Melbourne Reds
| Melbourne Reds | |||
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| League | Australian Baseball League (1989-1999) | ||
| Location | Melbourne | ||
| Ballpark | Moorabbin Oval | ||
| Year founded | 1989–90 | ||
| Year folded | 1999 | ||
| Nickname(s) | Reds | ||
| League championships | 1989–90, 1994–95, 1997–98 | ||
| Former name(s) | Waverley Reds | ||
| Former ballparks | Waverley Park (89–94) | ||
| Colours | Red and White | ||
| Mascot | Redmond | ||
| 1998–99 | 20–23 (5th) | ||
| Manager | Steve Livesey | ||
| Uniforms | |||
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The Melbourne Reds were a Victorian-based baseball team in the Australian Baseball League. They were the only team to win the championship 3 times. The Reds originally played at the home of VFL/AFL football, Waverley Park from 1989 until the 1994 Championship, when they moved to the former home ground of the St Kilda Football Club, Moorabbin Oval for the 1994/95 Championship and played there until the end of Australian Baseball League in 1999.
After the 1988 Claxton Shield the idea of an Australian Baseball League was floated, with the Waverley Baseball Club being one of the strongest clubs in Victorian Baseball they stepped forward in instigating a team to represent the south-east of Melbourne, and the Waverley Reds were created.
In the first Australian Baseball League championship the Reds went through the season winning 34 out of 40 games, with a home record of 17 wins 2 losses, the Reds went into the championship series favourites against cross town rival the Melbourne Monarchs winning 3 out of the 4 game series to become the inaugural Australian Baseball League Champions.
The Waverley Baseball Club were the original majority owners and managers of the team, until it was foreseen that ownership of the team was not going to be a profitable exercise and distanced themselves to avoid future debts affecting the future of the baseball club.
An obliging suitor soon appeared when young American Andy Karetsky arrived with a healthy bankroll of US dollars and a determination to become involved with baseball club ownership in Australia. Karetsky had made his fortune at the New York stock exchange and had first made overtures to buy into the Perth Heat club, before finding that the Waverley Reds were seeking a new majority owner.
Andy Karetsky was certainly a "forward thinking" guy who, quite truthfully, may have been a bit ahead of his time in terms of his visions for the Waverley Reds. He had plenty of lofty visions for the club based on his experiences with US baseball, but it is possible that he found these not so easy to "translate" into the Australian market. Certainly, whatever anyone may have thought about Karetsky's style and decision making, everything he did was with the best intentions for the Waverley Reds. He dearly loved "his team" and he was driven to make them succeed on and off the field! He moved the team from Waverley Park to Moorabbin Oval before the 1994/95 Championship. It was towards the end of the "Karetsky era" that he officially changed the name of the team from Waverley Reds to Melbourne Reds before the 1995/96 season, in the hope of broadening the supporter base of the club. However, Karetsky had to sell his ownership of the Reds due to personal reasons a short time later.
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Wikipedia