The Brisbane Bandits were established in 1989 by co-founders Tom Nicholson and Vince Askey as a privately owned baseball franchise in the inaugural Australian Baseball League.

1. Brisbane Bandits
(1989-98) Matthew
Brannelly -
Foundation Chairman

2. The Brisbane Bandits were a foundation team in the Australian
Baseball League which was bought by a private owner and shut down
in 1999. The Bandits have now been resurrected as a team in the new
Australian Baseball League which is due to start in November 2010.

3. The Bandits won the ABL Championship in 1994 and finished 2nd in
1997, going down to the Perth Heat in the championship series. The
Bandits only competed in the first 9 ABL Championships, but had
intentions of re-joining the ABL Championship in following Seasons.

4. The Brisbane Bandits were established in 1989 by co-founders Tom
Nicholson and Vince Askey as a privately owned baseball franchise in
the inaugural Australian Baseball League. Nicholson ran the entire
franchise as the General Manager overseeing all operation of the
Bandits.

5. Askey, the Director of International Operations, forged relationships
with Major League Clubs, starting with the San Diego Padres and later
the New York Yankees. Askey also served as a television commentator
for ABL games aired on the ABC Network. Both Askey and Nicholson
also served as Directors on the ABL Board of Directors.

6. Foundation Chairman of the Board
was well known young business
identity Matthew Brannelly who
prior to this was the Founding
President of the Brisbane Junior
Chamber of Commerce.

7. Mike Young, ex Major League and Australian Team coach was the
inaugural coach. Mike went on to be the Specialist Fielding Coach for
the Australian Cricket Team.
In their initial season the Bandits were based at Lang Park. The
rectangular field was well suited to rugby league and soccer but not
baseball. To offset the short left field a 50 foot high wall was installed.

8. In 1990, the team moved to the iconic Brisbane venue, the RNA Show
grounds (or Brisbane Exhibition). The lighting and circular field
surrounded by historic grandstands provided a family friendly venue
and is currently where the Brisbane Bandits in the new Australian
Baseball League play. The team maintained this home venue till their
championship winning 1993–94 Australian Baseball League season.

9. In the 1993/94 season the Bandits won the Championship series
against the Sydney Blues. The Blues had finished the regular season as
minor premiers and had home field advantage. This was not enough
though as the Bandits won 2–0 to claim their only title.

10. From 1994 the Bandits changed home ground to QEII Stadium in the
city’s south eastern suburbs. This venue was originally built for the
1982 Commonwealth Games.
In the 1995–96 Australian Baseball League season the Bandits finished
the regular season as minor premiers. This provided home field
advantage for the first week of the playoffs. However they lost to the
Waverly Reds.

11. In their last season, the Bandits played at Holloway Field, the place
where the Claxton Shield team, Queensland Rams would play for the
next decade. Due to a lack of a suitable venue the Bandits did not
compete in the 1998–99 Australian Baseball League season. Many of
their players transferred to the nearby franchise, the Gold Coast
Cougars, who won the championship that season.

12. The original Bandits developed at least one Major League player.
Cameron Cairncross, a left-handed starting pitcher, went on to play for
the Cleveland Indians in 2000 as a relief pitcher.

13. The Bandits, as all teams in the ABL, had foreign imports each season.
At least three of these went on to play in the Majors in the USA,
including Tim Worrell and Homer Bush of the SD Padres, and Kevin
Jordan who played for the Bandits while with the Yankees
organization, but ended up play in MLB for the Philidalphia Phillies.

14. The Bandits were the only franchise in the ABL that maintained the
original owners and leadership longer than any of the other ABL
franchises.

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