Baseball in the United Kingdom
Baseball is a minor sport in the United Kingdom with about 3,000 participants.[1] The sport is governed by the British Baseball Federation, which runs a multi-tier national league. The national team has taken part in international competitions. There are also independent regional leagues, and about 20 universities field teams. The sole purpose-built facility in the UK is at Farnham Common, Buckinghamshire.[2] There is also a youth baseball academy.
| Baseball in the United Kingdom | |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Governing body | British Baseball Federation |
| National team(s) | Men's national team; Women's national team |
| First played | 1862 |
National competitions | |
| |
Although early varieties of baseball may have originated in England in the 18th century, the modern baseball code started to be played in Britain in 1890, when the National Baseball League of Great Britain and Ireland was established. Professional baseball was especially popular in Britain during the 1930s. Occasional exhibition matches between American teams have been staged in Britain over the years.[2]
History
Origins
The sport probably originated in England in the 18th century.[3][4][5] The earliest known mention, and illustration, of the game appeared in John Newbery's A Little Pretty Pocket-Book in 1744. The earliest known rules were printed in 1796, in Germany, as "Das Englische Base-ball."
Introduction in the 19th century
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In 1890 the international version of the game was introduced to the United Kingdom in Derby by Francis Ley, a Derby man who had experienced the game on a trip to the United States, and Albert Goodwill Spalding, an American former star player and sporting goods businessman who saw opportunities to expand his business across the Atlantic. Aston Villa, now known exclusively as a football club, won the only professional baseball championship in 1890. The competition was hindered by poor weather and disappointing crowds and made a loss to its investors.[6] One of the first baseball clubs was the Derby County Baseball Club who led the first championship after the National Baseball League of Great Britain and Ireland was established in 1890. However, pressure from other teams in the league over the number of American players on the Derby team and low attendances forced Derby to resign before the end of the season, though the baseball club itself lasted until 1898. The so-called Baseball Ground continued to be used under that name as the home of football's Derby County F.C. for over a century, from 1895 to 1997.
Resurgence prior to WWII
Baseball's peak popularity in Britain was in the years immediately preceding World War II. Baseball teams shared grounds with football clubs and the game was run at a professional standard with up to 10,000 spectators per game.
One milestone of baseball in the United Kingdom was the 1938 victory of Great Britain over the United States in the 1938 Amateur World Series, considered the first World Cup of Baseball.
At present
Today, there are 74 active baseball teams, and 1,500 adult and Junior (under 18) players ranging geographically from London to Liverpool, St Austell to Edinburgh. The Junior Great British National Team consists of 15 players and recently competed in the European championships.
There have been numerous league formats since 1890. The British Baseball Federation (BBF) is the governing body for baseball in the UK and the baseball leagues. The season runs from April until August. Affiliated baseball clubs pay annual affiliation fees to be a member of the BBF and play in the BBF Leagues and Junior Leagues. There are three leagues independent of the British Baseball Federation: the Scottish National League, run by Baseball Scotland, the Northern Baseball League containing mainly teams based in Northern England and the South West Baseball League, representing all but one of the teams in the South West of England. There is also a full Great Britain Baseball Programme which comprises the Great Britain Baseball Academy,[7] junior national teams and Great Britain 'Seniors' Baseball Team. British national teams have competed in the European Baseball Championships[8] and World Baseball Classic.[9]
The BBF league format is divided into the national divisions, consisting of four tiers from the National League, down to the Single A league. At the end of the season, all divisions compete in postseason tournaments where the top teams from each conference play knockout matches with the winning teams then progressing to the Championship Series. The Championship Series of the National League is best of three, the AAA, AA and A championships are single games.
The Independent leagues compete against the teams in their own leagues, and in 2017 the first Independent leagues finals weekend was held at Hull, which consisted of semifinals between the champions of the Independent leagues and a final held the next day. This was followed by an England v Scotland friendly All-Star game.
