BASEBALL . " ...................... ml····· .. ···_ .........................................

. . NEWS

* A News Sheet of Baseball , published by the South Eastem Baseball L eague * No.8 ... . .. JULY 1st, 1955

• ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::.::::::::::~:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::=::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::1 ,

West v South-East for Pennant If IH 111l21[) II ~ I() I) IU ~lfIIIES'!l SIEIl2IIIES

A feature of this week-e nd' s programm_e wi/I be the meeting of the ' South Eastern and Western Counties. Associations at Briggs

Sports Ground, Oagenham on Saturday (2nd July). Western Cup ~tarts

In the opening games ' of the Western Associat ion Cup the Tigers beat Wokingham Monarchs by 5- 3 at Mitcham and the Beavers beat Mitcham Royals by 12- 3 at Rosehill Rec.

This will be for the Coronation Pennant, a trophy put up for competition· two years ago. The South-East won the -firs~ game (in 1953) at Dagenham by 4-3 but the West had thei r revenge . with - a 4--:-0 win at Milcham Stadi um in '1 954. ' -\

Dollard til pitch" again? . . ' lpdica,lions are that thi s game Illay aga in

be a low-scoring one. Weste rn should have ~

tH;...t;....._,;,their8pcoiog ,b.~tt~ ~of DbUard-3..l!d CORper

hO'ili'd' s'o wc'1fat·.Mitc'n~i, bUt"ft\e -Sotith~ East's· chances seem to rest on dcfehsive

~7 fielding and the ' .. P9ssible big-hitting,. of severa l pJayers to gail!- tbe vital ruos far

~:t hc~r pitche~ to prrit,.ect.

S.E. Trial

THE TEAMS

T he tcams will 'be se lected from the fo llowing players :

Western

Subsequent ly the Beavers met with sur­prising reverses at Wokingha m a nd M itcham to f.tl i from , the pos ition of favo urites .

League-style this season W. Dollard, N. Dearlove, W. Cooper, F. ~

The competition is beirur Fun on a league Adc.y, T. Fa rley. A. Dade (Bea\'ers); D. Ul:>

w.< . I basis thi ~ year, as QJLly -lQUor Je~:et;treted·":"'4" ",..,...iJ'lc s,,~ .f' H~w. ,.-]t'l!'1Wo,~ _UJ "~; 7jg1!'lf, Beav." ,,' Mof!Jlfehs ,!od R,oyals, Each 1ays); 'J. ReX", 'P. Sbar , ,~'Sargeanr. M~ .. team . meets' its 0J?P'onents' once 'at home and Watt (Mollarchs); R. B_ ' ton, D. ij.ubbard, ,once a,way. L ~ R. Rowland, H. Smitb" ,( igers);;J Murry, ,. H . Jacobs . (Royals); Ie·· Ked, (Co,,~el~. We'stern .Counties CUp MllIUlger: F. Adey; . CoocJ) ;-; f:l:. ~!1lith., -. . 55" m- ..' .-~ ..- (in~luding 18 " 6 'J

~ .... ' 7" J. 1: ,'1 .)~ "" ... j o a trial matcll on June ' 18th between ' P

.Section A and Section II ofihe S:E. League South Eastern .'.. . T ' (M' "h ) w %

. ~" . . r • Juers ItC am 2 ,t he score cnded 19- 15 in iavo.ur of the A's A. Dowley (8ellfl~et);r . P.Q.~§I :lY\- ,,l:Ialsey.'i.' ,_. ~ .. a nd it was worthy of mention that no less W. Isaacs, 'A. Mant, of ):el1qp '(B;igalld-s~; Mlt~ham R oyals !? I

2 1000

500 .

