Winning a title never comes easy but winning four in a row would just be "ridiculous", according to Brisbane Bandits coach and Australian baseball great David Nilsson.
And that's before you factor in the side's run of injuries, headlined by a bushwalking accident that left Dutch pitcher Loek van Mil alone and unconscious on a mountain with bleeding on the brain.
Add a nasty elbow dislocation and a hip complaint to other key personnel and you can see why Nilsson says no title charge is ever the same.
But none of that has stopped Brisbane from qualifying for another Australian Baseball League (ABL) final with a league-best 25-15 record, while van Mil returned to the mound to seal a 2-1 semi-final series win over Canberra Cavalry.
The Bandits, aiming for an unprecedented fourth-straight title, will play Perth Heat in a three-game series starting in the west on Thursday.
The series will culminate in Brisbane with game two on Saturday and game three (if required) on Sunday.
"It's ridiculous how tough it is; winning one is really tough and every year's completely different," Nilsson, who excelled for Major League Baseball's (MLB) Milwaukee Brewers to become the first Australian All-Star in 1999, said.
"There's always obstacles internally and externally and we've had so many this season."
A former Bandits player himself, Nilsson cut his MLB career short to help Australia claim silver at the 2000 Olympic Games and has since coached the Brisbane club to their three titles.
"It's great but it's not just for me," Nilsson, who is also Australia coach, said of the pride driving the Bandit's golden run.
"We have a great core of local guys who do great work in the community without any of the publicity and a lot are second generation players, so it's about their families too."
Perth (24-16) won four of the first five championships when the ABL returned in 2010 and Nilsson said they will be hard to deny again this year.
"They're well balanced and can beat you in a lot of ways," he said.
"We've got two home games but also have an extra flight (to Perth), so that probably evens out."
