| Melbourne Aces | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Information | |
| Location | Melbourne, Victoria |
| Ballpark | Melbourne Ballpark |
| Founded | 2009 |
| Division championships | 2 (2016–17, 2020–21) |
| Post-season championships | 2 (2019–20, 2020–21) |
| Colours |
|
| Ownership | Brett Ralph and Shaun Ralph |
| Manager | Peter Moylan |
| General Manager | Justin Huber |
The Melbourne Aces are a professional baseball team in the Australian Baseball League based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Their home field is the Melbourne Ballpark in Altona.
On 20 August 2010 it was announced that ex-Australian Baseball player Philip Dale would take up the head coaching role at Melbourne Aces. [1]
On 12 October 2010, it was announced by newly appointed General Manager Windsor Knox that the Aces would play home games at a redeveloped Melbourne Showgrounds. [2]
In their inaugural season the Melbourne Aces qualified for the finals before being defeated in the semi-finals series against the Adelaide Bite.
On 24 March 2011 the team announced Jet Couriers as their naming rights sponsor for the 2011–12 season. [3]
On 13 July 2012, after many rumours and internet hype, the Melbourne Aces finally announced that they will move from their home field at the Showgrounds to the Melbourne Ballpark in Altona. [4] The move has annoyed and ostracized many Aces supporters from the South Eastern suburbs, but it was the only viable option for them to continue playing in the ABL. The Showgrounds was deemed to be an unsuitable field to play on in the 3rd season. The main reasons being the Aces would not be the sole occupants of the field, having to compete with carnivals, horse shows, music festivals etc. The Showgrounds were also alleged to be booked out until late December, meaning the Aces would have to find a different home venue for the first half of the season.
The Aces won their first ABL championship in 2020 when they defeated the Adelaide Giants in the 2020 ABL Championship Series 2 games to 0, bringing the Claxton Shield to Victoria for the first time since 2010, the 24th time a team from Victoria has won the shield. [5]
| Active Roster | Reassigned Players | Coaching staff | ||||
| Pitchers Right-handed pitchers
Left-handed pitchers
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| 31 December 2020. | ||||||
The Australian Baseball League (ABL) was a baseball league, established in 1987 and disbanded in 1999.
The Perth Heat is a baseball team in the current Australian Baseball League and a founding member of the Australian Baseball League. It is the most successful team in ABL history, winning 15 Claxton Shields.
The Claxton Shield was the name of the premier baseball competition in Australia held between state-based teams, as well as the name of the trophy awarded to the champion team. From the summer of 1989–90 until 2001–02, and again since 2010–11, the tournament was replaced by one of three other competitions: the original Australian Baseball League (ABL), the International Baseball League of Australia (IBLA), and since the 2010–11 season the new ABL. Despite other competitions being held in place of the Claxton Shield, the physical trophy has remained the award for the winning teams. Though city-based teams have competed for the Claxton Shield in some seasons, the name engraved on the shield is that of the winning state; for the 2010–11 ABL season won by the Perth Heat, "West Australia 2011" was engraved.
The Melbourne Ballpark is a baseball park in Laverton, Victoria. It was opened in January 1990, at a cost of A$3.9m, A$2m was contributed by the State Government of Victoria and the remaining A$1.8m contributed by the Australian Federal Government and was constructed by CK Designwork Architects.
The 2009 Diamond Anniversary Claxton Shield was the 75-year anniversary of the Claxton Shield and was held from 2 December 2008 to 8 February 2009 and was the Shield's Diamond anniversary. The Perth Heat won the tournament after defeating the New South Wales Patriots 3–2 in the third game of a best of three series.
The Australian Baseball League (ABL) is a professional baseball league in Australia. The league is governed by the Australian Baseball Federation (ABF). It uses the same name as a now-defunct competition held during the 1990s, and though it shares some history of the original league with the Claxton Shield awarded to winners of both competitions, it is considered to be a separate competition.
