A few weeks back, while clearing out her family home, a lady named Peggy Farrington came across an unusual small, white, round, stitched object. It was a baseball, unused, but clearly on the older side. Continue reading
With sincere thanks to Inverness Reference Library, I now have a digital copy of what might well be the first box score to ever appear in a British newspaper (the Inverness Advertiser, 19 July 1870). In addition, a cutting from the same paper on 18 April 1871 confirms that the club survived at least one Scottish winter. The cutting is transcribed below, followed first by the scan of the box score from 1870, and after that with the transcribed box score. For details, and an ensuing comment thread, relating to the initial finding, please click here. Continue reading
The deadline is approaching to submit an article to the first issue of This Diamond Isle, a new biannual journal of British baseball (to be published online only as the periodical for the Project COBB Chartered Community of the Society for American Baseball Research).
You can see the Call for Papers by clicking here. This notes a deadline for submission of 15 August, but if you need an extension, please do let me know, via here. It should be possible to accommodate this, within reason.
Pieces may focus on anything linking baseball to Britain, from roots games, through the “invasion†of American baseball in the late 19th Century, all the way to the modern game (including aspects of developing the minority sport and its players in Britain or following foreign professional leagues from afar).
As teams with a chance of making the British baseball play-offs begin to make final preparations, so must those individuals whose grip is not on a seam or bat handle but rather a shutter or a pen. Just as the season’s sand grains are tumbling, so is time running out for entries to be submitted to the British Baseball Photography Competition and British Softball Photography Competition (in their fourth years) and the British Baseball Writing Awards (being run, initially at least, as a 1-year experiment to assess interest).
If you’re umming and arrhing about submitting something to one or both of the competitions, the organizers sincerely encourage you to enter. You have nothing to lose, and — who knows — you might just win.
Specific details for each of the competitions are provided below.
Apologies for the list nature of this post, but I’m just cataloguing the latest additions to the Project COBB website, which this time fall under the top-tier feats category. In the list below “[NF]” indicates the feat occurred in a national final. Many of these are added owing to the extension of the top-tier stats coverage from 1995 back to 1977. A few are simply ones I failed to cross-tally when producing the feats in finals tables.
1998
1996
1994
1993
1990
1989
1987
1986
1982
1981
Note: In this article, to show that the sport being referred to is a direct antecedent of modern American baseball, the term “baseball†is used throughout, except in quoted passages. The alternative of “base ball†is actually a more accurate way to refer to the sport in its early years.
Going all the way back to the late 19th Century, histories of American baseball in Britain (or at least the more accurate ones) have observed that the sport was first played on the country’s soil in the summer of 1874 during the tour of two leading teams from the United States: the Boston Red Stockings and Philadelphia Athletics. The tour’s opening game was played at Liverpool Cricket Club in Edge Hill, placing an important early marker for the game’s history in Merseyside, where later so many teams would enjoy success.
A more interesting question concerned when baseball first established a domestic footing. Writing in 2010 for the book What About the Villa?, after extensive research into baseball in 1889 and 1890, I noted that there were two domestic teams claiming to be the first established in Britain: Birmingham Amateur Base Ball Club and Derby Base Ball Club. I concluded that perhaps the clubs deserved joint credit, “Derby for being the first British group to assemble to play baseball of their own volition; and Birmingham for being the first to go a step further and form themselves into an official club.â€
Then, in late 2011, following an upload of new material to the British Library’s online searchable database of 19th Century British newspapers, I began running my searches again. I was stunned to find that domestic baseball had been played in Leicester in 1876, fully 13 years before teams were being founded in Derby and Birmingham. At an almost identical time that I was reading through these newly emerged cuttings, the discovery was also being made by a researcher on the other side of the Atlantic: San Francisco resident David Block. More can be read about this joint finding in its announcement on BaseballGB here.
I swiftly followed up this online finding with a visit to the British newspaper library in Colindale, accompanied by fellow BaseballGB writers Matt Smith and Mark George. We carefully searched other papers from Leicester in 1876 but sadly found no additional mentions of the sport.
After this, the dust settled, and we began to get comfortable with the notion that baseball was first established in a domestic fashion in 1876, but that the 1874 tour remained the first example of it being played in any capacity.
