South African Baseball

[Red Sox]

Hey there is no thread for this topic so i made 1 for all the SA ball players...

[Brian McKenna]

and............enlighten me

[Jake83]

I do not know the popularity of the game of baseball in SA but for a former British colony without alot of US interference to play baseball is interesting.

Do you have information on the history of baseball in South Africa

[Red Sox]

Not exactly...i guess i could do some research and post it, ill see what i can find...i just know that there are players in SA including me who would like to have an SA forum.

Look Baseball aint big here but for those of us who know what a ball and bat can create...we love it and eagerly look forward to its growth.

[Red Sox]

No 3 Panther Place
Link Road, Lyndhurst, Johannesburg
P.O Box 2398 Highlands North, Johannesburg 2037
Tel: (+ 27-83) 453 4211; (+27-82) 990 4546
Email: baseball@icon.co.za

Founded in IBAF Member since 1992
Number of Teams 6,000 Number of Players 72,000
President Mark Alexander
Secretary General Moira Dempsey


World Cup Senior 1976, 1998, 2001
Intercontinental Cup 1995
Olympic Games 2000
World Junior Championship AAA 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000
World Youth Championship AA 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001



National Champions:

1997 Western Province
1998 Kwazulu Natal
1999 Kwazulu Natal
2000 Western Province
2002 Kwazulu Natal
2003 Easterns
2004 Easterns

World Cup Senior 1976, 1998, 2001
Intercontinental Cup 1995
Olympic Games 2000
World Junior Championship AAA 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000
World Youth Championship AA 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001


Number of Teams 6,000 Number of Players 72,000
Founded in IBAF Member since 1992


Currently, there are three players from Africa (all from South Africa) playing in the North American minor leagues and South Africa will be a participant in the inaugural World Baseball Classic. You can learn more about baseball in South Africa, and throughout the continent as well, in A Fan's Guide To The World Baseball Classic which is available for purchase at the Buy Joe's Guides page.




Baseball Canada’s Senior National Team improved to 2-1 at the Baseball World Cup, this morning, with a convincing 12-1 win over South Africa in Haarlem, Netherlands.

With two away, the Canadians scored five runs in the second inning capped by back-to-back homeruns from Geoff McCallum (London, Ont.) and Ben Van Iderstine (Regina, Sask.), putting the South Africans away early.

After two quick groundouts to start the inning, a single from Luke Carlin (Ottawa, Ont.) and a double from Hyung Cho (Toronto, Ont.) woke up the Canadian bats. Lee Delfino (Mississauga, Ont.) then singled, scoring both Carlin and Cho, setting up the back-to-back bombs.

Canada also scored five runs in the fifth inning, which was again sparked by two singles from Carlin and Cho. This time however, the Canadians sent 10 hitters to the plate in an inning that didn’t see one extra-base hit. Well-placed singles along with two walks and a wild pitch from South African hurlers gave Canada a chance to end the game early. With Canada up 11 runs after seven innings, the game was called due to the international 10-run mercy rule.





Major League Baseball International has pumped millions of dollars into South Africa alone – and for good reason. Now more than 10 years into its new democracy, following the fall of apartheid, the continent’s leading economy has some of the best athletes in the world. And now all races are playing alongside one another – and in peace.

Like the Aussies, Down Under, Mate!, South Africans are rugby, soccer and cricket players by trade. MLB scouts like the tough demeanor of rugby players and the hand-eye coordination of soccer players and cricketers. Oh, and the population might have something to do with MLB’s interest.

There are more than 100 million people living in Nigeria, which is also developing baseball on the African continent, along with countries like Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mali, Kenya, Tunisia, Ghana, Uganda and Cameroon.

[Yankeebiscuitfan]

Hey there is no thread for this topic so i made 1 for all the SA ball players...

There is an earlier thread on South African baseball.

Here's the link: http://www.baseball-fever.com/showthread.php?t=28382

[Red Sox]

Thx but i dunno im quite new so i neva new that....

[Yankeebiscuitfan]

Thx but i dunno im quite new so i neva new that....

Never mind. You're welcome.

[Cubano100%]

Never mind. You're welcome.


It sounds you need a dictionary.

[Yankeebiscuitfan]

It sounds you need a dictionary.

Explain youself.

[Cubano100%]

Explain youself.

