British Baseball
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The origins of the sport known as British baseball, or sometimes (less accurately) as Welsh baseball, date to 1892 when the governing bodies of England and Wales agreed to change the name of their sport from rounders to baseball. The roots of the game date back much further and literary references to baseball and rounders date back many centuries.
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[edit] Differences between the British and American games
The sport differs in a number of ways from the internationally known game of baseball.
- Delivery of the ball - The ball is thrown underarm and known (as in cricket) as bowling.
- Number of Players - There are 11 players in a team with no substitutions allowed.
- Number of Innings - Each team has 2 innings. An innings ends when all 11 players are either dismissed or stranded on base.
- The Scoring System - In British baseball a player scores a run for every base he reaches after hitting the ball. They will not subsequently score when moving around the bases on another player's hit. The equivalent of a home run scores four runs. As in cricket a bonus run can be awarded for excessively-wide deliveries.
Despite these similarities with cricket the game is much more like baseball in style and operates on a near identical, but smaller, diamond.
[edit] International Baseball Board
The International Baseball Board was founded in 1927 and is the international governing body. The only members are the English Baseball Association and the Welsh Baseball Union.
[edit] Popularity
The game has maintained a strong following only in two areas - Merseyside in Northwest England and South Wales, especially Cardiff and Newport.
By 2006 participation levels in Liverpool had slumped considerably to a point where only four clubs remained active. The game in Wales is in a much healthier state and playing participation in the women's game has actually grown in recent years.
Local league and cup competitions have been organised in both countries for many years and an annual international match between England and Wales has been held since 1908. A crowd of 16,000 watched the 1948 match played at the Cardiff Castle grounds. Internationals were also held at Cardiff Arms Park and Goodison Park, Liverpool. Crowds have declined in the last quarter of a century but the England-Wales match can still draw 1,000-2,000 spectators.