That was until about a month ago, when an email landed in my inbox that would upturn all previous beliefs on American baseball’s introduction to Britain. The email was from David Block, who was forwarding a message he’d received about a new finding from a Protoball “Diggerâ€, Bruce Allardice. Protoball is a tremendous initiative that continues to unearth findings on the early evolution of games in baseball’s immediate family tree, and “Diggers†are the enthusiastic and skilled researchers making the discoveries.
Bruce Allardice’s discovery (published here) was as follows:
The Washington, DC Evening Star, June 13, 1870: “The American game of “Base Ball” has been instituted at Dingwall, Scotland.” Dingwall was then a seaport in extreme northern Scotland. To the same end, the New London [CT] Democrat, June 25, 1870: “Scotland announces the introduction there of “the American game of base ball.” We pity Scotland.” and the Springfield [MA] Republican, Aug. 19, 1870: “Base-ball is popular in Scotland.”
This suggested that not only was domestic baseball established earlier than previously thought, but that the 1874 tour did not in fact represent the introduction of the sport.
To fully confirm this, we would need evidence that a club was formed and a game played. Thus, David suggested that a search of Inverness newspapers at Colindale could yield further results. I am delighted to announce here, following my visit on the Saturday just gone, that it did just that.
I was particularly thrilled that the stories I found in the Inverness Advertiser (“IAâ€) and Saturday Inverness Advertiser (“SIAâ€) presented a narrative: club formed; funding obtained; club looks for other teams to form in order to start competition; organizers get bored waiting and hold intra-club game; club gets more funding). Together, the reports confirm that we are definitely talking about American baseball, that at least one club was formed, and that at least one game was played (with, it would appear, eight on each team).
IA – 3 May 1870 (repeated in SIA – 7 May 1870)
DINGWALL—On the 27th ult. a numerously attended meeting of young men was held in the Burgh Court-room—Mr James Maclennan, Sheriff-Clerk-Depute, in the chair—for the purpose of instituting the American game of “Base Ball.” Mr D. Macdonald, after intimating the purpose for which the meeting was called, read a proposal, signed by thirty young men, to get the object carried into effect, which was unanimously agreed to. Mr A. K. Brotchie, of America, gave an explanation of the manner in which the game is played. Office-bearers were then elected; and after a vote of thanks was awarded to Mr Maclennan for his conduct in the chair, the meeting broke up.
IA – 14 June 1870 (repeated in SIA – 18 June 1870)
The Treasurer of the Dingwall Base Ball Club begs to acknowledge, with thanks, the following contributions made towards the funds, viz. :— Charles Munro, Esq. of Fowlis £1 ; Crawford Hill Esq. of Allenfield, 10s ; Captain Warrand, Ryefield, 5s ; John Macrae, Esq. of Ardlair, 5s. The club is in good working order, and carried on with spirit. The wish now expressed is that similar clubs be started in the surrounding towns, that challenges might be received and given for prizes to be awarded. Information regarding the game can be had by applying to Mr Brotchie, Captain of the Dingwall Club.
IA – 19 July 1870 (repeated in SIA – 23 July 1870)
DINGWALL.—BASE BALL.—The friendly match of this game came off in Dingwall on Saturday the 9th inst. A number of spectators assembled to witness the contest between picked nines of the club, headed by the Captain and Lieutenant. The match was extremely well contested, and victory seemed to hover over the second nine, until the fifth innings, when they stood 29 to 17. The first nine, not the least intimidated, were only spurred on by their opponents’ success, and in the 6th innings added 16 to their score, which odds the second nine were unable to cancel though they fought well until the termination of the game. The following is the score :—
First Nine.     Runs. Second Nine.     Runs.
