The Melbourne Aces are a professional baseball team in the Australian Baseball League based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Our home field is Melbourne Ballpark in Altona. Over the years, we have been lucky enough to have many of our players go on to great success in Major League Baseball, including the 2018 National League Rookie of The Year and 2023 National League MVP, Ronald Acuña Jr. Every year, we have players from all over the world come and compete from November to February.
The Melbourne Aces are a founding member of the modern formation of the Australian Baseball League, a recognised winter league of Major League Baseball. The 2024/25 season marks both the league and the team’s 15th year of operation and 14th Championship Season.
For the first 2 years of play, the Aces called the redeveloped Melbourne Showgrounds home, before moving to Melbourne Ballpark, where the team has played for the last 11 seasons.
The Aces have an all-time record of 255-286 (13 seasons) with 8 trips to the ABL playoffs, and 2 ABL Championships taking home the coveted Claxton Shield. 26 current or former Major League players have come through the organisation, including Aces’ General Manager – Justin Huber, Pitching Coach – Peter Moylan and Bench Coach – Graeme Lloyd.
Melbourne began to play in November 2010 under manager Phil Dale. The team finished 18-21 and earned a playoff berth and advanced to the ABL’s semi-final series.
Dale piloted the team to a 76-100 record over four seasons, including a Championship Series berth in the 2011/12 season.
After stepping aside at the end of the 13/14 season, there has been 5 Aces managers at the helm since inaugural season manager – Phil Dale, including former Team Australia manager – Jon Deeble, who took over the reigns ahead of the 2016/17 season. In Deeble’s tenure, the team is 110-90, including a franchise-best record of 26-14 (.650) for the 2016/17 season, gaining the teams only direct Championship Series appearance.
Melbourne has made the playoffs six times under Deeble, including two trips to the ABL Championship Series and the Aces first Claxton Shield title in the 2019/2020 season.
Others notable Aces managers include:
Tommy Thompson – 2014/15
Joe Vavra – 2015/16
Allan De San Miguel – 2020/21 (Aces 2nd ABL Championship)
Peter Moylan – 2022/23