. 333 than half-a-dozen baifers made the round ·W. Willson (Dag~flham):fJ} .... Hifwse;-(E,ps,om); ~:~ .so.ttO.\I1 Bea~er '. 3 trip through big hits finding their way ~ 1. :'a '\AI ki h ... hs 'th (oll g~ the outfield . :" ,;,,' : ;,. • R. Pullen. D. Tinton ," ~.x); . . -; "ok\,. R; :O'l! "'- OJ' !\J1} ,,,,,on'lrc ,... • 3

BQUl sides' include a ta; rge' " numbe r of King (Fords): J, ro, ' ,.< ; . Sull ivan :- -,~, - . ,. newcome rs, a nd a'Ltboljgh4 he .. vete rans" (H ornsey); ~ Fie ld, S.); ~{tl< .. ~':lag,tc$~~·: ~, . ~ . ,.' ~.~·~R..tl AS~PCIA.TION CliP

I ~ ;33.3

may prqy'id¢. tbe : Q~~~~/~1 ftpe rience ·to R. Wayrenen (~o~ak); tt,W.x ·~a~~ber -ft.qM~_, :: t-'W~k'1 91 ~o?a[1":,. ?1 Sutton Beavers ." 7 steady theIr team.:mafes an ·,"splred spell by Manager : , J . H ellta r (T)ageflAam).fClt,..-~. ' .r ·~lvhtcham frlg~rs ,'". 8 Sutton Beavers -S .. 4 one of the youngsters )lJ.jght well be the "'. r.' '··~l. ',')-.;' Wpk'm Monarchs g Mitcliam Roya ls 9 4eciding factor. '~ "_'IlII! ___ ~_l:loA_U_~__ ~ . 1nt_~_:a • . ·:ti.

\ "" '-.. ----o:"'.,;!o!L.''------~---'----~------~~~----------------~~--~~

USAF JEAMS IN EXHIBITION GAMES

USAF teams from Lakcnheath and Brize Norton will meet in an exhibi tion game on August Monday. probably at the beautiful Dunlop ground.

Fords in Two Two exhibition games between th l!

USAF Manston Wildcats and Ford Sports are to take place at ([iftonville. Kcnt ,(Jul y l st)~ ... and Gillingham. Kent (Ju ly Illth ). ·The

..... first is .... on a Friday evening and is part of th~ M3'\J,ate Camiva l activit~cs and the

l. I. s~~~d I on a Saturday at the United ~~. ·Servlces ound in aid of the National

... Playing Fields Associa tion.

Brigands verslis " ,

Athlet ics or 'Aces East Hull .beat LeeCls ' Lion

- ~ ... '. r. for Armstro g Trophy '

, .,,;."; ...... ,. .\

in S-.E.·<:ounties-Cup A 10-6 victory in' he~cct{nd .. leg t ' at Craven Park. , Hull. <>D."Whit ~onday left East HuU Aces as the Wtnhers of thet--J,tqbert Armstrong Cup this {year, for . they,"'had I AI!hough without <l league wi n to their beaten .Leeds Lions t at the Middleton . c,¥i!:"Qu~cll:i Park Aces have made SI!ffi.cicDt Ground In May in thef\rst o( t'Yo games by pJ:osre~ III the South Eastern Counties Cup 9- 7 to win 19- 13 0 • aggregate. -' -: - ~ . to Il,eat 1y reach the Fina l. The word "nearly"

I East Hull A. 3 0 Oi' 0 5 . 2 0 0 x- IO c1'>~~rs'C .much ground in thi s case, as. in the . . .. '.. SemI-Pinal the \' held Hornsey Athlehcs to a

Lced" Ltons. 3 0 0Vl .2 .;:0 .Q. p I- fi 1 4- 4 tic. the gafJle being rained -qIT at the • • \ ':'" ~"'.' end of the fifth innings. The repla y , .t!rl; ~s

Sl iil nford Joins Lion's' . plact" 0 11 J Ul\' 10th. . .:f}-' 'f .. ~,

The leeds team sho~s (ew changes from As :l resul t of -th is the Final ha'3' ·b~en last season. although 'a welcome add ition postponed tilJ after the holiday period. has been Yorkshire aij.,d ·£nglaod -short;stop ' Brigands meeting the winners on September Norman Stanford. 4th. '

2

,1 .

Fir~t' Defeats for Royals & Pirates .. '

BASEBALL NEWS

ILIEA\I() 112,A\(CIE

II~

Hull Roya ls and Pirates each suffe red th~ir first defeat on May 28th. Royals lost a thriller with East Hull Aces by fo~ur runs to five, whi le P irates were beaten 10---8 by the Giants.

