The (English) Baseball League (est. 1888): A History

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Baseball League 1924
Third Division Top Systems

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Baseball League 1924
Third Division Financial Report

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Baseball’s Increasing Popularity.

More Supporters, Including Women and Children, Showing Up at the Gate.

The enormous growth of the popularity of baseball continues unabated and has been drawing support from unusual places, including that from the distaff and the juvenile. For in 1924 well over thirty three millions of “fans” showed up to the gate for the 88 clubs of the League, on average about 380,000 per club, and in the first division the average rises to some 560,000, a 36 per cent. rise from the 1922 average of 417,000. Walsall drew over 900,000 supporters to the gate, a truly astounding number that works out to almost 14,000 supporters per match. No one could have foreseen this development as the League resumed Championship play in 1919 after the war had ended.

This increased support has manifested the phenomenal growth of the League from 40 clubs going into the war to the 88 clubs of today, and another dozen or so are clamouring for even more extension of the top league throughout the kingdom. Whether or not such extension occurs, there can be no denying that the British public are still hungry for paid entertainment, acting as would a man found starving and near death in the street led to a banquet and bade all he can eat. That is the lingering effect the war has had on the minds of the people in this country.

The clubs have been prospering tremendously from this windfall at the gate. It is estimated that clubs at the top of the table of the First Division are registering gross takings in excess of £60,000, and even mid-table clubs are taking in better than £40,000. Second Division clubs range from £10,000 to £35,000; and even Third Division teams are taking in as much as £20,000 in gate receipts for the season. Clearly times are good during the summer for the clubs, to the degree that for many clubs their baseball turnover exceeds even their football turnover.

There are a few reasons for this fortunate circumstance. For one, although wages paid are quite handsome for the players, to be sure, they have not been rising as steeply as admission fees have. A typical admission fee of 6d. before the war has risen to as high as 1/6 for the more prosperous clubs in the top tier, and even some Third Division clubs are successfully charging 1/- for admission. It has been shown, however, that supporters gladly pay this price to see the best baseballers in the land, practising a sport that is seen as more exciting and packed with more action than cricket. This circumstance does not suit all, but it does suit a great many with the means to support it at the gate.

The ability of baseball supporters to absorb admission rises contrasts sharply with that of football supporters, where average admission rises from 6d. to 1/- last season for matches featuring top clubs has hurt attendance in a visible way. The reason given for this pertains to the perceived class differences of the supporters of each sport—whereas baseball supporters more closely resemble those of cricket and come mainly from the respectable hat-and-collar middle classes, the old cap-filing, collar-lacking working classes make up the base of those who regularly attend football matches, and as such are less able to maintaining ongoing attendance in the face of rises for admissions.

But the most surprising development has been the changing composition of spectators at the grounds. The appearance of the peaked flat cap, the virtual uniform of the British worker at leisure, is still predominant at matches. But the increased mobility of the citizen of the realm is a factor as more motor vehicles are being observed parking in the neighbourhoods surrounding the grounds just before matches, and disappearing immediately after. This is a harbinger of the growth of baseball popularity among the middle classes, traditionally the sort of people who also attend cricket matches. There has also been observed the increased admission of women accompanying their husbands and sweethearts to the grounds, which has surprised some but not others. Distaff representation to a similar degree has yet to be observed at football matches, but there are stark differences between the atmospheres of the two events. Whereas football is a much rowdier affair where the spectators can behave in the boysy manner no matter their age, baseball is a more relaxed affair on balance, one that lends itself to an environment considered safer for both women and children. Not as though a baseball match is never exciting, but the ongoing and everyday nature of the sport inhibits the constancy of chanting, singing, shouting and general boisterousness that characterises a once-a-week football match.

[Herrbear]

Looking forward to 1925.

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Lloyd Leaves League Baseball.

One of the greatest baseballers in the annals of the League has announced his retirment from the game. Joshua Lloyd entered baseball in 1901 with the Hull City club and played in the Central league with Tigers for three seasons before ascending with them to the Second Division of the League, upon which time he made an immediate sensation. Lloyd is the only player ever to win Baseballer of the Year and newcomer of the Year in the same season, 1905, in which he also won Batsman of the Year. That season, aged just 22 years, Lloyd batted .404 and stole 78 bases. He went on to lead his Division in steals in three separate seasons, as well as in batting average three times, in bases on balls twice, and in base hits, runs scored and threes once each.