A. K. Brotchie ..  6    W. W. Jack .......  8
R. J. Gibson ....  3   W. Nelson ........  7
H. Main ......... 11   J. Munro .........  3
D. Maciver ......  7   J. Mackay ........  5
J. M. Forbes ....  9   A. Strachan ......  3
J. Stewart ......  7   W. R. Ross .......  5
A. Reid .........  3    J. Robertson .....  5
D. Macdonald ....  5    H. Maclennan .....  3
—51                       —39
IA – 5 August 1870 (repeated in SIA – 6 August 1870)
The Treasurer of the Dingwall Base Ball Club begs to acknowledge, with many thanks, the receipt of £1 1s from Duncan Davidson, Esq. of Tulloch. Â
IA – 30 August 1870
The Treasurer of the Dingwall Base Ball Club begs to acknowledge with many thanks the receipt of £1 1s from Sir Robert Mackenzie, Bart. of Coul.
Naturally, some further questions remain, including the following.
The answer to questions 2 and 3 may well be no in both cases. I subsequently conducted an online search for “base ball†and “baseball†on an archive of various Inverness area papers and only found one additional report, from 18 April 1870. I have ordered this article and will add a note below if it yields any additional information.
Finally, it’s worth reflecting that Dingwall might be considered an unusual spot for baseball to gain its first foothold. Today it has a population of 5000, and (nestled into Scotland’s geography near the mouth of the Cromarty Firth) I hope that any residents reading this can forgive me for describing it as being in one of Britain’s forgotten nooks and crannies. Nevertheless, it is firmly on the country’s sporting map, with home soccer team Ross County having risen from the ranks of the Highland League in the early 1990s all the way to the Scottish Premier League. In the campaign just completed they finished a mere three points shy of a Europa League place.
Long before Ross County were delighting Dingwall’s residents (as early as 7 July 1870 in fact), the town was being entertained with American baseball.
A Call for Papers has just been published for This Diamond Isle, a new biannual journal of British baseball (to be published online only as the periodical for the Project COBB Chartered Community of the Society for American Baseball Research).
You can see the Call for Papers by clicking here.
Pieces may focus on anything linking baseball to Britain, from roots games, through the “invasion†of American baseball in the late 19th Century, all the way to the modern game (including aspects of developing the minority sport and its players in Britain or following foreign professional leagues from afar).
The deadline for submission for the first issue is 15 August.
If you would like to get involved, as an author or in some other way, then please get in touch with me via this form.
In baseball, as in other team games, stronger sides generally comprise stronger players, and weaker sides weaker players. All but the very strongest nines ever assembled, though, have had at least one sub-par member, and many poorly performing ensembles have boasted individual stars. This article is about celebrating the latter. Continue reading
Recently, I wrote about the history of British clubs in European competitions sanctioned by the continent’s baseball confederation. Of course, there are many other tournaments held in Europe that bring together teams from different countries, including Britain. For instance, several British teams have forged links with clubs on the Continent, particularly in The Netherlands, and made regular visits to small-scale tournaments that they have hosted.
Probably the two most prestigious tournaments not organized by the Confederation of European Baseball are Haarlem Baseball Week and the World Port Tournament, which take place in The Netherlands in alternating years and now exclusively invite national teams. Haarlem Baseball Week, having started out in 1961, has a richer history than the World Port Tournament (first held in 1985). In the early years, Haarlem Baseball Week invited clubs, military base sides, and regional all-star teams in preference to national teams. Indeed, in that first ever event of 1961, none of the five international invitees were countries. Amazingly, two of the six teams overall were from Britain.
The inaugural Haarlem Baseball Week was run as a round-robin tournament between Saturday 22 and Saturday 29 July, with one game played on the opening day and a pair on every day thereafter. Games were nine innings, with a 10-run mercy rule in effect. A new inning was not to be started once 8pm was reached (the latest start time was 5.30pm). All games were played at the Badmintonpad facility.
The six teams that took part were:
Claus Helmig, player-manager for the Mannheim Knights
The London All Stars were managed by Art Abbott, who was involved in an administrative capacity with the Southern Baseball Association and who would go on to manage Great Britain, against a Dutch junior national side, four years later.
The Southern Baseball Association, from which the squad was drawn, consisted in 1961 of:
The London All Stars’ roster was selected as follows.