Out to repeat 1954 Championship Success

,

T he Eagles v Newland Tigers match was ra lso a close affair, a lthough EagleS took an ~arl y 3- 0 lead. ~itcherS Eric Kirk (Eagle's) and Len Smith (Tige~s) were prominent., In the seventh innings the Tigers crept up to 3-5. but a home run by catcher Stan WaTlace and good bitting by-.. Hancock and Maciver fina ll y .... put the - Eagles in a stron-g

-po"Sition. the score at the end being 9-5.-

, . Hull : League .• ': (in'eluding 18 .. 6 • 55)

-' P W % Pirates ...... il 3 750 ..

·,HuU·· Royals ....... 4 3 ] 50 !>ast Hull Aces A 3 .: 2 666

Results during the firSt two months of the season have shown that Sutton Beavers again appear li~e ly to emerge as the strong­est team in tbe Western Lcagu,~, for they have established a sound lead in the tab le by defeating a ll other rivals,

is-Game Schedule However ~ there is still plenty of time for

the other teams to catch them, a s each' side is p laying 15 games---each meetin~g the '

. 9thers th ree ti mes. Likewise the \Beave[s have ' a lready been twice defeated i n the We~t~r;n Counties Cup-whi~h ;,....makc;s. the pos ition more open tha n at first app~a rs.

Changed Line-up~

::' Rechl ttS Ro bins ~Gi~'n ts...... . .....

4 2 .500'

Severa l sides srrow ,majo'Lcha nges in their line-ups, an.d the - benefit of ' sta rting the Mino r _League last season bas' a lready been proved by the gradua tion : of thes'e players into ~he first-s tr~ngs 9f ; their clubs.

3 333 .Pdestman . 'Panthers ...... 4 0

.. -t, . '.'

'.'

yLFF1~.LE .' LEAGUE~ ' FOUN,£YER VISITS"ENGLAND

$." / - ........ . .it ,

. CARL STOTZ AT KfNGSTON

The visit oCMr . . Ca;v1 Stotz, the founder of American Little Lt<ague BasebaUi. at!;racted. an 'interested audie¥.e~ to the Kingsto;;-

,.'on·Thames 'Guildnall on June 7th. 5>;: ,r j \ "\:,,;'

~ In .t he cOll rse of hi s :iecture -Mr. ,'stotz out- ,....--"':""':'--';:':' 'i"!-----,----...... lined the- formation. and_ progress of "' Little ..... __ +-++++_ 2::. ______ _

. League,:'. ,which . is _ baseba ll pJayed on a sm'!J leI-t!l3;t ·r~gu!<\tll?n . ..a.iamond by b,-oys o f 10'21.Q '. year-s; the : players g~aduate into o'tI~! ~e-group ' l eagu~ ill'~til they/ become s~nlp rs . . _ '. ' .'

T his ' lectu re was one 6£' a se ries which .· M r. ~"'Stot~ h~s· m,ade,. in ]Europe, 1tJe main . point being tbat by using' the ' Li ttle League set-up as r a ' basis it c0uld ~be adopted fo r other ~ n'ational spo rts·":-,, to the benefi t o r . youngsters in al~ countries. There were ob­vl<ius difficulties!, y.rhich could 'only be over.- \ c6me by amend ments suitable to the loca lity, but the principles a re very sound a nd great ly to be commended. I

Club R epresentatives in audience . I Me. Stotz was accompanied by Major 1

Joh_l\ E. Gossne r of the U,S. Air Force. and I both were surprised "to find so 'many know- I

'!.dc.\!ab le Engl ish baseball legis lators in j 'ltwllt: , ~udicnce, among whom were Mr. L. I

J. R~ra (S.E. ' Area Director) and repre· \ s~ntatlve:. . from Sutton Beavers, Epsom Lion,S, MJtcham Tig({rs, ., .Dagen ham Royals, ~ord 'Sports and ' th'e So~th Eastern League.

':.