Baseball in Northern Ireland is affiliated to Baseball Ireland for practical reasons. Northern Ireland's only team, the Belfast Northstars, play in the Irish Adult League.
British University Baseball has also been growing with 20 universities with clubs at the end of the 2015/16 season: Cambridge, Coventry, Durham, Edinburgh, Essex, Hull, Imperial, Leeds Beckett, Leeds Gryphons Baseball Club, Loughborough, Manchester Metropolitan University (Cheshire), Nottingham University, Nottingham Trent University, Sheffield, Southampton, Stirling, Swansea, UCL and University of East Anglia. The University season runs from September to May, the typical off-season for the sport. Without a British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) league, teams compete in the National University Baseball Championships (NUBC) tournament, which happens twice a year in the spring and the autumn and are run by BaseballSoftballUK (BSUK). The Spring 2016 Champions are Loughborough, and have won the past 3 NUBC tournaments. Despite not having a BUCS league a Northern University Baseball League was set up for the 2015/16 season, and is planned to expand and be renamed to the National University Baseball League, and have a similar set up to the BBF leagues.
Champions
| Season | Winners | Score | Runners-up | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1890 | Aston Villa | Preston North End | No playoff | |
| 1892 | Middlesbrough F.C. | 25-16 | St. Thomas's | |
| 1893 | Thespian London | 33-6 | Darlington St. Augustine's | |
| 1894 | Thespian London | 38-14 | Stockton-on-Tees | |
| 1895 | Derby County Baseball Club | 20-16 | Fullers | |
| 1896 | Wallsend-On-Tyne | 16-10 | Remingtons | |
| 1897 | Derby County Baseball Club | 30-7 | Middlesbrough F.C. | |
| 1899 | Derby County Baseball Club | 14-3 | Nottingham Forest F.C. | |
| 1900 | Nottingham Forest F.C. | 17-16 | Derby County Baseball Club | |
| 1906 | Tottenham Hotspur F.C. | |||
| 1907 | Clapton Orient | 8-7 | Fulham | |
| 1908 | Tottenham Hotspur F.C. | 6-5 | Leyton | |
| 1909 | Clapton Orient | 6-4 | Leyton | |
| 1910 | Brentford | 20-5 | West Ham United | |
| 1911 | Leyton | 6-5 | Crystal Palace | |
| 1934 | Hatfield | 13-12 | Albion | |
| 1935 | New London | 7-1 | Rochdale Greys | |
| 1936 | White City | 9-5 | Catford Saints | |
| 1937 | Hull | 5-1 | Romford Wasps | |
| 1938 | Rochdale Greys | 1-0 | Oldham Greyhounds | 15 innings |
| 1939 | Halifax | 9-5 | Rochdale Greys | |
| 1948 | Liverpool Robins | 13-0 | Thames Board Mills | |
| 1949 | Hornsey Red Sox | 10-5 | Liverpool Cubs | |
| 1950 | Burtonwood Bees | 23-2 | Hornsey Red Sox | |
| 1951 | Burtonwood Bees | 9-2 | Ruislip Rockets | |
| 1959 | Thames Board Mills | 12-4 | East Hull Aces | |
| 1960 | Thames Board Mills | 6-1 | Liverpool Tigers | |
| 1962 | Liverpool Tigers | 8-3 | East Hull Aces | |
| 1963 | East Hull Aces | 8-3 | Garringtons | |
| 1965 | Kingston Aces | 4-2 | Stretford Saints | |
| 1966 | Stretford Saints | 3-1 | Liverpool Aces | |
| 1967 | Liverpool Yankees | 4-2 | Beckenham Bluejays | |
| 1968 | Hull Aces | 4-1 | Hull Royals | |
| 1969 | Watford-Sun Rockets | 8-7 | Liverpool Trojans | 11 innings |