Cartoon from the tournament programme of Han Urbanus, who went 1-for-4 in the opening game for Kieviten
Most results and game details come from game summary sheets produced during the course of the tournament (and preserved and lent to me by Bill Dawber’s daughter). Some additional colour comes from newsletters produced during the 2006 Haarlem Baseball Week (archived on www.honkbalweek.nl), while a full set of results published on www.barrysport.nl allowed me to fill the remaining gaps.
If any further information materializes, I can add updates to this article or publish a second version.
Nol Houtkamp, who went 1-for-3 and scored a run in Kieviten’s victory over the Sabres
A crowd of 2000 was present for the opening ceremony, at 4pm on a cold, rainy day, where a marching band played and Councillor DJA Geluk threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
The contest pitted Kieviten’s Herman Beidschat, one of top pitchers in the Dutch league in the 1950s and 1960s, againt Byron Skelton of the French base side.
The first hit was delivered by Ricky Kersout, Beidschat’s trusted catcher. He singled in the top of the third and came round to score the opening run of the tournament on a Henk Keulemans double.
Beidschat nursed that 1-0 lead all the way through to the top of the seventh. In that half-frame, Hennie Regleing hit a solo blast and Kersout also homered — this time with a runner, Nol Houtkmap, on base — to make the score 4-0 to the Dutch. This is how the game ended, with Beidschat pitching a four-hit shutout, dotted with six strike-outs. Skelton also struck out six in taking the loss.
The first morning game of Haarlem Baseball Week saw the London All Stars get their campaign off to a rather shaky start. They took the field in the bottom of the first having gone down without a fight in the top of  the inning. Terry Warner was handed the ball for London but did not make it out of the first, giving up 4 runs on two hits before being replaced by John Booth. The damage was 7 runs by the time the All Stars got the third out. A grand slam blow by pitcher and number-nine hitter Leroy Prater brought in the majority of those tallies.
Later in the game, Prater hit a second home run, a 3-run shot in the bottom of the sixth that took the score to 12–2, Â brought the mercy rule into effect, and terminated 99 minutes of misery for the Brits. Prater pitched all six innings, striking out six and yielding a solitary hit, to London captain Bill Dawber. Don Tinton and Peter Staples scored London’s runs.
London’s starting line-up: Cross (ss), Sinclair (rf), Adey (2b), Staples (c), Tinton (lf), Bloomfield (cf), Russell (3b), Dawber (1b), Warner (p).
In the day’s second game, the Knights’ John Parker duelled with Kieviten’s Ruud Zijlstra. The game stood at 3–2 to the Dutch team after five innings. Kieviten extended their lead to 5–2 in the sixth, an advantage they preserved into the eighth. At this point, Ziljstra lost his grip on the battle. He gave up 4 runs and thus the lead and was relieved. Parker, who had been fanning batter after batter, silenced Kieviten for the final two frames to seal a complete-game three-hit victory. He finished with a cool 20 strike-outs.
After being shut out by the Dutch team in the event’s opener, the Sabres broke open their tournament in style, hitting three home runs en route to an 11–1 Â mercy-rule triumph. Winning pitcher Jim Lipari struck out eight.
In this all-base-team clash, Cambridgeshire’s Alconbury Spartans made light work of the team that had swept aside the London All Stars in their opening contest, inflicting an 11–1 reverse on their German foes.
The result left the Dutch squad, the French base team, and the two German entries all with a 1-and-1 record. The Spartans sat top (1-and-0) with the London All Stars at the other end of the standings (0-and-1).
For London’s second clash, Bill Dawber was promoted from eighth to second in the batting order and Ray Reynolds entered the line-up in the clean-up spot as catcher. Sadly for the All Stars, this shuffle did not kickstart the offence. For the Sabres, Don Moore threw Haarlem Baseball Week’s first no-hitter and gunned down 14 by way of strike-out in the process. He walked one.
John Booth took the loss for London, giving up 11 hits and receiving little help from his fielders, who combined for five errors in the contest. Dawber and John Campbell appeared in relief.
Right-fielder and clean-up hitter Jack Patton had his second straight game with a home run for the French team, while shortstop Guy Smith also homered as part of a 4-for-5 showing.
