Most recent season: 2015–16 Australian Baseball League season |
|
Team Details | |
---|---|
League | Australian Baseball League |
City | Perth, Western Australia |
Ballpark | Baseball Park |
Year founded | 1989 |
Inaugural season | 2010–11 |
Postseason | |
ABL Championships | 4 (2010–11, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2014–15) |
Minor premierships | 2 (2011–12, 2013–14) |
Uniforms | |
Colours |
Red Black White |
Management | |
Manager | Kevin Boles |
Owner | Australian Baseball League |
General Manager | Tony Adamson |
The Perth Heat is a team in the current Australian Baseball League and a foundation member of the Australian Baseball League. It is now the most successful team in ABL, winning 15 Claxton shields.
Perth Heat won the ABL championship in 1990–91, when Graeme Lloyd pitched the Heat to a Game 5 championship win on the Gold Coast against the Dolphins to take the 3–2 series win. The Heat won a second championship in 1996–97 defeating the Brisbane Bandits.
During the original Australian Baseball League the Perth Heat were the second-most successful team in the league, winning the title twice and finishing runner-up a further three times.
In 2005, the name was resurrected by the Western Australian baseball team competing in the Claxton Shield. This re-branding of the team, together with the facilities of the new Tom Bateman Reserve in the suburb of Thornlie, reportedly contributed to increased interest in the sport in Western Australia, with many exhibition matches attracting more than 2,000 spectators, very high compared with usual Australian attendances for the sport.
Western Australia hosted the 2007 Claxton Shield tournament at Tom Bateman Reserve, with games also being played in the nearby regional centres of Rockingham and Mandurah. Spectator numbers were between 1,000 and 1,500, and the grand final, eventually won by Victoria against New South Wales, attracted 1,500. However, the Heat was unable to win a game during the tournament.
In late 2007, the name was further applied to the state's junior representatives, with the under-14, under-16 and under-18 teams being renamed the "WA State Heat".
The Heat won back-to-back Claxton Shield titles in 2008 and 2009. In 2008, it won the Southern Division with an 8–4 record and swept New South Wales in the best-of-three semi final series in Sydney. In 2009, the Heat finished the regular season with the best record, at 12–4, and came back from losing the first game to beat New South Wales in three games in the Grand Final. The WA side led the deciding third game throughout but blew a 2–0 lead in the top of the ninth inning. With the game set for extra innings, outfielder Daniel Floyd hit a walk-off single to deliver back-to-back titles for Perth.