IE Q lUJ'II,Ij)) IMIIE INI ~r ,', - -. ~ \

New ani! ,~econd-Hand

BATS MASKS ,

CATCHERS'., & UMPS' PADS

BALLS LEG-GUARDS etc

for Price-List Write

(stating ReqUirements)

S.E. Countie; Basehall Assn. 36 Derhy Avenue, Upminster, Essex

----...+ ..... -------~-

Western League (including 26 . 6 . 55)

P W 0;. SUlton Beaver s 6 6 1000

DulwichBluejays 7 5 714 Tigers (Mi tcham) 6 4 667 Miicham Royals 5 2 400 Wokingham' Monarchs 6 167 D.H . Comets 6 0

W ESTERN LEAG UE

Dulwich Bluejays 9 D.H. Comets 0 Dulwich Bluejays 5 S utton' Beavers; .. 8 Mitcham Tigers . 10 Wok'm Mona rchs .3

FRIENDLIES ,

' Dulwich Bluejays 8 D.H. Comets 3' Wok'ro Mona rchs 9 Mitcham Roy~ls... 7

y' Qrl.<shire .County 'Cup , , .

Ro bins Aces "A"

FiRST R OUND '" "!

... 16 Newland Tige rs 10

... 6 Eagles ... . 2

, SjCOND R OUND .~. l Reckitts Ro tiins . 8· RQYt.~s 4 Leeds Lions 7 Pirates 5 l'\ces "A" 9 Gia nts ', 5 Aces I'B" . '.' ; 3 Panthers 0

SEM I-FINAL

Aces "A" v Aces ." B"' Reckitts ~obins v Leeds Lions.

Hull .Le!lgue CUp .-,

Aces "B" Panthers Aces " A"

• F JRST R OUND

)0 Rec~itts o Pirates

, " 6 Giants

Ro b,ins : 17 '-: 3

.. .' ,.1 ,.

• SECOND R OUND

Eagles... 0 !lull Royals _ 3 Leeds 'Lions 15 Rcckitts Ro bins . '14 Pirates ... ... 6 Aces "A" !~..... 5

Newla nd Tigers- bye

SEM I-PINALS

Newland Tigers v Leeds b ons Royals v · Pirates

FINAL at Brid lington)

" All communications to the Editor.t. . . r J. F. HELLlAR, 36 Derby Av" Upminster, Essex

/ " Price by Post - 4! d.

l ~ j

1 . ,

·BASEBALL/ NEWS

~mtPmSES ' KEEP ~OUTH"EA~ERN ~ SECTWNS ~PEN Sevc"ral -suxprise results have kept the positioniu the South Eastern League

wide open, and with the league programme occupying nearly every game between DOW and the ~nd of July there are likely to be constant changes of position in the two tables.

With honours in prospect for the top four teams of each Seetion there is some e~­tremely keen competitfon and the situation remains wide open. The tw,o top teams of A and B go into p'lay-ofIs for the champion­s.hip (on a knock-out basis) and these four, together with the third teams of each Section form the Sel"\jor Section for 1956. Finally 1he {ourth-pI8ce teams will meetin one game (or the Di,{ision I championship.

Close Fight in Section, A , ., Although Bri·gands . (el;nai&' ~nQeateQ...;in

. Section A th~ey have had some "close fights with . • ~ tai l enders," Dagenbam and- Esso keeping them ·hard-pressea. They have, however, . practically ensured their plaee in the play-olis. but although Homsey Attiletjcs are' ' favouriteS for the runne rs-up place 'lin this 'Sectfon it looks li ke being a tU ;5 le tliat will last till the final game for the other Posi~ons. · .:

l'liilf19rais lea.d their Sec~ion

influx of new players are still well in thc . race. Queens Park Aces are~ the .. query club ., of tbis. Section, for although having even games for most of the time have still to win onc.

South Eastern League (including ~6 . 6 . 55)

Section A Briggs Briga nds Hornsey") A\hfetlcs Tha'mes Board Mills .... D agenpam Royals Benfteet Greys

T" , . Esso ' 1gers ....

