“Dedicated to preserving amateur baseball in the City of Chicago.”
The Chicago Metropolitan Baseball Association (CMBA) is an adult amateur baseball league committed to maintaining organized, competitive baseball within the City of Chicago and nearby communities. Since its founding in 1994, the league has carried forward a long tradition of neighborhood baseball played on municipal diamonds and park fields throughout the city.
Origins
The CMBA traces its roots to the Winnemac/Riis Park Twilight League, a long-standing Chicago weeknight baseball league that operated for many decades. These leagues provided an opportunity for working adults to compete in organized baseball during summer evenings on city park fields.
By the early 1990s many teams were juggling schedules across separate weeknight and weekend leagues. This arrangement increased costs, created scheduling conflicts, and made long-term league stability difficult. Following the 1993 season, the remaining clubs in the weeknight league chose to reorganize rather than allow organized city baseball to fade away.
From that effort, the Chicago Metropolitan Baseball Association was formed.
A New Structure
The newly formed CMBA introduced a scheduling format that allowed games to be played throughout the entire week rather than only on weeknights. This eliminated the need for teams to participate in multiple leagues and allowed the association to operate as a single, unified competition.
The league began with six teams and a full slate of games played across Chicago and nearby suburbs. The season typically runs from mid-May through early August, with teams playing roughly 27–34 games each year. Games follow traditional American League rules and emphasize competitive amateur baseball.
Expansion and Divisional Play
As interest in the league grew during the late 1990s and early 2000s, the CMBA expanded its membership and introduced divisional structures to manage scheduling and competitive balance.
The league eventually grew to as many as fifteen teams before settling into a more stable size. During this period, teams were organized into multiple divisions that allowed for balanced schedules while maintaining strong competition across the league.
Divisional alignments have evolved over the years as teams joined, departed, and the league adjusted its structure to maintain competitive parity and manageable scheduling.
Playing in the City
One of the defining characteristics of the CMBA has been its commitment to playing baseball within Chicago itself. While many amateur leagues in the region gradually moved toward suburban complexes and distant facilities, the CMBA continued to utilize city parks and neighborhood fields.
League officials and participating clubs have also worked with local park authorities over the years to help maintain and improve several of the diamonds used for competition. This partnership has helped ensure that organized baseball continues to be played in Chicago parks that have hosted games for generations.
The League Today
Today the CMBA continues to operate as a not-for-profit amateur baseball association. League fees are directed entirely toward operating the season, including field rentals, umpires, equipment, and league administration.
Each summer, players from across the city and surrounding communities take the field in a league built on competition, tradition, and a shared love of the game.
What began with a small group of teams determined to preserve organized baseball in Chicago has grown into a long-standing amateur league that continues to fulfill its original mission: preserving amateur baseball in the City of Chicago.