The Australian Baseball League consisted of between six and nine teams over its 10 years of existence, with its highest point being in 1995, with nine teams competing. Championships were decided by a top-two five-game playoff series for the first three seasons before changing to a top-four playoff series with winners advancing to the championship series. Following the change to the top four format, both semi-finals and the championship series were played as best-of-three series. •
1989–90 The Australian Baseball League formally got underway in October 1989, representing Australia's first professional "major league" of baseball. Officially, the first ABL game was contested between Perth Heat and Adelaide Giants at Parry Field in Perth on 27 October 1989, with the Giants winning 8-5. The inaugural season was dominated by the
Waverley Reds a record of 34 wins and 6 losses, who only lost 2 games at home in 19 starts, and took the Championship series 3 games to 1 against their crosstown rivals, the
Melbourne Monarchs. •
1990–91 The 1990–91 ABL championship was won by the Perth Heat, who defeated the minor premiers, the Gold Coast's Daikyo Dolphins, by three games to two. •
1991–92 In a reversal of the previous season, the 1991–92 ABL title was won by the Daikyo Dolphins, who defeated the Perth Heat three games to one. Due to these mounting debts the Australian Baseball Federation sold off the rights to the league and
Claxton Shield to Australian baseball player
David Nilsson for a reported $5 million who replaced it with the
International Baseball League of Australia, which in turn folded in 2002.
Original clubs Over the ten years of the Australian Baseball League, a total of twelve franchise licences were issued; most seasons the ABL had a total of eight teams, but had as many as nine, and, for the final season, six. The founding eight teams of the Australian Baseball League were: •
Adelaide Giants: The Giants competed in all ten seasons of the ABL but did not make the championship playoffs once. •
Brisbane Bandits: The Bandits competed in the first nine seasons but dropped out of the final season due to not having a suitable venue, The Bandits won one championship and finished runner-up in another. •
Gold Coast Clippers: The Clippers had many different names over their ten years in the ABL: The Daikyo Dolphins from 1990 to 1993 due to a sponsorship with Japanese company Daikyo, then the East Coast Cougars and finally Gold Coast Cougars. This franchise won two championships and were runner-up in a further two times. •
Melbourne Monarchs: The Monarchs competed in nine of the ten seasons, they were expelled from the league after the 1991–92 season, but were re-admitted for the 1992–93. The Monarchs won one ABL title (1992–93) and were runner-up to the Reds once (1989–90). •
Parramatta Patriots: The Patriots competed in the first three seasons with their best result being third in 1990. The Patriots disbanded after the 1991–92 season due to heavy financial losses, and the Sydney Blues purchased their licence. •
Sydney Metros: The Metros had the dishonour of being the least successful team in the ABL and also having the shortest history, as they folded shortly after the 1989–90 season. The Metros' licence was purchased by the Sydney Wave. •
Perth Heat: The Heat were the second-most successful team in the league, winning the title twice and finishing runner-up a further three times. •
Waverley Reds: The Reds were the most successful team in the league, being the only team to win three ABL titles, while also finishing runner-up once. The Reds also held the regular-season single-game attendance record (and second-highest overall) of 11,444, in the 1991–92 season against then-cross-town rivals the Melbourne Bushrangers at Waverley Oval. The Reds changed their name to the Melbourne Reds after the 1993–94 season in an attempt to broaden their supporter base.
Later additions Later additions to the league were: •
Melbourne Bushrangers: The Bushrangers were brought in to replace the Monarchs after they were expelled, and played two seasons in Melbourne before moving north to Canberra. They thus changed their name to the Canberra Bushrangers and competed for a further two seasons before going broke. •
Sydney Blues: The Blues purchased their licence from the Parramatta Patriots. Due to the marketing problems associated with having the same name as the NSW cricket team [Blues] the name was changed to the Sydney Storm. The team won one championship and finished runner-up under the Blues name; they also finished runner-up once more under the Storm name. The Blues held the overall single-game attendance record, with a 1994 finals series game against the Brisbane Bandits drawing 13,764 to Parramatta Stadium. •
Sydney Wave: The Wave was formed after purchasing its licence of the Sydney Metros. The Wave had no real impact on the league, lasting only two seasons before folding with heavy financial losses. Their licence was then sold to the Hunter Eagles. •
Hunter Eagles: The Eagles had slightly more success in the ABL than their previous two licence-holders, lasting for a total of four seasons. The Eagles were excluded from the 1998–99 season after not being able to supply enough funds to run the team for the upcoming season. ==Players==