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Thread: Baseball in South Wales and Liverpool

  1. #1

    Baseball in South Wales and Liverpool

    Is there much of a scene anymore?
    I used to love it when I was a kid.
    A fair amount of kids Football teams in Newport had Baseball teams in the summer.

    It kind of stopped then and there were probably 4/5 Newport teams for seniors.

  2. #2

    Re: Baseball in South Wales and Liverpool

    Men’s game has died a death unfortunately, the women’s game is still quite strong though.

  3. #3

    Re: Baseball in South Wales and Liverpool

    Quote Originally Posted by splott parker View Post
    Men’s game has died a death unfortunately, the women’s game is still quite strong though.
    That's sad to hear.
    There was St Mike's, Alex Old Boys, Civil, Pill Harriers and even Hartridge in Newport and probably double that in Cardiff about 20 years ago.

  4. #4

    Re: Baseball in South Wales and Liverpool

    Quote Originally Posted by Wash DC Blue View Post
    Is there much of a scene anymore?
    I used to love it when I was a kid.
    A fair amount of kids Football teams in Newport had Baseball teams in the summer.

    It kind of stopped then and there were probably 4/5 Newport teams for seniors.
    you mention 4/5 teams from Newport for seniors

    The only teams I can remember playing against were St Michaels , Alexander Old Boys and Ebbw Bridge . Did Pill Harriers have a side too back in the day ?

  5. #5

    Re: Baseball in South Wales and Liverpool

    Quote Originally Posted by MOZZER2 View Post
    you mention 4/5 teams from Newport for seniors

    The only teams I can remember playing against were St Michaels , Alexander Old Boys and Ebbw Bridge . Did Pill Harriers have a side too back in the day ?
    Pill Harriers did as did Hartridge and Civil Service out of Bettws.
    I think even The Sarries did.
    If they were of a Standard to play against the Cardiff teams...I'm not sure.

  6. #6

    Re: Baseball in South Wales and Liverpool

    Quote Originally Posted by Wash DC Blue View Post
    Pill Harriers did as did Hartridge and Civil Service out of Bettws.
    I think even The Sarries did.
    If they were of a Standard to play against the Cardiff teams...I'm not sure.
    yes when i saw your post regarding civil service you are correct it jogged my memory i remember i played a night game up the civil service ground and didn;t finish for bad light as were still playing at 10 in the night -lol

    Yes the WBU held representative games and 1 year got selected to play for a good solid cardiff side against Newport but you townies hammered us by an innings

    got selected a for a welsh trial but didn't get in as there were some very good players back then . my lad went on to represent the wales youth side a few years later

    great times when i look back

  7. #7

    Re: Baseball in South Wales and Liverpool

    Used to be huge crowds on roach Park recreation ground, back in the day, and I can remember pretty large crowds only twenty years ago. Seems to have died a dead recently though.

  8. #8

    Re: Baseball in South Wales and Liverpool

    I played for Penylan B we beat Ebbw Bridge in the B league Cup final about 1992 on the pitch next to the transporter bridge went back to their club for drinks and sarnies.
    There club has gone now and was a property for sale on homes under the Hammer.

  9. #9

    Re: Baseball in South Wales and Liverpool

    Quote Originally Posted by MOZZER2 View Post
    yes when i saw your post regarding civil service you are correct it jogged my memory i remember i played a night game up the civil service ground and didn;t finish for bad light as were still playing at 10 in the night -lol

    Yes the WBU held representative games and 1 year got selected to play for a good solid cardiff side against Newport but you townies hammered us by an innings

    got selected a for a welsh trial but didn't get in as there were some very good players back then . my lad went on to represent the wales youth side a few years later

    great times when i look back
    Nice one Mozz.

    My Mam was from Pill and moved to Bettws when she was a bit older.
    So I'd spend a lot of time in Tees Close which was half a stones throw from The Civil Ground, supposedly visiting Grand Parents but watching baseball on Summers Evenings.

  10. #10

    Re: Baseball in South Wales and Liverpool

    Quote Originally Posted by insider View Post
    I played for Penylan B we beat Ebbw Bridge in the B league Cup final about 1992 on the pitch next to the transporter bridge went back to their club for drinks and sarnies.
    There club has gone now and was a property for sale on homes under the Hammer.
    The pitch would be Coronation Park, right down the bottom of Corporation Road.
    Opposite Pill basically.