.... ' ' ~~ L

p 6 6 '

5 6 5 6

P

7 Ford ~fo.rts '; •. :: -J r" ···· , 6 ~ :Epsom LlODS .... 8 : '

Se.ction B Essex N acionals

w % 6 1000

5 "' 834 2 400

2 333 200

167'

w %

Essex Nationals are strot1~ly enfrencred Kodak. . .... .. ,'. __ or 6 in Section '8, and wttil .Ford's '\Iosjng, to (,), P k XC . ~ 5 '

7 1000

,4 ' 66li 5"" 625 ,3 500

-0 EpsQm£loos~ gained a"s light advantage. tHe .x,.ueeps \ ar _cs ...• Llons ..L6av~een settling down aDd with an . B~ig~_ T.igers.... J,. •••• • 6 o

i.·.S ·(,}j,/·,!/" je1W! Jrfn \I! ":il,;: 1.(5" .) .

,(\'~South~~~~t~rr , ~sults I SOUTH EASTeRN L eAGUE \

t "" (i~~ June 26th) ~. .I) ~~. ~!i~ ~-i~~er: , .. ,~et~iO/~:'Ae~~ G~e~s ." ~ 8 f"Jjca.H,. l." r~~,"""\J(I"i '! :,~~;.. 'f' B !.t:le ·tG .. 1 2 H r ", ~ Ath " 9 \

" '.I! S.E, · e'A.GUE SENIOR CUP ", eUJI e reys ,.. orn~ey .. ~, ... '- , Oagenh<\ID Royals 2 Briggs".Bpgands, "19 ,

l'hames(.· B.M. ~:: ~lQ ~!Queens Park A, <.8 . Briggs Briganas . 10 Dagerlham Royals 7 Briggs Brigands 10 Dagenham Royals 5 ' Benftcet.Greys ,.. 5 ~lIbam.e.s B.M . ... , 3 Homsey Ath . ..... 6 Kodak ... 10 HornseY""Ath .' ... J6 t'1::fagerinamRoyals ,~ O F d S Is 9 C·sex Nationals )8 Briggs Brigands. J 5 Esso .• TI.·ge, rs ... . 14

or por . .. ~~:"A:tf".;- 1 .... -··. Briggs Sriga,ods ; 15 Beilileet"'"Greys ,."l~ 2 INTERMEoiA:rEr CUP " I Dagenbam Royals .5 ',Esso Tige~ " 4

Briggs , Tigers '~,." 1a ~s~_ Tigers .. _ 25 Homsey Athletics 21 ~ ThameS B.M. 8 i~ ~,_J' Section B

Essex- CUP " Dag~nham R.pya l~ .. 3 ~Q ,T igers Eofds Sporls_ . . , 15 l!enft~e~ Grcy~

SoUTli EAST .. COUl.'lTIES~ CuP

Fo~ Sports "-; 1-\ "Thal'Qes n.M. Queens Park A. 4 Homsey Ath.

(Rained 00 lifter 5 inllirtgs) Briggs Brigands. 30 Thames ~'.M .

8

14 4

... ' 4

Queens .'Park 'A. io Essex ·NatLonals . 12 E~som(l Lions .' _. 10 'Kodak ' . .. " 9 Epsom" Lion,S' "_, 'f.7 ' 'sriggs:,Tigers 6 Koda)(" _. . .." 29 Briggs 'Tige rs 8 Essex Nationals. 24 . .;: Epsom Lions 0 J?ord ,Sports ~'. " :' 9 ;Epsom .Lions p Essex ' Nat iona ls ~ ' 1 7 Ql,lee.ns Park' A. t Briggs Tigers ...... 6 ".Kodak ... 13

. Essex ,Nati'onals 1\ Ford.' Sports 8 Ep.spm Lions " . 9 Queens Park Aces \

TIGJ:RS UNLUCKY IN MIDLANOS CUP ! ....:. 1

deciding ·I un and <I,ual iiy to lllC(:t the B~avers.

The other match in this round was Sirlec v Valor.

