The St. Louis Amateur Baseball Association was founded in 1987 by a group of St. Louis area baseball coaches that included Jim Muskopf who became SLABA’s first president. Muskopf was the longtime manager of the Johnny Mac Thunder. Every year,
SLABA presents the Muskopf-Sears Distinguished Service Award. 

SLABA was established to give teenage boys in St. Louis a greater opportunity to play baseball at a competitive level where they would be seen by college coaches and professional scouts. All of the SLABA teams have multiple affiliations with nationally recognized and sanctioned youth baseball programs, providing St. Louis area high school players with maximum exposure to the toughest competition. SLABA currently has national affiliations with PONY Baseball, the American Amateur Baseball Congress, and the National Amateur Baseball Federation. SLABA sends teams from each age group to postseason playoff tournaments throughout America.

Hundreds of former SLABA players have gone on to play at every level of college and pro baseball. Currently, former SLABA players in Major League Baseball include Ross Detwiler, Peter Fairbanks, Tanner Houck, Michael Plassmeyer, Max Scherzer, and Luke Voit. David Freese and Ryan Howard are a few of the most famous SLABA alumni and both men have SLABA leagues named in their honor.

Former Cardinal pitcher Kyle McClellan also has a SLABA league named for him. He is part of our St. Louis Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame, having received the Bob Burnes Award in 2016. Longtime SLABA president Fred Wilke was inducted into the St. Louis Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame in 2018. Chad Fix is the current president of SLABA. The SLABA Executive Board includes Fix, Vice-President Mike Buda, Secretary Kirk Hawkins, and Treasurer Mike Sears.