The Perth Heat is a baseball team in the current Australian Baseball League and a founding member of the Australian Baseball League. It is the most successful team in ABL history, winning 15 Claxton Shields.
Australian Baseball League (1989–1999) 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.
Claxton Shield (2005–2009) 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.
Australian Baseball League (2010 – present) In early 2010, plans for a reformed Australian Baseball League were announced. The ABL, which is partly funded by Major League Baseball features six teams, Sydney Blue Sox, Melbourne Aces, Canberra Cavalry, Brisbane Bandits and Adelaide Bite. The first season featured a 40-game home-and-away regular season, with the top four teams qualifying for a three-round playoff format. The Heat's first game was at the Brisbane Exhibition Ground against the Brisbane Bandits on 11 November, won by Brisbane 8–3. The Heat won their first home game 4–2, on 17 November against the Adelaide Bite at the newly renovated Baseball Park.
The Heat made several key signings in preparation for the new season. 2008 Claxton Shield MVP Clint Balgera returned to the team after sitting out the last two seasons, while pitching prospect Liam Baron is another key acquisition, with the former collegiate pitcher expected to lead the Heat's rotation. Allan de San Miguel, Warwick Saupold, Daniel Schmidt and Mitch Graham, who have been some of the Heat's most significant players in recent Claxton Shield seasons, as well as Jesse Baron, Clint Knight, Brandon Dale, Aaron Bonomi and Tyler Anderson have also signed on for the upcoming season. However, 2009 MVP and former Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim minor league centre fielder Nick Kimpton is leaving the Heat to return home to play for Canberra, while Tim Kennelly will miss the first half of the season after it was announced he will be sent to the Arizona Fall League by the Philadelphia Phillies.
In early October, Perth announced a deal with the Baltimore Orioles, which saw the Major League Baseball outfit send four of their top prospects to play for the Heat during the first ABL season. Left-handed starter Cole McCurry, right-handed reliever Brett Jacobson and outfielders Ronnie Welty and Robbie Widlansky were the prospects Perth secured. Jacobson is the most noteworthy of the four, having been drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 2008 MLB draft, before he was traded for Aubrey Huff. Jacobson was traded by the Orioles to Minnesota in the middle of the ABL season and he returned to America.