Australian Baseball League
|
|
|
| Current season | 2018/19 |
| sport | baseball |
| abbreviation | OJ |
| Association | Australian Baseball Federation, Major League Baseball |
| League foundation | 2009 |
| Teams | 8th |
| Country countries |
 Australia , New Zealand
|
| Title holder | Brisbane Bandits (2018) |
| Record champions | Perth Heat (4) |
| TV partner | Fox Sports , ESPN , YouTube , MLB Network , Eleven Sports, Telstra Broadcast Services |
| Website | http://theabl.com.au |
The Australian Baseball League is a professional baseball league in Australia . As of the 2018/19 season, the Australian Baseball League has consisted of eight teams, seven of which are based in Australia and one in New Zealand . The league was administered by the Australian Baseball Federation (ABF) and Major League Baseball (MLB) until 2016 , before the ABF became sole owner for the 2016-17 season. Before the 2018/19 season, all teams in the league except for the Melbourne Aces were sold to private owners.
The ABL takes place from November to February, so some ABL players play in the minor leagues in North America during the summer season . This makes the ABL a “winter league”, even though it is summer in Australia during the season.
history
founding
Baseball has a long tradition in Australia that dates back to the 1850s . The sport was brought to Australia by US gold miners . The first recorded baseball game in Australia was played at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 1878 between the Surry Baseball Club and members of the NSW Cricket Association. Between 1889 and 1891, teams were formed in Melbourne , Adelaide and Sydney . Starting from 1934 an annual baseball tournament , the so-called Claxton Shield , was held between teams presenting different regions of Australia. The South Australian team won the first three Claxton Shields. The tournament continued until the first national Australian baseball league was formed in 1989.
The original ABL (1989–1999)
The predecessor league of the same name to today's ABL was founded in 1989 and existed until its dissolution in 1999. Of the eight founding teams of the old league, only two still exist under the same name - Perth Heat and the Brisbane Bandits . The Claxton Shield , the championship trophy of the Australian Baseball League awarded to this day, went twice to Perth Heat and once to the Brisbane Bandits during this period.
Today's ABL (2010 – today)
The Australian Baseball League in its current form was founded in 2010 as a joint venture between the Australian Baseball Federation (25%) and Major League Baseball (75%). Founding teams were the Brisbane Bandits , Sydney Blue Sox , Melbourne Aces , Adelaide Bite , Perth Heat and Canberra Cavalry . The Australian government contributed 400,000 Australian dollars to the founding of the league.
In 2018 the league was expanded to eight teams. The Auckland Tuatara were accepted as the first New Zealand team and in Geelong a club with exclusively South Korean players was formed. Together with the inclusion of the two new teams, the play-off system was also changed and a wildcard game was introduced for the first time .
organization
The ABL was a joint venture of the MLB (75%) and the ABF (25%) until 2016 . Unlike the traditional franchise model , in which individuals or private companies own the teams, all teams belong to the league. After five seasons, the contract with the MLB ended and the Australian Baseball Federation became the sole owner of the Australian Baseball League. In the run-up to the 2018/19 season , however, the league was largely privatized, with all teams except for the Melbourne Aces being sold to private owners. Since then, the teams have been owned by the following owners:
| team | owner |
|---|---|
| Brisbane bandits | Mark Ready, Holloway Sportswear |
| Sydney Blue Sox | Adam Dobb |
| Adelaide Giants | Adelaide Crows |
| Canberra Cavalry | private investor group |
| Perth Heat | Rory Vassallo, Christian Galopolous |
| Auckland Tuatara | Baseball New Zealand, private investor group |
| Geelong Korea | Winter Ball Korea |
| Melbourne Aces | Privatization planned for the 2019/20 season |
Teams
As of the 2018/19 season, the Australian Baseball League consists of eight teams in two divisions: the Southwest Division with teams from Adelaide , Geelong , Melbourne and Perth and the Northeast Division with teams from Brisbane , Canberra , Sydney and Auckland .