Nolls - Birmingham Final

In the Midlands Area Cup, the meeting of Aliens Cross and the new Dunlop Eagles team nea rl y produced a .. shock result ., " for Eagles lcd" 9-'-2 at the end oC tbe seventh fra~le. Howev,:r manager TomkinsolJ subbed thr youngsters-Coopcr. Osbourne and Walto - who helped (0 pull the game out

\ of the 'e and with the Cross levell ing it '- up in t ninth frame . the game went 10

F.ollowing the BIrmingham area final the winners irave l to Nottingham to play the Notts area champions for the Area Trophy,

( .-----~~nni' for Aliens Crqss " t~ score the -

3

North-West lose,

in Leeds The visit of the North West Counties

team' to Leeds on May 22nd resulted in a great game. the local Lions being the victors by 13-8.

North-West missed the services of Hal Bonallo who could not make the trip and the pitching of Red Holmes and Bob Long saw Leeds through to a deserved win.

lIonallo in Return Game The teams met in a return game in Livcr­

pool on June 4th, the North-West team being:

80nalio (p.), Bretherick (c.), Rudham (tS/), Culligan (2I1d), Lambe (s.s.), Hurford (3rd). p roctor. Clare, Shepphard (outfielders).

LiY~rp;'ol Goali~ :~t First , Base ,. Doug Rudham has been ~n addep strength

to the side, and ihis -South African will be well-remembered . "by; London fans for his di splays as goalkeeper for Liverpool F.e. at the 'Fulham and West Ham United grounds during the past soccer season.

., , .~

Birmingham League (including 5 . 6 . 55)

Beavers " .. !.! Allen's Cross ..... . Valor ...... Birlec Dodgers Dunlop Tigers

. D!Jolbp Eagles - .1'0 -.,

4 '3 3 2

3 2

2 3

:; 2 ~i,..O

,750

666 666

~33

3~3

'J

BACK NUMBERS of" BASEBAll NEWS," issues I to . 7 inclUSive, are available at 2d, each (plJ,ls '2d, postage per lott. ,f\ pply .: 3~ qer~y . AV,enue, Upminster, Essex.

f'". -~-tn'- . . ,

publishes

South-Eastern and Western

Week-end Fixtures on Saturdays , I

and

Results on Mondays

4 BASEBALL NEWS

Anofuer Clu~ for Liverpool I DOCKERS ON THE DIAMOND

JUNIOR TEAMS UNDER WAY

1956 Minor League in South East? Liverpool's National Dock Labour Board

Social Club have reo-formed their baseball club, and in their opening game at their new Stadium met Li verpool Cubs. Both sides made experiments in the seven·innings fi x­ture, the visitors' pitching being shared by Hu rford (5 innings) and Bona([o. A triple by Hurfo rd in the sixth helped him to win his own game. but a homer in the last frame by Shepphard wit h two men on base was the high li ght.

Howeve r, the losers were not disappoint\!d . by the result, for their team almost wholll consists 'of new playe rs through last ~eason 5 line-up being deple ted by the return home of American Servicemen who were working in the Docks.

Cubs N.D.L.B.

5 1000 34- 13 I 0 0 0 0 0 '0 - I

NOTTS BEAT BRUM Inter-League Clash at M~lbourne Park

' The starting of teams among younger players is a good sign for the future of the game and there are several clubs who have these already well organised:

Dunlop fledglings shock Allen's Cross In the Midlands the Dunlop club has

,sfarted a side of playe rs who are all under 21 called the Eagles. They have entered the Birmingham League and in opening games have shown themselves a useful combina· tion, run ning the well·known Aliens Cross to 10-- 9 in the Midlands Area Cup.

Adey's youngsters v USAF Colts? In the Western area Frank Adey, of Sutton

Beavers, has a side of whom the "veter.ans·' are aged about 14. They are seeking fixtures against other young teams and are hoping that they will meet some in the vicinity of Ruislip where there is an American ' school for the children of USAF men.

AROUND THE CLUBS

In addition Ray Va llu of Epsom Lions, is helping to spread tbe game among local youths by giving lectures and instruction to ~oy Scouts and .similar groups.

Three S.E. Clubs make progress In the South East three clubs already

have their junior teams organised- Dagen· hani. Royals. Essex Nationa ls and Ford Sports. The Roya ls' second·string (aged between 13 and 16) have met both th~$c loca l rivals, the Essex Nomads consisting of several youngsters from th~ ,Maycsbrook Park area together wi th spare firsHeam men

I and the Ford's team bei.ng , iads of 16 ,t rom the Trade School who are coached by' Fra'nk '" Morgan, former player ~nd umpire.

