The Sydney Masters is a series run by Baseball NSW for players 35 years and older, with all games played weekday evenings at Blacktown International Sports Park. The competition started after the success of the World Masters Games held in Sydney in 2009. You can find out more about Masters baseball here.
The Shoeless Joes is a team originally put together for the 2009 World Masters, comprising players from the Ku-Ring-Gai Stealers, Manly-Warringah and North Ryde. Of the 36 teams entered in the +35 Recreational competition, the Joes placed a respectable 6th, and that was enough to keep the team coming back each season in the Sydney Masters.
Although the Shoeless Joes were an independent entity to start with, in 2011 Baseball NSW ruled that all Masters teams must be affiliated with an existing club. The Ku-Ring-Gai Stealers were good enough to give the Joes that affiliation, and now the Shoeless Joes are a fully-fledged division of Stealers Baseball, providing an ideal alternative to weekend baseball for seniors players.
The Shoeless Joes take their name from Shoeless Joe Jackson – a great baseball player who was caught up in the infamous ‘Black Sox’ scandal in the early 20th Century, but who is now believed to have been one of the few honest players on the White Sox team who did not throw the game.
Contact the Stealers VP Seniors to find out joining the Shoeless Joes.