| 1970 | Hull Royals | 3-1 | Hull Aces | |
| 1971 | Liverpool Tigers | 8-3 | Hull Aces | |
| 1972 | Hull Aces | 6-4 | Hull Royals | |
| 1973 | Burtonwood Yanks | 23-3 | Hull Aces | |
| 1974 | Nottingham Lions | 5-3 | Hull Royals | |
| 1975 | Liverpool Tigers | 5-3 | Nottingham Lions | |
| 1976 | Liverpool Trojans | 5-4 | Spirit Of '76 | |
| 1977 | Golders Green Sox | 9-5 | Hull Aces | |
| 1978 | Liverpool Trojans | 14-12 | Crawley Giants | |
| 1979 | Golders Green Sox | 9-7 | Hull Aces | |
| 1980 | Liverpool Trojans | 12-1 | Hull Aces | |
| 1981 | London Warriors | 23-1 | Hull Aces | |
| 1982 | London Warriors | 16-7 | Liverpool Trojans | |
| 1983 | Cobham Yankees | 10-3 | Hull Mets | |
| 1984 | Croydon Blue Jays | 9-8 | Hull Mets | |
| 1985 | Hull Mets | 10-8 | London Warriors | |
| 1986 | Cobham Yankees | 12-5 | Hull Mets | |
| 1987 | Cobham Yankees | 6-0 | Southglade Hornets | |
| 1988 | Cobham Yankees | 16-1 | Burtonwood Braves | |
| 1989 | Enfield Spartans | 15-9 | Sutton Braves | |
| 1990 | Enfield Spartans | 22-3 | Hull Mets | |
| 1991 | Enfield Spartans | 9–7, 2–4, 4-1 | London Athletics | Spartans won 2 games to 1 |
| 1992 BBF | Leeds City Royals | Humberside Mets | Awarded championship by walkover | |
| 1992 NL | London Warriors | 23–0, 5-4 | Enfield Spartans | Warriors won 2 games to 0 |
| 1993 BBF | Humberside Mets and Chicksands Indians | Title decider not played | ||
| 1993 NL | London Warriors | 2-1 | Enfield Spartans | |
| 1994 BBF | Humberside Mets | 2–3, 10–0, 8-0 | Essex Arrows | Mets won 2 games to 1 |
| 1994 NL | Enfield Spartans | 8-5 | Waltham Forest Angels | |
| 1995 | Menwith Hill Pirates | 3–2, 7-6 | London Warriors | Pirates won 2 games to 0 |
| 1996 | Menwith Hill Pirates | 14–9, 11–23, 18-12 | London Warriors | Pirates won 2 games to 1 |
| 1997 | London Warriors | 11–5, 31-12 | Kingston-upon-Hull Cobras | Warriors won 2 games to 0 |
| 1998 | Menwith Hill Patriots | 13–5, 17-15 | London Warriors | Patriots won 2 games to 0 |
| 1999 | Brighton Buccaneers | 16-4 | Windsor Bears | |
| 2000 | London Warriors | 11-7 | Brighton Buccaneers | |
| 2001 | Brighton Buccaneers | 8-5 | Windsor Bears | |
| 2002 | Brighton Buccaneers | 5-1 | Windsor Bears | |
| 2003 | Windsor Bears | 9-4 | Brighton Buccaneers | |
| 2004 | Croydon Pirates | 12-10 | Windsor Bears | |
| 2005 | Croydon Pirates | 11–4, 10-9 | Brighton Buccaneers | Pirates won 2 games to 0 |
| 2006 | Richmond Flames | 7-11, 8–5, 9-0 | Croydon Pirates | Flames won 2 games to 1 |
| 2007 | London Mets | 7–2, 11-1 | Croydon Pirates | Mets won 2 games to 0 |
| 2008 | London Mets | 11-4 | Richmond Flames | |
| 2009 | Bracknell Blazers | 16-4 | Richmond Flames | |
| 2010 | Richmond Flames | 10-1 | Bracknell Blazers | |
| 2011 | Harlow Nationals | 13-3 | Lakenheath Diamondbacks | |
| 2012 | Harlow Nationals | 6-3 | Herts Falcons | |
| 2013 | Southern Nationals | 12-7 | Southampton Mustangs | |
| 2014 | Essex Arrows | 5–1, 5-4 | London Mets | Arrows won 2 games to 0 |
| 2015 | London Mets | 6–2, 11-2 | Southampton Mustangs | Mets won 2 games to 0 |
| 2016 | Southampton Mustangs | 0–1, 7–3, 9-4 | London Mets | Mustangs won 2 games to 1 |