Lloyd went on to win another Baseballer of the Year award, in 1914 in the First Division, making him the only player ever to win awards in more than a single division. Lloyd won Batsman of the year that season as well, as well as in 1907 and 1908, and is one of only three players (Alistair Bolton, Bobby Arscott) to have won the prestigious Batsman award. Lloyd also won the EOI Cup with Tigers, in 1914.

Lloyd finishes his career ninth in stolen bases overall, with 642, and also in bases on balls, with 1,053. His final career batting average was .355, was is tenth highest in the annals of the League.

[Trebro]

Imagine what he might have done, had not the nation needed his great talents to stave off the German threat!

(It also answers a question I was wondering--if you tracked League stats together, or considered only D1 stats for all-time rankings. Looks like you group the various divisions together, but don't count non-league games.)

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Originally Posted by panelpatter

Imagine what he might have done, had not the nation needed his great talents to stave off the German threat!

(It also answers a question I was wondering--if you tracked League stats together, or considered only D1 stats for all-time rankings. Looks like you group the various divisions together, but don't count non-league games.)

Yeah, Lloyd, like Bobby Arscott before him, came back with a strong 1919 season but then tailed off quickly due to age. They both would have been in their mid thirties during the war, but both were such great hitters that it is easy to imagine they would have both gotten way over 2,000 career hits, which given the shorter Baseball League seasons is more akin to 3,000 hits.

As for record keeping, I am tallying records for the the League overall as well as by division*. Since Josh Lloyd split his playing time between D1 and D2 he doesn't show up on a ton of leaderboards in either, but for D1 he is 7th in on base, 16th in batting average, 29th in slugging and 12th in RC/27. He doesn't show up in any D2 leaderboards because he doesn't have the requisite 3,000 plate appearance minimum, but if he did his overall batting average of .385 would be #1 by a long shot. (Current Clapton Orient star Aaron MacAlpine is #1 in D2 overall with .358. Chesterfield Town star Joe Michel owns the highest D2 batting average among retired players with .356.)

Because the League didn't officially track the advanced metrics in 1924, and indeed no one even knew about or imagined them, they don't show up in news accounts at the time, but overall, Lloyd is 5th all-time in the League in career VORP with 653.3; 7th in on base with .464; 13th in RC/27 with 8.11; and 23rd in slugging with .482.

Joshua Lloyd was definitely good at batting.




* - I also keep stats for non-League, as if anyone cared, but Lloyd doesn't show up in the leaderboards for any of them. It is kind of interesting to go through them and see what good players had "lost careers", so to speak, by toiling their entire time down there.

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By the way, anyone who is curious about a player or a club, please feel free to ask. I am keeping pretty good records so I should be able to answer most any question anybody might have.

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The 1925 Baseball Season Commences To-Day.

The thirty-fourth programme of the Baseball League will be begun to-day, May 5, 1925, with a full slate of fixtures featuring all 88 teams across the four divisions.

The sport continues to rage in popularity throughout the kingdom, and although not approaching association football in any but isolated instances, certainly eclipsing that of cricket, at least as a sport for spectators. Last season saw yet another high mark for attendance at League baseball matches, as almost 34 millions of “fans” streamed through the gates of the various grounds of the clubs. It was the eighth consecutive League season for which a gate record has been set. The optimism of clubs for continued success in turnover continues unabated, leading many clubs to have increased the capacity of their grounds. Chesterfield, winners of the EOI Cup for the first time last season, have built grandstands all round the pitch at Saltergate and can now boast the third largest ground in the League at almost 30,000 seats. Accrington Stanley celebrated their promotion to the top tier by doubling the size of Peel Park to 10,000 seats. Leicester City, Lincoln City and Portsmouth have all added capacity as well.

The League has also arranged for Second Division clubs to join those of the First Division to conduct their spring practice in Portugal, and have been negotiating with the ruling Democratic Party as well as with President Gomes for the construction of additional practice sites for the additional 22 clubs. While the final terms are still in discussion, there will be sharing of current facilities which have been used by top flight clubs since before the 1922 season. This confirms the move to full professionalism for the Second Division, by dint of creating another six weeks of obligation for players which now extends to 27 weeks throughout the year. This move also alleviates a problem of inconsistency from year to year as clubs who trained in Portugal as First Division clubs suddenly found themselves out of luck for spring practice abroad the next season after having been relegated. As things stand, there is no discussion of including Third Division clubs in Portuguese spring practice as the modest finances attended to that level simply prohibit such relative extravagancy.

