ABL All-Star Game Umpires - Taka Leads Off

MiLB and veteran ABL umpire Takahito Matsuda served as All-Star Game crew chief in the Australian Baseball League's Summer (our Winter) Classic on Thursday, where he was joined by fellow ABL umpires Stewart Howe at first base, David Milton at second base, and Greg Howard at third base for the sixth annual World vs Team Australia All-Star Game at Melbourne Ballpark.

Streamed live on YouTube and simulcast on MLB Network, this season it was Team Australia that prevailed against a World All-Star Cast as the home team walked off for the second year in a row, drawing its historical record to 4-2 over the World.

Due to ABL's unique configuration as an international offseason league in partnership with Major League Baseball, the ABL All-Star Game features a World vs Australians matchup without regard to team affiliation (for instance, Aces pitcher Jeremy Guthrie played for the World squad while teammate Allan de San Miguel fielded the catcher's position for Team Australia).

The 2016 ABL All-Star Game is available on demand from ABL.TV on YouTube.