The prospect of a Minor League in the South East is becoming j'ncreasingly hope­ful and with one or two more clubs coming in it could be in operation next season.

At Melbourne Park on Whit Monday a Nottingham League representati ve Stde received a Birmingham League side in the first of twp games, the return being in Bir· mingham on' August 7th.

· In the fi rst game Nottingham ran out 'eas)' winners, and it is obvious that the Birming­ham selectors will have to pick stronger next tim~ as they appear tb have underesti ­rilatcd their opponents" st rength. However, Brum had themse lves largely -to blame. errors and missed catches contributing to

·t-heir downfall.

FORDS ON THE UP-GRADE BUT CLUB TO LOSE PRESENT GROUNQ

._----It was in 1934 (three years after the Ford Moto{ Company

conc~ntrated its British production at Dagenham, E~sex) that the Ford Sports. Club was formed, and in the following yel.lr the Ba~e­ball Section came into being.

Lambrecht-signs for Allen's Aliens Cross have signed that sta lwart

International pitcher- Vic L;lrnbrecht. It is Jik@ly •. howeyer, tha~ he .will not be regul a rl y required, as C liff C-o llrt is pitching vcry good ball for t,Qe Cross this season; but Vic will nevertheless be a very useful acquisi tion both to "the Birmingham ,League side and ' the M id laqd Counties.

In the E~st ~ond.oD League Joining the East London League (also

'formed in 1935), the Ford club were runners­up in the first ' lwo seasons to their tradi­tional rivals Briggs Brigands (from their now-subsidiary company). -However, by 1939 they were much stronger and in that year c;ompleted the double of league Champion-ship and Cup. .

.. Old stagers " will remember several of their weJ[ ~known playe rs of those days in · ,

! _ ...rr._ c'L_ N:. m_ :1I: . .... "". -4 .... "" . , .. _ _ ""' • ....,. ; cJuding Harry Harper. Jack Dawber and • • Frank Morgan, who under ·the managership '.,' SCORE S·HEETS .i of Harry Scott . were a powerful side. AI·

I'! though now retired from the game "Scott~, ,, • • still follows his old club and is a welcome 1" __ ' with all details !~. . h S h 'I spectator at games 10 t e out -East.

! 20 ins. X 10 ins. Padded I Re-opening in 1946 ! 'I Although \Vorld War' II meant the I from: S.E . Counties Baseball Assn. closing·down o( local baseball. Fords rc.

36 Derby Avenue, Upminster, Essex = sumed in 1946 and played in S.E. Counties • 11 competitions till the London East League = 50 Eor 8/3 I , (Ia.er S.E. League) opened LIp again in 1949. fl. II l! The team was almo:;t a completely new one,

• but seve-ral players· made their mark during i including Postage i

lJ ' that time to bring success to the club, The , " I double of Di v. I Championship and Cup

~ CASH WITH ORDER was achieved in 195 1. when .he club also ! ! I reached the Final of the South Eastem .... .., . ..... .ao . ...... ~. ':"'_ ~'_~_-"" • • #_:x._""'. J . " Counties Cup.

Present Success Much of the Club's post·war success can

be attributed to Howard (Harry) Knapp. A former junior .playe r with the Dagenham Dragons club in the late 1930's, he starred as a pitcher when the Fords club met with its South Eastern 'area successes. and he has taken over as Team·manager this season although not playing regula rly. In addition Howard was Chai rmao . of the S.E. League for two seasons (he is still a Committee member), and has ' a lso served as S.~ . League representat~ve on tbe SECBA: . The present Ho.n. Secreta ry is Roo King (who also serves on the S.E. League Execu­ti ve) and who plays catcher or outfielder in the-' Fords team.

New Ground next Year Unfortunatel \' it seems that Fords B.C.

will lose their -present ground i'n the 1956 season owing to expansion of the Ford Works. but steps arc a lready t' eing taken to find ahanative accommodation for a learn which i'l once again on the up -grade . . ".J

'* We hope to feature a Clu History

in each issue / .~