Speaking of Chesterfield, the club may have formally ascended to the top of the game as their hoarding of splendid young baseballers during the past several years may have finally come to fruition. Even though they were outplayed in last October’s EOI Cup tie, having been outscored by Walsall by the margin of 52 runs to 23, Spireites finished far more strongly in September than did Swifts. This rise to the top seems to have been confirmed in Portugal this spring as well, as Spireites won sixteen of the twenty four practice games whilst Walsall lost as many. Such circumstance does not always augur in-season form and results accurately, since spring practice is also a method by which reserve players are assessed for suitability for inclusion into the season squad; however, this play of Walsall’s does raise concern. Swifts’ vulnerability has been predicted for many seasons now, however, all of which have come to naught. It remains to be seen whether this season will be any different.

In the Second Division, a few London clubs appear strong enough to contend for promotion this year, specifically the Fulham and Chelsea clubs. The Cottagers are relying on the pitching pair of Wrenn and Pujara to put them in the top tier for next year, while third base man Kirk is seen as the linchpin of Blues’ chances for advancement this season. The Watford club, who rose to the Second Division prior to last season but showed mediocre form once there, are nonetheless seen as a dark horse candidate for promotion. Other top contenders appear to be:— The Wednesday; Leicester City; Blackpool; and Sheffield United.

There are no London clubs seen as strong contenders to reach the Second Division from the lowest level’s Southern Section, as the top clubs appear to be Swansea Town, Gillingham, and Birmingham. The Third Division’s Northern Section will probably be led by one of either Hull City, erstwhile EOI Cup winners, or New Brighton.

The most significant change for the 1925 season is the implementation of the qualifying match among clubs drawn level for promotion or relegation at the end of the season. This will take the place should two clubs finish level for the final spot; should two teams finish with the same record at the top or bottom of a table, there will be no need of a qualifying match and both teams shall be crowned co-champions and advance forthwith to the next level up. One qualifying match has been played, in 1912, when Bolton and Everton finished level for the second spot of the EOI Cup series. Bolton won the match, 5 runs to 4, and went on the win the Cup outright.

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Baseball League 1925: Clubs

<<<<< Most uniforms courtesy of forum member No Pepper >>>>>

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Baseball League 1925: Club Locations


First Division




Second Division




Third Division North




Third Division South

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Morley’s Historic Base Hits Streak Broken at Fifty Three.

Manchester United fell short of victory yesterday against Preston North End by a single run, but even so, the story was that of William Morley, who had struck a base hits streak of 53 consecutive games coming into the afternoon’s match.

The streak began on May 20 when Morley scratched out a base hit against Burton United, and he did not fail to hit safely in a game from that date until yesterday, when he made no hits in five chances at the bat. Morley did get on base twice, once in the first innings on a base on balls, and more controversially, also in the ninth innings when Preston third base man Street muffed a ground ball to his left that some thought Morley might have beaten for a base hit had Street handled the chance perfectly. But the official scorer, a Manchester man to boot, decided on an error, and that was that for the hits streak. Morley, who would have been the runner to draw Red Devils level for the match had he scored, was instead stranded on the second base, which led to the United loss.

Nevertheless, there are many impressive aspects to the hits streak worth noting. Morley batted .486 during the streak, amassing 108 base hits in 222 at bats, and including 13 twobees, nine threebees, and three home runs. He scored 55 runs during the streak. He had two smaller streaks within the larger streak consisting of games with multiple base hits, one of thirteen games and the other of nine. Most importantly, Manchester United won 33 of the 53 matches during the streak, proving that Morley’s base hits streak was decidedly good for the business of winning.

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Sunderland Drop from Top Tier
for First Time since 1890.

The Black Cats of Sunderland have been a stalwart of the Baseball League since their entrance into the First Division for the 1890 season. They have won the division championship on four separate occasions and finished second or third on nine others. They have been graced with some of the greatest batsmen in the game in Stevenson, Clark, and Betts; and such pitching legends as Turner, Atherton and London. Along with Newcastle United, Sunderland represented the very best in baseball that the north east of England has had to offer.