The Sydney Blue Sox are a professional baseball team, and one of eight foundation teams in the re-formed Australian Baseball League (ABL). The team plays their home games at Blacktown International Sportspark (BISP), one of the two venues used for baseball at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, when it was known as Blacktown Olympic Park. The Blue Sox hosted the league's Opening Day for the inaugural season on 6 November 2010, when they played against the Canberra Cavalry, and won the game 1–0. The Blue Sox are the only team in the Australian Baseball League to implement sabermetrics as a way to run their team with volunteer statistician, Anthony Rescan.
The Adelaide Giants are a professional baseball team that plays in the Australian Baseball League. They are one of the six foundation franchises of the league, in its first incarnation from 1989 to 1999. The team adopted the name Bite or Adelaide Bite when the league relaunched in 2010, officially Adelaide ETSA Bite, when the South Australian power company ETSA Utilities became its major sponsor. After an ETSA rebrand to SA Power Networks, the Bite became the "Adelaide Bite, proudly presented by SA Power Networks. In 2019, the team was rebranded as Adelaide Giants.
The Canberra Cavalry is a professional baseball team from Canberra, ACT, Australia. Established in 2010, the team is a founding member of the Australian Baseball League (ABL). The Cavs home ground is Narrabundah Ballpark, known as MIT Ballpark for sponsorship reasons. The Cavalry are one-time Claxton Shield Champions and one-time Asian Champions.
The Brisbane Bandits are a professional baseball team in Brisbane, Queensland that plays in the Australian Baseball League and is one of the six founding teams of the league. From the 2010/11 season till the 2012/13 season their home ballpark was the Brisbane Exhibition Ground, the ground which the old Brisbane Bandits played at for the majority of their nine-year tenure. As of the start of the 2013/14 the Bandits home ground is Holloway Field in Newmarket.
The 2010–11 Australian Baseball League season was the inaugural Australian Baseball League (ABL) season, and was held from 6 November 2010 to 13 February 2011. It came 12 years after the old Australian Baseball League ceased and is the successor of the mostly amateur Claxton Shield competition that has been played since 1934. The season consisted of six teams competing in a 40-game schedule, followed by a three-round finals series to determine the ABL champion.
The 2010–11 Sydney Blue Sox season was the team's first season. The Blue Sox competed in the Australian Baseball League (ABL) against five other teams, playing its home games at Blacktown International Sportspark Sydney.
The 2011–12 Australian Baseball League season is the second Australian Baseball League (ABL) season, and is being held from 4 November 2011 to 12 February 2012. The season was scheduled to start on 3 November with a single game between the Perth Heat and the Adelaide Bite at Baseball Park in Perth, but the game was postponed due to wet weather.
The 2011–12 Melbourne Aces season was the second season for the team. As was the case for the previous season, the Aces will compete in the Australian Baseball League (ABL) with the other five foundation teams, and will again play its home games at the Royal Melbourne Showgrounds.
The 2012–13 Australian Baseball League season was the third Australian Baseball League (ABL) season, and was held from 1 November 2012 to 9 February 2013. The season started with a game between the defending champions Perth Heat and the Adelaide Bite at Norwood Oval in Adelaide.
The 2012–13 Melbourne Aces season will be the third season for the team. As was the case for the previous season, the Aces will compete in the Australian Baseball League (ABL) with the other five foundation teams, and for the first time, the team will play its home games at the Melbourne Ballpark.
The 2019–20 Australian Baseball League season was the tenth year Australian Baseball League (ABL) season. The season was held from 21 November 2019 to 9 February 2020. The Melbourne Aces won their first title after defeating the Adelaide Giants in the postseason.
The 2021–22 Australian Baseball League season was to be the twelfth season of the Australian Baseball League (ABL). The regular season was to be held from 18 November 2021 to 23 January 2022.
The 2022–23 Australian Baseball League season was the twelfth season of the Australian Baseball League (ABL). After the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the 2021–22 season and reduced the 2020–21 season to six teams, this season was the first in three years not to feel the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports. The regular season began on 10 November 2022 and concluded on 22 January 2023 with the Adelaide Giants winning the Claxton Shield over the Perth Heat.
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