason to believe why New Zealanders won’t support us anymore. »
After away streaks against Brisbane and Canberra the past two weeks, the Tuatara have four wins and four losses.
Tuatara came into existence in 2018, but the club really only had one season in the ABL.
In their first year they had to scramble to get organized and play in a pop-up stadium at McLeod Park in West Auckland.
The second season they were at North Harbor Stadium, followed by two missed seasons.
But this campaign at Albany has shown what this club is all about, including overcoming the tragic death of Ryan Costello, who was found by his teammates in a hotel where the players were staying,
“We had everything,” Mintz said of this season.
“The bomb exploded at the start of the season, with the death of Ryan Costello and it took us a few weeks to put everything back in place.
“Once we got it up it was like ‘who are we going to fight next?’
“Our goal that season was to have a playoff game at home and we got it. Expectations this year will be no different.
“We have a new generation of people, but we expect to win, to make the playoffs and to have the opportunity to cross the divide at the Claxton Shield. »
One difference this season for the Tuatara is that home games are scheduled over a weekend.
Previously, the Tuatara played on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, then finished a series on Sunday afternoon.
But this year, they will start a series on Friday night, play a double header on Saturday and wrap up a series with an 11 a.m. game on a Sunday.
“We made a decision on that because the traffic is diabolical in Auckland, so we said we would try to reduce it a bit to make it easier,” Wood said.
“But also for people from outside. So that they can come by car or plane on Friday, watch the matches on Saturday, arrive early on Sunday and return early in the morning.
“For the Auckland community, being at 11am you can walk down with the kids, walk around and then come home for Sunday lunch later.
“These decisions were based on what customers wanted. We did this research three years ago and there have been a lot of changes since then, but Auckland’s traffic is not one of them.
“Australian players can also get out of here, so they don’t have to stay here an extra day. »
* All of Tuatara’s home games this season will be shown live on Stuff and by Sky Sport.
