How the Canberra Cavalry landed an ex-Major League pitcher

But there was only one other ABL club he wanted to play for, gifting a former Major League pitcher to the Canberra Cavalry.

And he'll get the chance to take out some of his aggression against his former club at Narrabundah Ballpark on Friday and Saturday.

Blackley said the Bandits sacked him because he's unvaccinated against the coronavirus - despite having helped them to three ABL championships.

His vaccination status also meant he couldn't play against the Bandits in Brisbane last weekend, but the Queensland-based pitcher will fly to Canberra on Friday.

The seeds were sown for Blackley to join the Cavalry last season, when Canberra manager Keith Ward let the 39-year-old know he was always welcome in his dugout.

For Blackley, who played 82 MLB games across five clubs - including the Seattle Mariners and San Francisco Giants - there was only ever one club he was going to call.

The fact the ACT government has opted against vaccination mandates - except for certain high-risk settings - opened the door.

Blackley said he decided against the COVID-19 vaccine because he didn't think it worked, but he was happy for other people to get it to protect themselves.

"I was obviously a Bandit for a long time and the owner there decided to mandate vaccination and I decided I wasn't going to do it," he said.

"So he basically fired me. He said it was for other things, but it wasn't.

"You could say I'm a bit sour. But I get it, I've understood the baseball lifestyle and the way you can be in and out of places all the time, but the way it was handled annoyed me."

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Blackley also has a coaching role with the Cavalry and he sees his long-term future as a manager, with the dream to do that in the MLB.

He plans to be a Cavalry coach again next season, when the ABL proper hopefully returns, but that's dependent on one thing.

Blackley hasn't seen his family in three years due to the pandemic and the first chance he gets he'll return to the USA.

"One day I want to be a manager ... I would love to test my mettle at leading an actual squad of young men and seeing what we can achieve," Blackley said.

"That's definitely the plan [to coach in Canberra next season], but I've been trying to get back to America for three years now ... so any opportunity to get back to my family is going to take precedent."

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Friday: Canberra Cavalry v Brisbane Bandits at Narrabundah Ballpark, 6.30pm. Games two and three Saturday 4pm and 7pm.