| Current season or competition: 2011 |
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Logo, Deutscher Baseball und Sotball Verband eV |
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| Sport | Baseball |
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| Founded | 1984 |
| No. of teams | 15 |
| Country(ies) | Germany |
| Most recent champion(s) | Buchbinder Legionäre Regensburg |
| Most titles | Mannheim Tornados (11) |
| Official website | http://www.baseball-softball.de/ (German) http://www.baseballgermany.com/ (English) |
The Baseball-Bundesliga is the elite competition for the sport of baseball in Germany. In it, the men's German championship is determined annually. Like most European sports leagues, the Bundesliga uses a system of promotion and relegation. The highest division of the Bundesliga currently consists of fifteen teams in two divisions, with each team playing four games against each other team. The league is regulated by the German Baseball and Softball Association (DBV).
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A precursor to the baseball-bundesliga was founded between 1951, with the Stuttgart Phillies winning the inaugural national championship.[1] However, the league disbanded following the 1970 season, leaving Germany without a national league for 11 years.[2]
The baseball-bundesliga, in its current incarnation, was established in 1982.[3] Two teams produced dynasties during the league's first two decades of operation: the Mannheim Tornados won every championship from 1984 to 1989, and the Paderborn Untouchables won every championship from 2001 to 2005. The league claims that in 1990, there were 2000 baseball players in Germany, while that number has grown to exceed 30,000 today.[4]
In 2010, the league promoted the Dohren Wild Farmers and the Neuenburg Atomics.[5] At the end of the season, the Neuenburg Atomics were relegated with the worst record in the Southern Division (1-27). The Saarlouis Hornets voluntarily relegated themselves for financial reasons, despite posting the best record (19-21) in a ten year history in the first division, causing the Southern Division to contract from eight to seven teams.[6] The two teams were replaced by the Bad Homburg Hornets. In the Northern Division, the Cologne Cardinals were relegated at the end the season and replaced by the champions of the second division, the Berlin Sluggers.[7][8]
A motion to reduce the league from 16 to 12 teams was denied by a Competition Commission established by the DBV prior to a general meeting of all the baseball clubs in Germany in Frankfurt am Main on November 13, 2010. At the meeting itself, it was agreed to add an All Star Game for the 2012 season.[9]
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Northern Division
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Southern Division |
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