To translate what he wrote in his language.

[Yankeebiscuitfan]

To translate what he wrote in his language.

:laugh

To say what the South Africans say: Alles sal regkom! I.o.w. Everything will be allright. :waving

[Red Sox]

:hp
Does anyone in South Africa readin this forum know where to get reliable baseball kit...eg Easton.

Pls help!

[Andruw]

Magnante, Smith to lead South Africa
By Jim Street/MLB.com
Longtime Oakland Athletics scout Rick Magnante has signed some eventual Major League players, including former American League Cy Young Award winner Barry Zito and AL Rookie of the Year Bobby Crosby.

Magnante has also appeared in a movie, playing the role of the Giants' third-base coach in "The Fan," a 1996 flick starring Robert De Niro and Wesley Snipes.

When the inaugural World Baseball Classic is played in March, Magnante will have a much larger role -- that of manager for the South African team that is scheduled to play Canada on March 7 in a Pool B game at Scottsdale Stadium in Arizona.

The South African Baseball Union announced Magnante's appointment on Wednesday, along with pitching coach Lee Smith, Major League Baseball's all-time saves leader and a top candidate to be selected to the Hall of Fame this month. The World Baseball Classic, a 16-team tournament sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF), will feature the world's best players competing for their home countries and territories.

[Cadworks]

I was searching the web for info on the World Baseball Tournament that SA competed in, was nice to see they almost beat the Canadians. It is also a pleasure for me to see SA compete.


I played baseball in SA in the sixties and seventies, for a team called Rhodes Park Bears. Competed against Southern Suburbs, Crown Mine Giants, And Yeoville Squares, to mention a few. Started when I was six and played off and on until 21. The coach for the "Bears" was a quadraplegic whose name was Rodney Park. A great individual who knew a great deal about baseball. The team was Little League Champs for many years, and as we grew, Minor, and Major League Champs. We had three teams, and the whole family participated. Mother sewed uniforms, kept score, and my father coached the "B" teams. We were great competitors, and had great fun playing all those years ago. It is encouraging to see that this has continued.

[Dalkowski110]

Although not related to South African baseball, I do have an intriguing story I posted about earlier. As you may know, in late 1899, when the 2nd Anglo-Boer War started up, the ZAR and OVS both called for foreign volunteers. The ZAR had a relatively famous Irish Brigade that was actually mostly Irish Americans (their commanding officer, Colonel John Blake, was a former US Cavalry officer; the original man slated to be the CO was Brigadier General St. Claire Mulholland, a former US Army officer who came up through the famed, virtually all-Irish 69th New York Infantry Regiment during the American Civil War). Among these men was a fellow named Frank O'Neill, who was KIA.

An obituary from the newspaper Die Patriot in early 1900 notes that O'Neill played baseball in the Hudson River League in the 1890's, noting his position as a "bowler" (unless something got lost in my friend's translation from Cape Dutch...almost surely meaning he was a pitcher). While the Hudson River League was not a professional league in the 1890's, it was pro in 1886 and from 1902-1907. Perhaps O'Neill, the only known casualty of the Second Anglo-Boer War to have played baseball, played it professionally, but only perhaps. Data from the time regarding Minor Leaguers is incredibly sketchy and an obituary would likely have come from whatever information his comrades gave out (and who probably didn't even speak more than a few words of Cape Dutch). The O'Neill story is intriguing, but sadly, a story's all it is right now due to lack of surviving data.

[Cadworks]

Amazing that an American soldier volunteers to fight in the Boer War, and then plays Baseball in SA!

My father fought in WW2 in North Africa, saw the Americans play ball, participated, went back to SA and was instrumental in starting Little League in Johannesburg.

It is a strange world.

[Dalkowski110]

I had six relatives fighting in the 2nd Anglo-Boer War. Five for the Boers, one for the Brits. Nationalities are as follows...
-2 Afrikanerjoode (Cousins, albeit pretty distant. One was in charge of distributing ammunition and rifles for a kommando [I believe said kommando originated in Johannesburg]. The other was a regular burgher who wound up fighting under first Lukas Meyer and then Louis Botha. Both survived the war, though the latter lost his right arm.)
-2 Irish-American (Brothers, both survived.)
-1 German (Lt. Wilhelm Friedrich Pohlman, Johannesburg ZARP...he was the second-in-command at Bergendal. KIA.)
-1 Anglo South African (He'd be the guy fighting for the Brits.)

