Ibla

The International Baseball League of Australia was a baseball league which existed from 1999 to 2002.

The league was created by David Nilsson after he purchased the rights to the Australian Baseball League in 1999 when it was near financial collapse. The International Baseball League lasted for 3 seasons before Nilsson handed the rights back over to the Australian Baseball Federation in 2002. Following the collapse there was no professional baseball league until it was announced in 2009 the formation of the new Australian Baseball League starting in 2010. The idea behind the International Baseball League of Australia was to be a winter league from November to January as a means to help gain off-season competition for players centered in Asia and the United States.

The 1999-2000 season was conducted as a National League with a team based in each of the major Australian mainland cites and a second team based in Country New South Wales. The development league and All-Star game were not held in this season.

The Western Heelers defeated the Queensland Rams 2 games to 1 in the Championship series held at Palm Meadows.

The IBLA Most Valuable Player Award for this season was awarded to Chris Snelling, playing for Country NSW.

The 2000-01 season saw the National League and All-Star game canceled with the Development League being held on the Gold Coast at Palm Meadows, The development league was held between 4 teams; IBLA Internationals, IBLA Australia, MLB All-Stars and the Taiwan National Team. The development league was won by IBLA Internationals who defeated IBLA Australia 2-1 in the Championship game.

2002 was the final season of the IBLA, The league reverted to the traditional Claxton Shield format and held at a single venue, the Melbourne Ballpark. It was competed between all the major mainland states of Australia and a new Australian Provincial team. The 2002 league featured no Development League and no All-Star game.

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