    I heard The Ebbw Bridge had gone.
    Reminds me though of a pool match one night against
    them when some lad started...and was met with "Sit down, the hardest thing out of Maesglas is The Argus Crossword" :)

  11. #11

    Re: Baseball in South Wales and Liverpool

    Quote Originally Posted by Wash DC Blue View Post
    The pitch would be Coronation Park, right down the bottom of Corporation Road.
    Opposite Pill basically.

    I heard The Ebbw Bridge had gone.
    Reminds me though of a pool match one night against
    them when some lad started...and was met with "Sit down, the hardest thing out of Maesglas is The Argus Crossword" :)
    What a road (Corporation) that must have been in its heyday!
    I worked for quite a few years at the nearby Whiteheads steelworks. At Christmas time, we would start off on a pub crawl from the West Of England pub, next to the transporter bridge.
    Every street corner leading on to Corporation Rd had a pub. A lot of them were boarded up but there were still enough pubs left to make it quite a challenge to finally make it down to the King William pub down the other end.
    Many, like myself, were Cardiff lads, but we never encountered any problems in that area in all fairness.

    I wonder how many pubs are actually left on Corporation Rd these days?

  12. #12

    Re: Baseball in South Wales and Liverpool

    Quote Originally Posted by Rock_Flock_of_Five View Post
    What a road (Corporation) that must have been in its heyday!
    I worked for quite a few years at the nearby Whiteheads steelworks. At Christmas time, we would start off on a pub crawl from the West Of England pub, next to the transporter bridge.
    Every street corner leading on to Corporation Rd had a pub. A lot of them were boarded up but there were still enough pubs left to make it quite a challenge to finally make it down to the King William pub down the other end.
    Many, like myself, were Cardiff lads, but we never encountered any problems in that area in all fairness.

    I wonder how many pubs are actually left on Corporation Rd these days?
    We went for an office Christmas meal in the pub by the Transporter Bridge (can't remember what it was called, but it wasn't the West of England) having, for some reason, walked down Corporation Road and it was noticeable how you began to see more boarded up shops and closed pubs the further you walked towards the bridge. This would have been fifteen to twenty years ago and it wouldn't have been much of a pub crawl if we'd tried one that day.

  13. #13

    Re: Baseball in South Wales and Liverpool

    Quote Originally Posted by Rock_Flock_of_Five View Post
    What a road (Corporation) that must have been in its heyday!
    I worked for quite a few years at the nearby Whiteheads steelworks. At Christmas time, we would start off on a pub crawl from the West Of England pub, next to the transporter bridge.
    Every street corner leading on to Corporation Rd had a pub. A lot of them were boarded up but there were still enough pubs left to make it quite a challenge to finally make it down to the King William pub down the other end.
    Many, like myself, were Cardiff lads, but we never encountered any problems in that area in all fairness.

    I wonder how many pubs are actually left on Corporation Rd these days?
    Corporation Road is the other side of the river to the West of England. You're getting confused with Commercial Road.

  14. #14

    Re: Baseball in South Wales and Liverpool

    Quote Originally Posted by Alan Lung View Post
    Corporation Road is the other side of the river to the West of England. You're getting confused with Commercial Road.
    Damn, thank you for correcting me. Yeah, Commercial Rd, I should have said. Doh!

  15. #15

    Re: Baseball in South Wales and Liverpool

    We used to go to TJs to watch metal bands and would have a drink in a pub over the road

    Is that the maindee area ?

  16. #16

    Re: Baseball in South Wales and Liverpool

    Quote Originally Posted by tforturton View Post
    Used to be huge crowds on roach Park recreation ground, back in the day, and I can remember pretty large crowds only twenty years ago. Seems to have died a dead recently though.
    Yes, I recall when about 12 years old in 1965 or thereabouts that big games played there attracted crowds of up to 8,000. This figure was recorded in the Echo and many times I went it was almost akin to visiting Ninian Park on match days. Except the baseball fans were better behaved!

    I could walk there from home.

  17. #17

    Re: Baseball in South Wales and Liverpool

    also many great players graced the game from the football and rugby world in the summer months . For example I played with and against over a 25 year period Dave 'dai' Bishop , Mark Ring and Mike Rayer from the rugby world and from the football world Ellis Harrison ( Bristol Rovers and Welsh U-21) , Norman Parselle (Newport county ) and Paul Bodin

    Before my time players like Dave Giles and the late great Phil Dwyer played for Grange Catholics in the baseball leagues and as a few mentioned used to attract big crowds in its heyday . sadly now just a distant memory

  18. #18

    Re: Baseball in South Wales and Liverpool

    I went to Llanrumney High whose Baseball team was a very strong , along with St Illtyds they supplied a few Welsh Internationals.