Herman Beidschat, Kieviten’s losing pitcher against Alconbury (courtesy of honkbalweek.nl)
London’s starting line-up: Cross (ss), Dawber (1b), Sinclair (rf), Reynolds (c), Tinton (lf), Bloomfield (cf), Russell (3b), Wertz (2b), Hubbard (p).
The Spartans sent Ron Ellison to the mound, who returned the second pitching gem of the day. His one-hit shutout was peppered with 13 strike-outs and he gave up only two walks. Dutch starter Herman Beidschat struck out seven and walked only one but he yielded 11 hits over 5.2 innings on his way to the loss.
Alconbury did all of their offensive damage in two batches: a 3-run fourth and a 5-run sixth. Art Farabee was 3-for-4 on the day, while Chuck Imbriale and Danny Marchant both drove in a pair of runs.
Henk Keulemans had Kieviten’s only hit.
The win moved Alconbury half a game in front of the Sabres at the head of the standings.
Spartan Don Gilmore slides past Kieviten second-baseman Henk Keulemans (courtesy of Dutch National Archives)
Peter Staples returned as catcher but Ray Reynolds was kept in the line-up, moving to left-field. Frank Adey came back in at second base, and Dawber was shifted to the fifth spot.
Having amassed a solitary hit across their opening two contests, the All Stars would have been delighted to reach double digits in this game, with a total of 10. Mannheim had four more hits than London and — crucially — made nine fewer errors (two versus 11). That sloppiness in the field was London’s undoing.
On the mound for the All Stars, Don Tinton struck out seven and walked three. With the bat he went 4-for-4, including a solo home run in the fifth, and scored all three of London’s runs. Bill Dawber went 2-for-4, Tony Cross 2-for-5 (with a pair of RBI), Stanley Russell 1-for-3, and Don Sinclair 1-for-4.
Claus Helmig drove in and scored 3 runs for the Knights. His team’s 5-run outburst in the top of the ninth removed the glean of respectability in the scoreline for London.
London’s starting line-up: Cross (ss), Sinclair (cf), Adey (2b), Staples (c), Dawber (1b), Russell (3b), Reynolds (lf), Tinton (p), Campbell (rf).
This all-base-team match-up was memorable both for its close score and for the fact that plate umpire Hans Schotel had to be relieved from his duties when he got dust in his eyes.
Alconbury Spartans’ Anibal “Nibby” Olivera, who batted a perfect 1.000 from the lead-off spot in the all-British clash with the London All Stars (courtesy of Dutch National Archives)
Wiesbaden were now Alconbury’s closest challengers, at half a game back.
Among a set of changes made by London manager Art Abbott for this all-British clash, he installed himself in the line-up in place of Bill Dawber at first base, batting second. Tony Cross was made captain on the field.
Jeff Hubbard was given the start for London, with his opposite number being Vince Balint.
Hubbard lasted only an inning as he walked three and gave up 2 runs on a Danny Marchant roundtripper. Pitching in relief for the All Stars were Brian Hart and Bill Dawber.
A second home run for Billy Marchant, in the bottom of the fifth (taking his runs batted in tally for the game to five), powered a 4-run rally that pushed Alconbury’s lead to 12–0.
Don Merchant is congratulated by his Alconbury Spartans team-mates after a home run, one of two he hit in the game versus the London All Stars (courtesy of the Dutch National Archives)
London needed to plate 3 runs in the sixth to keep the game alive; they managed only one, driven in by Reynolds and scored by Don Tinton. Reynolds was 1-for-2 in the game, while Tinton and Frank Adey both went 1-for-3.
At least London’s fielding was tidier, with their error count being trimmed to three.
London All Star Brian Hart fails to prevent a Spartan from scoring (courtesy of Dutch National Archives)
London’s starting line-up: Cross (ss), Abbott (1b), Staples (c), Tinton (cf), Adey (2b), Reynolds (lf), Booth (3b), Aley (rf), Hubbard (p).
Kieviten’s faint hopes of claiming the first Haarlem Baseball Week title fizzled out completely with a 1-run defeat to Wiesbaden. The Flyers were by now the only realistic challengers to Alconbury.
In this game, Kieviten’s manager Ron Fraser played himself in right-field. He came to bat twice, scoring after drawing a walk and also striking out. The day was more memorable for him for another reason: in the United States his daughter Linda was born.