But times have been hard on Black Cats of late. In 1912 they produced their worst showing to date, placing 14th in the table, and then fell to 17th the following year. They recovered somewhat over the next few seasons, but starting in 1922 they began regularly flirting with relegation by placing 18th, 16th, and 18th in consecutive seasons.

Finally, yesterday, it became official: Sunderland Black Cats finished at the very bottom of the table, losing 81 games, and as such will be forced to ply their trade in the Second Division for the 1926 season. Thus ends their streak of thirty consecutive seasons in the top flight, the longest of any club. Manchester United now hold the distinction of being the longest tenured club in the First Division, having occupied the table since 1892, a string of twenty eight years that should remain unbroken for the near future.

Sunderland, on the other hand, seem hard pressed to return to the top tier next season as they finished second from the bottom of the loop in attack, and third from the bottom in run prevention. The cupboard seems quite bare for them as well, as the Sunderland reserves were trounced fairly regularly in morning competitions this season. It is sad to see such a mainstay fall into competitive disrepute, but it will fall to them to rectify this situation and return to the senior competition quickly as they can manage.

[chucksabr]

Port Vale Win Thrilling Qualifying Match
on “Mad Dash” to Advance to EOI Cup Tie.

The Old Recreation Ground was hopping with excitement all during yesterday’s match, which served as the qualifier for the EOI Cup tie given the local Port Valiants and the visiting Walsallians had finished level in second place on the table with 78 wins each. Nearly 29,000 people streamed through the gate to witness the affair, the highest in the League’s regular season history, and the spectators were not disappointed. The game was a cracking affair from start to finish.

Swifts jumped into the lead immediately with three singles in the first innings for a run, and two singles and a walk for another in the second. Port Vale slugged a two and a three in the third for a return run, but took advantage of sloppy Walsall fielding and pitching to score three, on two singles, two errors and a wild pitch, and they entered the fifth with a four runs to two lead. Walsall answered straight away with a threebee, two singles and a scoring fly ball out to draw level at four runs.

The game continued on as such until the bottom of the seventh innings, with Port Vale made a lot of noise with a twobee and three singles but could scratch out only a single run. There might have been two runs but for the great young Port Vale second base man Franklin being run out at the home plate. This in itself would not spark additional comment except for the extremely forceful tag that Walsall catcher Bramald laid on Franklin’s jaw to record the run out, which led to a spirited altercation featuring Franklin and Bramald, but including nearly the entire squads of both clubs. Amazingly, even after ten minutes and several landed blows, not a single player was retired from the match the umpires, and play resumed with both line-ups intact, save four defensive substitutions made by Valiants in the service of protecting their newly acquired five runs to four lead.

This tactic failed as Knight hit a three with one out and scored on a fly out to the centre field to draw Walsall level at five runs. Runners for each club advanced to the third base in both the bottom of the eighth and top of the ninth without scoring. In the bottom of the ninth, Franklin struck again with a single after one man had made out. Jones walked to advance Frankiin to second, and Bardon’s single filled the bases. With Walsall pitcher Curley working as carefully as he could manage to the batsman Stewart, he let fly a pitch that bounced about twenty feet off Bramald’s shin guard. Franklin proceeded to run towards the home plate; Bramald recovered the ball and pegged a perfect throw to Curley covering, but Franklin slid in safely with the winning run. Shades of the famous “Mad Dash” by Vivian Sharp in the memorable 1887 BA Cup final victory of Derby County over Burnley were in evidence, and the crowd spilled onto the pitch to share their love with their heroes for having earned their fifth opportunity to win their first EOI Cup in club history.

Port Vale will face Crewe Alexandra in Crewe at two o'clock today.

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Baseball League 1925
First Division Results

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Baseball League 1925
EOI Cup Series

Crewe Alexandra defeated Port Vale
Four Matches to Two

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Baseball League 1925
First Division Champions and EOI Cup Winners




Crewe Alexandra Railwaymen

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Baseball League 1925
EOI Cup Runners Up

Port Vale Valiants

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Baseball League 1925
First Division Table

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Baseball League 1925
First Division Team Batting and Pitching