[2] In 1867, Victorian cricketers William Gaggin and Louis Goldsmith tried to set up a game of baseball at Yarra Park but were disrupted by fans arriving for a local Australian football match.

The first competitive series was played between the Surry Baseball Club and members of the New South Wales Cricket Association over June/July 1878.

[3] In December 1888, American entrepreneur Albert Spalding brought his Chicago White Stockings and a team of U.S. all-stars to Australia, as part of a world tour.

Games were billed as Australia vs England and were played at the Crystal Palace Sports Ground,[7] although the tour turned sour when the team manager left London with the gate receipts, leaving many more players in financial limbo.

[8] At the end of the 19th century, Americans also tried to set up baseball leagues and competitions in Australia, with some success.

Several Australians, however, have attracted the attention of American scouts and have gone on to play in the major leagues in the United States and Japan.

This growth led the parent organisation to announce that Australia would receive an automatic berth in the Little League World Series starting in 2013.

The exception to this was summer night baseball at Norwood Oval in Adelaide, South Australia in the 1950s and at Oriole Stadium in Sydney from 1969.

There are many Australians playing baseball professionally in the United States, Japan, Korea, and various other countries.

In 1986, Craig Shipley became the first Austrlian in the modern era to play in Major League Baseball.

[13] Liam Hendriks of Perth was a three-time All-Star in Major League Baseball and one of the best closers in the sport.

[15] Domestically, Tim Kennelly of the Perth Heat is one of the most accomplished players in national history.