Baseball is a rather special sport. It can’t boast of such popularity as football, basketball or swimming. Not every country pays much attention to it, but at the same time, it is a very interesting and peculiar sport. There are some Londoners who once got interested in baseball and achieved successful results. How did the residents of the city learn about this sport? When did it first appear and what contributed to its further development? Learn more at Ilondon.
History of baseball in the city
There are many different opinions about baseball’s origin and the creation of the first official rules of the game. One of the theories says that this sport appeared in Great Britain. It is evidenced by the illustrations in John Newbery’s A Little Pretty Pocket-Book, which was published in 1744. Later (in 1796), the first known rules of the game called Das Englische Base-ball were printed in Germany, which indicates its direct connection with England. Despite all of this, baseball is still considered an American sport and its code that is recognised throughout the world has been created there. Baseball became widespread in London and throughout Great Britain much later, around the 1870s. During that period, a large number of American teams toured Great Britain to promote the sport. Representatives of sports organisations tried to create a kind of baseball syndicate in the largest cities of England, among which London was to be the first.
The push for official baseball recognition
The first step towards making baseball official was the establishment of the National League of Baseball of Great Britain in 1890. The headquarters of the association was decided to be located in the capital of Great Britain. Since that time, London has become the place, which coordinated all the rules of the competition and also created a large number of baseball clubs. This sport developed rapidly and reached the peak of its popularity in the years preceding the beginning of the Second World War. The year 1938 was particularly successful. Then the Great Britain baseball team managed to defeat the USA players in the World Cup. The following year, the team even received the necessary funding to represent the country in the competition in Havana. However, the Second World War established its own rules and stopped the development of baseball in London and throughout the country. After the end of the war, various spheres of the city’s life began to revive. It also applied to sports, but such processes were slow.
The London Mets, founded in 1988, is a good example to describe the further development of baseball in London. The London Millions (the club’s first name, derived from the name of the sponsoring company) originally trained softball athletes. However, the organisation expanded rapidly at the beginning of the 21st century. The club began to organise free training for young people aged 7-25. In 2007, it became so popular that it began to engage older players in the BBF National League. In the same year, the team managed to get an unparalleled result and become the national champion. Furthermore, the club is the first British youth baseball organisation to field two Bronco teams for two consecutive seasons. In general, the London Mets and other members of the club train at Finsbury Park. This is the path of London baseball.