|
|
| society | city | Stadion | capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Division | |||
| Adelaide Giants | Adelaide | Diamond Sports Stadium | 5,000 |
| Perth Heat | Perth | Baseball park | 4,000 |
| Geelong Korea | Geelong | Geelong Baseball Park | 5,000 |
| Melbourne Aces | Melbourne | Melbourne Ballpark | 3,900 |
| Northeast Division | |||
| Brisbane bandits | Brisbane | Holloway Field | 1,500 |
| Canberra Cavalry | Canberra | Narrabundah Ballpark | 2,250 |
| Sydney Blue Sox | Sydney | Blacktown Baseball Stadium | 3,000 |
| Auckland Tuatara | Auckland | North Harbor Stadium | 25,000 |
Bold: founding member of the Australian Baseball League.
Title holder
| year | master 
|
Result | finalist 
|
MVP season (Helms Award Winner) |
MVP finals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010/11 | Perth Heat | 2-1 | Adelaide Bite | James McOwen (Adelaide) | Benjamin Moore (Perth) |
| 2011/12 | Perth Heat | 2-1 | Melbourne Aces | Tim Kennelly (Perth) | Virgil Vasquez (Perth) |
| 2012/13 | Canberra Cavalry | 2-0 | Perth Heat | Adam Buschini (Canberra) | Aaron Sloan (Canberra) |
| 2013/14 | Perth Heat | 2-0 | Canberra Cavalry | Ryan Casteel (Melbourne) | Joey Wong (Perth) |
| 2014/15 | Perth Heat | 2-1 | Adelaide Bite | Aaron Miller (Adelaide) | Allan de San Miguel (Perth) |
| 2015/16 | Brisbane bandits | 2-0 | Adelaide Bite | Justin Williams (Brisbane) | Donald Lutz (Brisbane) |
| 2016/17 | Brisbane bandits | 2-0 | Melbourne Aces | Aaron Whitefield (Brisbane) | Logan Wade (Brisbane) |
| 2017/18 | Brisbane bandits | 2-1 | Canberra Cavalry | Jake Fraley (Perth) | Tim Atherton (Brisbane) |
| 2018/19 | Brisbane bandits | 2-0 | Perth Heat | Tim Kennelly (Perth) Markus Solbach (Adelaide) |
Tim Atherton (Brisbane) |
| 2019/20 | Melbourne Aces | 2-0 | Adelaide Giants | Shane Robinson (Melbourne) |
Broadcast rights
The ABL season 2018/19 is in parts of Fox Sports Australia aired. The station shows 40 games of the season in Australia. In addition, games are available on the Australian Baseball League's own YouTube channel ABL.tv and via Facebook Live . Eleven Sports broadcast at least 40 games in Taiwan . In South Korea, games are broadcast on MBC Sports Plus , in New Zealand on Sky Sport New Zealand . The transmitter Telstra Broadcast Services shows games in South Korea, Taiwan, New Zealand and Australia. In the past, individual games have also been broadcast in Asia via Fox Sports Asia . In addition, some games were shown on MLB Network .
spectator
The Australian Baseball League attendance figures per season are shown below.
| season | spectator
total |
number
Games |
spectator
per game |
Team with most
Spectators |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010/11 | 114.023 | 95 | 1,200 | Adelaide Bite (24,917) |
| 2011/12 | 123.886 | 118 | 1,050 | Perth Heat (24,299) |
| 2012/13 | 129.909 | 122 | 1,065 | Perth Heat (29,803) |
| 2013/14 | 147,887 | 125 | 1,183 | Perth Heat (33,539) |
| 2014/15 | 140.932 | 138 | 1,021 | Perth Heat (32,571) |
| 2015/16 | 150.213 | 159 | 945 | Brisbane Bandits (31,590) |
| 2016/17 | 87,475 | 107 | 818 | Canberra Cavalry (19,716) |
| 2017/18 | 98,397 | 118 | 834 | Perth Heat (22,881) |
| 2018/19 | 112,496 | 160 | 741 | Canberra Cavalry (22,488) |
Individual evidence
- ^ Herald Sun: Australian Baseball League to go ahead in 2016, without financial support of Major League Baseball. August 3, 2016, accessed on August 27, 2018 .