  19. #19

    Re: Baseball in South Wales and Liverpool

    Quote Originally Posted by MOZZER2 View Post
    also many great players graced the game from the football and rugby world in the summer months . For example I played with and against over a 25 year period Dave 'dai' Bishop , Mark Ring and Mike Rayer from the rugby world and from the football world Ellis Harrison ( Bristol Rovers and Welsh U-21) , Norman Parselle (Newport county ) and Paul Bodin

    Before my time players like Dave Giles and the late great Phil Dwyer played for Grange Catholics in the baseball leagues and as a few mentioned used to attract big crowds in its heyday . sadly now just a distant memory
    Why has it diminished then Mozz? Do you reckon that it's the lack of community in some of the more traditional working class areas of cardiff? Pub closures, loss of local industry or that young men just aren't that bothered about playing sport on the weekend anymore for a variety of reasons?

    The Cardiff and District football league used to have 6 divisions if i can recall, then there was the Combination league as well. Pontcanna and Trelai were packed out on a saturday. I know that numbers have deteriorated slowly over the past 20 or 30 years so it's been a gradual thing, but it's an interesting subject as to why young men aren't playing so much sport on saturday afternoons like we did.

  20. #20

    Re: Baseball in South Wales and Liverpool

    Quote Originally Posted by MOZZER2 View Post
    also many great players graced the game from the football and rugby world in the summer months . For example I played with and against over a 25 year period Dave 'dai' Bishop , Mark Ring and Mike Rayer from the rugby world and from the football world Ellis Harrison ( Bristol Rovers and Welsh U-21) , Norman Parselle (Newport county ) and Paul Bodin

    Before my time players like Dave Giles and the late great Phil Dwyer played for Grange Catholics in the baseball leagues and as a few mentioned used to attract big crowds in its heyday . sadly now just a distant memory
    Norman Parselle was a very good all round sportsperson and nice lad, as is the family .

  21. #21

    Re: Baseball in South Wales and Liverpool

    The biggest reason for the decline in baseball is they don't play it in schools any more partly health and safety and partly teachers not doing extra curricular activities anymore.

  22. #22

    Re: Baseball in South Wales and Liverpool

    Quote Originally Posted by the other bob wilson View Post
    We went for an office Christmas meal in the pub by the Transporter Bridge (can't remember what it was called, but it wasn't the West of England) having, for some reason, walked down Corporation Road and it was noticeable how you began to see more boarded up shops and closed pubs the further you walked towards the bridge. This would have been fifteen to twenty years ago and it wouldn't have been much of a pub crawl if we'd tried one that day.
    The Waterloo ����

  23. #23

    Re: Baseball in South Wales and Liverpool

    Quote Originally Posted by Tuerto View Post
    Why has it diminished then Mozz? Do you reckon that it's the lack of community in some of the more traditional working class areas of cardiff? Pub closures, loss of local industry or that young men just aren't that bothered about playing sport on the weekend anymore for a variety of reasons?

    The Cardiff and District football league used to have 6 divisions if i can recall, then there was the Combination league as well. Pontcanna and Trelai were packed out on a saturday. I know that numbers have deteriorated slowly over the past 20 or 30 years so it's been a gradual thing, but it's an interesting subject as to why young men aren't playing so much sport on saturday afternoons like we did.
    pretty much all what you mentioned and as insider mentioned a lack of teachers in schools that come from outside the area that didn't know what baseball was ! lots of trade people played and like yourself worked away in the week and couldn't make night games so teams struggled in the week basically the demographics of work changed around that time . By the late 90's video games and a few years later smart phones etc sadly confined our kids to bed rooms rather than a sporting field

    another big factor was alot of politics within the WBU in the late 90's and Noughties but I won't go there as I usually get a good leathering when we go down the politics road on here

  24. #24

    Re: Baseball in South Wales and Liverpool

    Another ‘sport’ that has suffered in Cardiff is Pool, lots of pubs closing, the morning after drinking worries of a Sunday night and the way the league has been run have all contributed to the decline.

    Only 4 divisions in Cardiff now with less than 40 teams playing, probably only aroun 32 pubs that would be - compare it to Newport who have 6 divisions and over 60 teams it is a bit puzzling.

  25. #25

    Re: Baseball in South Wales and Liverpool

    Quote Originally Posted by tforturton View Post
    Used to be huge crowds on roach Park recreation ground, back in the day, and I can remember pretty large crowds only twenty years ago. Seems to have died a dead recently though.
    Yes I remember going to a couple of matches at Roath Park back in the 60's and seventies where there were big crowds

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