Wiesbaden confirmed their strength as the tournament’s second-best team, with a mercy-rule defeat of the other German team.
Jim Greenville twirled a two-hitter, with four strike-outs and four walks, to gain the win. The delightfully named pairing of Harry Golden and Joe Jablonski both hit a home run in the Flyers’ winning effort.
John Parker, who had been so dominant in his tournament debut, took the loss. His wildness (eight walks in six innings) was certainly a major contributing factor.
Tom Willwerth pitched a steady nine-inning complete game to guide the Spartans to victory in their first close contest of the tournament. Don Moore, Jim Lipari, Byron Skelton, and Dick Draper all appeared on the mound for the Sabres.
The Sabres scored first, in the bottom of the first; however, Alconbury responded in the next frame, aided by an Art Farabee dinger, to move out into a 3–1 lead.
The French team fought back in the fourth to tie the game, and, after the Spartans regained the lead in the fifth, scored twice more in the sixth to seize a 5-4 advantage.
Singleton tallies for Alconbury moved them level in the seventh and ahead in the eighth, and it was only when two runs crossed in the top of the ninth (one of them on a solo homer from Bobby Hunt) that Willwerth gained some breathing space.
The Spartans sealed the title in fitting style with another lopsided victory.
Alconbuiry scored 54 runs and conceded only 9 over the duration of the event. The 5-and-0 champions earned permanent and prominent placement of Britain’s flag in the history books of Haarlem Baseball Week.
London’s campaign ended with further disappointment as they fell all to easily to Kieviten.
While the evidence suggests the All Stars were over-matched throughout the event (with the possible exception of their game against Mannheim), just being at the tournament really was an achievement in itself.
London All Star Bill Dawber’s medal of participation from 1961
In this final contest, Nol Houtkamp went 3-for-4 to confirm his status as the Dutch team’s best hitter of the first Haarlem Baseball Week.
London line-up: unknown.
Place..Team................W..L..RS..RA...GB
1st Alconbury Spartans 5 0 54 9 -
2nd Wiesbaden Flyers 4 1 40 38 0.5
3rd  Châtearoux Sabres 2 3 36 18 3.0
4th  Kieviten 2 3 30 23 3.0
5th Mannheim Knights 2 3 23 46 3.0
6th London All Stars 0 5 8 64 5.0
Tom Willwerth, of the Spartans, won the pitching award. His team-mate Don Gilmore was named “Homerun King” and joint best batter with London’s Don Tinton. Tinton also claimed joint Most Valuable Player honours. While Tinton certainly played impressively, it’s quite possible that his besting of other strong performers in this category was something of a sympathy vote for the London team.
Chuck Costello, coach for the Alconbury Spartans
The Spartans’ Chuck Costello was, perhaps unsurprisingly, declared best coach.
In 1962, Alconbury Spartans were crowned European US Forces Champions. The following year, the Spartans returned to Haarlem Baseball Week. The event had moved to Pim Mulier stadium, where it is still played to this day. They finished last in the four-team field, with a 1-and-5 record, although their player Bill Sauls won the most popular player award. The team that inherited the Spartans’ title was the Grand Rapids Sullivans, described in the August 1963Â Baseball Courier as “one of the strongest U.S. non-professional teams.”
The tournament’s recent history has brought many rising stars of the game to for a week on Dutch grass. Perhaps most memorably, a young pitcher named Stephen Strasburg appeared for Team USA in 2008, posting a 2-0 record and a 1.93 ERA, with 18 strike-outs and only two walks over 14.0 innings, to help his country to a perfect 7-and-0 record and the title.
Rhode Island native Jeff Archer has been a great friend of Project COBB since its inception and he recently sent through some photos from the 1976 British national final, in which his Spirit of ’76 team was pipped by the Liverpool Trojans. The photos that Jeff obtained were taken and kindly scanned from the negatives by Tom Evans (official photographer for the game). I believe that Tom has more shots like this, and if he can come through with them they would represent an invaluable pictorial record of 1970s senior and youth baseball in southern England. In any case, though, the batch he has sent are very useful in their own right. Continue reading