How Adelaide Giants manager Chris Adamson kept Jersey Shore BlueClaws engaged during 2020 COVID season

Adelaide Giants manager Chris Adamson loved his first taste of life in the MLB even though he hasn’t actually seen his players face-to-face since March.

Chris Adamson opens up about his experience coaching a MLB affiliate via Zoom.

Taking online Spanish lessons in Adelaide to help manage a team of Philadelphia Phillies prospects was not how Sydneysider Chris Adamson imagined 2020 to pan out.

But Adamson, like his Class-A Phillies, many of whom come from South American backgrounds, and the interpreter made the best of the strange situation.

Adamson, 32, a former Australian Baseball League catcher for Adelaide Giants, previously Bite, was hired by the Phillies to manage the affiliate, Jersey Shore BlueClaws this year.

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Chris Adamson has plenty of Phillies prospects on his roster.

The dream job punctuated the 130-game ABL catcher’s rise in coaching ranks, from Adelaide bench coach (2013-16) to manager (2017-current) and national team assistant (2019) to the MLB in seven years.

And, highlighted the strength of a working Giants-Phillies relationship that has grown over several seasons.

The Giants’ roster has 12 Phillies-affiliated players for the upcoming ABL season, including an Australian and a New Zealand prospect.

SCROLL DOWN TO SEE THE LISTED OF A-PHILLIE-ATED GIANTS

It was about one month into his time at the BlueClaws that COVID-19 halted Minor League Baseball Spring Training — and ultimately led to the cancellation of the season.

Adamson was sent back to Adelaide, with a view to manage the team remotely for a short period before a return to Clearwater, Florida.

“It was something, to be honest, at first seemed a bit of a stretch,” Adamson said ahead of his third ABL season as Giants manager.

“But it actually wound up having some pretty good effect where guys could really focus on themselves, which is something you don’t always get to happen you’re playing a team sport.

“There was plenty of 2-3am Zooms where everything I say is being translated, and at times you forget you’re being translated, and you’ve spoken for about 10 straight minutes.

“The poor bloke trying to translate was trying to go back in time, I guess he was pretty close to what I was saying.”

Adamson would spend the daylight hours (in Adelaide) poring over a suite of archive vision and historical data on players and nights jumping in and out of Zoom calls.

“The Phillies did a really good job, not only keeping us coaches and staff engaged, but also the players,” Adamson said.

“I was looking after the infielders and catchers, so I was in all those meetings … a couple each a week and in addition to that all the coaches would get together.

“There was between 6-8 Zooms each week … it was really good actually, something I looked forward to.

“In Australia you don’t get to talk baseball as much, particularly in the winter, so every night I could stay up and talk to like-minded people.

Rixon Wingrove is one of the Phillies’ Single A prospects playing for Adelaide.

“It helped, in particularly, some of the people in areas in the states badly affected (COVID) to get their minds off things, too.”

Despite the uncertainty around COVID and potentially job security — amid a major restructure of MiLB affiliations — Adamson will return to the BlueClaws next year.

“One of the hardest things was the unknown, given things are still changing every day, not only in Australia but obviously in the States,” Adamson said.

“The (players) were really upbeat and tried to see it as an opportunity to get better individually, rather than a massive setback in their development.

“I was having to remind myself a lot of this was out of my control, just to make the most of it.”

Brisbane Bandits will host Adelaide Giants in both club’s first game of the season on January 5.

A-PHILLIE-ATED GIANTS

Jon Hennigan – Pitcher

Taylor Lehman – Pitcher

Tyler Burch – Pitcher

Austin Ross – Pitcher

Colby Fitch – Catcher

Jamari Baylor – Infielder

Kendall Simmons – Infielder

Cornelius Randolph – Outfield

Luke Williams – Utility

Kyle Glogoski – Kiwi

Rixon Wingrove – Australian

Mitch Edwards – Australian

Chris Adamson – Coach / Australian