The Australian Baseball League (ABL) is Australia's premier professional baseball competition, which commenced its inaugural season in November 2010.

A landmark partnership between the Australian Baseball Federation, Major League Baseball and the Australian Sports Commission saw the ABL feature a six team, 40-game season to serve to elevate baseball's profile in the Australian sports landscape and fuel participation in the game.

The ABL seeks to become the most fan-friendly and accessible sports code in Australia and to showcase, on home soil, enormously talented Australian baseballers, who for decades have excelled on the international stage. All told more than 300 Australians have played professionally including 28 for Major League Baseball.

The establishment of the ABL is the latest success in the long-term partnership between MLB and the ABF. The Major League Baseball Australian Academy Program began in 2001 to provide world-class coaching, training and development opportunities for elite young players and has led to a 40% increase in the number of Australians playing professional and college baseball.

Melbourne Aces is the name of the Melbourne team in the revamped ABL.

The Melbourne Aces were joined by the Adelaide Bite, Brisbane Bandits, Canberra Cavalry, Perth Heat and Sydney Blue Sox as the clubs in the first season of the new ABL. Brisbane and Perth have retained their names from the original ABL, which ran from 1989-99, while Melbourne chose to recognise the Victorian Aces, which won three Claxton Shields from 2002-10.

Waverley (Melbourne) Reds, Melbourne Monarchs and Melbourne Bushrangers were the Victorian teams in the first edition of the ABL.

Sun sets on Aces' Inaugural ABL Season