It started with one article
On December 25th, 1989, the Indianapolis Star ran a piece by sportswriter Dave Garlick, written at the request of Steve Baertschi, asking whether anybody wanted a baseball league for men thirty and over. Baertschi got more than a hundred calls. Nine teams formed as the Indianapolis MSBL and he became its first president. A 18-to-30 division followed in 1993 as the MABL, sharing a schedule until the two split fully in 1995. A weeknight 40+ league arrived in 1997.
By 1998 the league carried fifteen MSBL and ten MABL clubs, more than 425 members, and a newsletter professionally published three times a season and posted to every one of them. Eight games were played at Victory Field, then new, and three clubs played a round robin at Cinergy Field in Cincinnati. Since then it has sent a team to win a national World Series in Phoenix and spent years working with Riley Children's Hospital and Camp Riley. Every season played on High Cheese keeps itself as standings, box scores and rosters together, so a league already this good at its own story stops having to write it from memory.
Indianapolis MSBL/MABL in detail
- Over fifty teams, six age divisions, four hundred games a year, mostly on turf.
- A Schedule tab, a Scoreboard tab, and six divisions' worth of games behind them.
- Champions and their managers back to 2016 — Hurricanes three times.
- A Scoreboard section, and no score on it.
- Over fifty clubs — Hurricanes, Arrows, War Eagles, Orioles, Stealth, Mustangs, Blue Jays, Indians.
- MVP and Cy Young winners by year, and two manager awards named after people.
- [email protected], a Carmel PO box, and four named officers.
- Six divisions priced from $250 to $325, a February tryout and draft, and a pool if you miss it.
- Grand Park turf for most of it, high schools for the rest, and Victory Field in its history.
- A 2026 rulebook, six age divisions, and a hard cleat rule on turf.
- Season status by division: two well under way, two started, two still to come.
- Victory Field, Cinergy Field and a uniformed clinic at Camp Riley — all described, none shown.
- A rehab specialist in Carmel who pitched at DePauw and plays in the 25+.
- All turf at Grand Park, all games to completion, and no metal spikes.
- President, Vice President, Controller and Marketing — all four named on every page.
- All five answered on the join page, division by division, before you have to ask anybody.
- A 2026 rulebook, an FAQ, an online waiver and a fee payment page.
- Six divisions opening on six different dates, from April 12 to August 6.
- Fees are paid online; nothing is sold.
- United Umpires, exclusively, for every one of four hundred games.
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