History
Baseball was introduced into Austria in the 1940s by United States military personnel stationed in the country after the Second World War. The sport was played at the Hohe Warte Stadium in Vienna and at the Figl Air Base near Tulln an der Donau. However, after the occupation ended in 1955, interest in and development of baseball declined. [1]
Interest in baseball saw a revival in the 1980s. Three baseball clubs were established in Vienna in 1982: Homerunners, Roadrunners and City Boys; only the Homerunners, now the Vienna Metrostars, are still active. [1] [2] The league was established in 1985 as the Austrian Baseball League, with its inaugural season featuring four teams: Linz Bandits, Vienna City Boys, Vienna Homerunners and Vienna Roadrunners. The top two teams from the regular season faced off in a final series to determine the Austrian baseball champion. The City Boys folded after the 1985 season, leaving only three teams to contest the 1986 season. [3]
The number of teams fluctuated between five and eight per season until 1997, when the top flight was set at eight teams, along with the establishment of a four-team playoff system to determine the winner. In 2017, the league changed its name to Baseball League Austria and expanded the playoffs to six teams. In 2020, it adopted its current name, Baseball Bundesliga. [3] [4] [5]
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