| 2017 | London Mets | 15–14, 6-0 | Southampton Mustangs | Mets won 2 games to 0 |
| 2018 | London Mets | 16–1, 11-1 | Herts Falcons | Mets won 2 games to 0 |
| 2019 | London Mets | 14-4 | London Capitals |
Championships by Region
| Region | Number of championships | Towns/Cities |
|---|---|---|
| London | London (34) | |
| North West | Liverpool (9), Warrington (3), Preston (1), Rochdale (1), Stretford (1) | |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | Hull (9), Harrogate (3), Halifax (1), Leeds (1) | |
| South East | Cobham (4), Brighton (3), Bracknell (1), Southampton (1), Windsor (1) | |
| East of England | Harlow (2), Purfleet (2), Bedford (1), Waltham Abbey (1), Watford (1) | |
| East Midlands | Derby (3), Nottingham (2) | |
| North East | Middlesbrough (1), Newcastle (1) | |
| West Midlands | Birmingham (1) | |
| Scotland | ||
| South West | ||
| Wales |
2019 Teams
BIR Affiliate of Birmingham Bandits BRG Affiliate of Brighton Brewers BRS Affiliate of Bristol Badgers CAM Affiliate of Cambridge Monarchs ESA Affiliate of Essex Arrows ESR Affiliate of Essex Redbacks GUI Affiliate of Guildford Mavericks HER Affiliate of Herts Falcons HUL Affiliate of Hull Scorpions KEN Affiliate of Kent Buccaneers LIV Affiliate of Liverpool Trojans LON Affiliate of London Mets MAN Affiliate of Manchester A's RIC Affiliate of Richmond Knights SHF Affiliate of Sheffield Bladerunners TON Affiliate of Tonbridge Bobcats
See also
- British Baseball Hall of Fame
- Baseball awards#United Kingdom
- Baseball awards#Europe
- British Baseball
References
- Palmer, Brian (10 August 2011). "Why Are They Using Baseball Bats Instead of Cricket Bats in the U.K. Riots?". Retrieved 4 October 2016 – via Slate.
- editor, Lucy Sherriff Multimedia; UK, The Huffington Post (19 June 2015). "MLB Players Want To Come And Play Baseball In London. So Why Don't They?". Retrieved 4 October 2016.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
- Hooper, Simon. "Did baseball begin in 18th-century England?". CNN. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
- agencies, By Telegraph staff and (11 September 2008). "Major League Baseball told: Your sport is British, not American". Retrieved 4 October 2016.
- "BBC NEWS - UK - England - Surrey - Baseball's UK heritage confirmed". Retrieved 4 October 2016.
- Kendrick, Mat. "Aston Villa: The day the claret and blues won the baseball league". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
- "MLB - Baseball in Europe is about to take off". Espn.com. 13 September 2011. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
- Sulat, Nate (26 July 2013). "Why isn't baseball more popular in the UK?". BBC News. Retrieved 4 October 2016 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
- "Inspire, develop, perform: Unheralded British baseball chasing history". ABC News. 24 September 2016. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
External links
- BBF (British Baseball Federation)
- Great Britain National Baseball Team
- Project Cobb, the Project for the Chronicling of British Baseball.
- Great Britain Baseball Scorers Association, the home of baseball scoring in the UK.