- ↑ ABL structure confirmed | Australian Baseball League News | The Official Site of the Australian Baseball League. Accessed August 27, 2018 (English).
- ^ South Australia Wins Championship . In: Argus (Melbourne, Vic.: 1848-1957) . Melbourne, Vic. August 13, 1934, p. 13 ( gov.au [accessed October 14, 2018]).
- ↑ BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP . In: Argus (Melbourne, Vic.: 1848-1957) . Melbourne, Vic. August 12, 1935, p. 14 ( gov.au [accessed October 14, 2018]).
- ↑ Baseball CLAXTON SHIELD . In: Argus (Melbourne, Vic.: 1848-1957) . Melbourne, Vic. August 10, 1936, p. 16 ( gov.au [accessed October 14, 2018]).
- ^ Australian baseball looks toward a bright future . In: archive.is . July 23, 2012 ( archive.is [accessed October 14, 2018]).
- ↑ ABL structure confirmed | Australian Baseball League News | The Official Site of the Australian Baseball League. Retrieved October 14, 2018 .
- ↑ Wildcard Game added to 2019 playoffs | Australian Baseball League News | The Official Site of the Australian Baseball League. Retrieved October 14, 2018 .
- ↑ Mark Ready becomes Principle Owner of the Brisbane Bandits | Brisbane Bandits News. Accessed August 27, 2018 (English).
- ↑ Perth Heat ownership announced | Australian Baseball League News. Accessed August 27, 2018 (English).
- ↑ Josh Callinan: Dobb's dollar on Blue Sox . In: Newcastle Herald . April 26, 2018 ( com.au [accessed August 27, 2018]).
- ↑ Crows acquire Adelaide Bite - AFC.com.au . In: afc.com.au . ( com.au [accessed August 27, 2018]).
- ↑ Cavalry announce ownership details | Australian Baseball League News | The Official Site of the Australian Baseball League. Accessed August 27, 2018 (English).
- ↑ Perth Heat ownership announced | Australian Baseball League News. Accessed August 27, 2018 (English).
- ^ New baseball franchise named Auckland Tuatara. Retrieved August 27, 2018 (en-NZ).
- ^ Koo named Geelong-Korea manager | Australian Baseball League News | The Official Site of the Australian Baseball League. Accessed August 27, 2018 (English).
- ↑ ABL structure confirmed | Australian Baseball League News | The Official Site of the Australian Baseball League. Accessed August 27, 2018 (English).
- ↑ ABL structure confirmed | Australian Baseball League News | The Official Site of the Australian Baseball League. Accessed August 27, 2018 (English).
- ↑ ABL returns to FOX Sports | Australian Baseball League News | The Official Site of the Australian Baseball League. Accessed October 4, 2018 .
- ↑ ABL returns to FOX Sports | Australian Baseball League News | The Official Site of the Australian Baseball League. Accessed October 4, 2018 .
- ↑ Historic TV deal secured | Australian Baseball League News | The Official Site of the Australian Baseball League. Retrieved November 2, 2018 .
- ↑ Telstra starts broadcasting Australian Baseball League 2018/19 season. Retrieved December 15, 2018 .
- ↑ Worldwide Television Coverage | Australian Baseball League ABLtv.com. Retrieved October 14, 2018 .
- ^ Australian Baseball League Attendance | MiLB.com Stats | The Official Site of Minor League Baseball. Retrieved October 20, 2018 .
- ↑ Lloyd Rothwell: New Look ABL Increases Attendance for 2018/19 | Stage Journey. Retrieved January 26, 2019 (American English).