[Cadworks]

This information is fun, and I am interested, but this might not be the right forum for this.

My reason for being on this site is to promote SA baseball and perhaps speak to people who remember the history of SA Baseball. We had a lot of friends and adventures playing baseball, albiet in sometimes primitive conditions.

I remember playing softball at Tempe in Bloemfontein, being recruited by the Paratrooper Major who heard of me, and made me coach the team, which subsequently beat the panzer division, and won the cup from them. (It also allowed me to get out of a lot of regular duty.)

So to finish, let me know your baseball stories. (no offense boetie)

[Duwane]

I played baseball at Rhodes Park in the 80's but it was Giants and Imps at that stage and then moved to Edenvale. I now play at one of the oldest clubs(so I'm told) Goodwood Demons in Cape Town. Cadworks do you know Trevor Barnley from WP ? There is a man who remembers and knows the history of SA Baseball and has all the stuff at his place to prove it.

If you are on Facebook there is a Group SABU-SA baseball with links to all SA baseball sites.

[Cadworks]

Thanks for reply. Do not know Trevor Barnley of WS,

Knew a bunch of great guys, Brian Bentley was our pitcher, Paul Port catcher, Raymond and Trevor Tew, Swanepoel brothers, Pat and Cedric McKinnon, all long time players from little league to Majors.........

Have home movie that had a short sequence of ball playing on it, and I was amazed at the hustle, even during practice!!!

Traveled all over, Wanderers, (where we played the Giants for the Major League Championship, if I remember correctly), Germiston, Southern Suburbs, and Crown Mines, etc.... Never went to Cape Town to play.

Had cabinets full of cups. Maybe Mr. Barnley inherited those?)

[Rally Monkey]

For all of you South African baseballers, a quick question:

Why did you pick baseball over cricket? You must have felt a lot of social pressure to play cricket--not to mention all of the available resources and support for cricketers in SA. What gives?

(And, no, I'm not picking a fight over which is better, cricket or baseball. That's been fought too many times to count. What I am interested in is why people in a country with a well-established bat-and-ball game tradition would choose to play another game that doesn't even remotely have the same support.)

[Cadworks]

Reply to "Monkey"

Read a couple of posts above about my father etc. We ended up liking American things in general, plus I found baseball to be a much more interesting game than cricket, lots more action, and individual participation. Cricket can take days to play. You can leave, have lunch, come back and not miss anything......

I did not have much interest in Soccer, just a lot of running, and Rugby just seemed to be football without good rules.

I also prefered American Football and Ice Hockey.

There must have been a lot of others who felt as we did, no shortage of teams, and there wasn't much opportunity for pro or semi pro in any sport at the time.

[Sweet_Bokke]

Replying to Monkey-

Cricket will always be my favourite sport to watch and play, but I also like baseball and have been supporting the LA Angels of Anaheim since 2001

My fondness for baseball comes from an ex-bf who was heavily into North American sports. His enthusiasm rubbed of on me and even though he is no longer in the picture, my support for baseball has not waned

Sian xx

[Duwane]

I do know Pat McKinnon from Edenvale Gaints/Imps, if i remeber right he was club chairman at one stage, his son was a year younger than me. I see Dean McKinnon is still with the club on Giants website, he was my u/12 coach. Raymond Tew is a name I hear a lot down here in CPT but dont know him. Do you know
John and Ronnie Peters. John played at Saints, Bears, and Pirates, little league for Mondeor. Ronnie played with the Swanepoel brothers.
and you said Wanderers,...Trevor Barnley has a photo where he is pitching at Wanderers for WP against TVL. lol

[Duwane]

I thinks its a family thing to. A lot of guys i know dads played and it just went from dad to son, very little guys just pitch up play and stay in baseball that way... it does happen but i think its dad son thing more that kept baseball going here. but you still play cricket and rugby at school and baseball at a club. i still play cricket but baseball comes first!

[Rally Monkey]

Do any schools offer baseball? And is baseball mostly played in the Cape, or is it played all over?

[Duwane]

I found two full games of the SA team at http://stadeo.tv
(37th Baseball World Cup.)
One vs USA and one vs CHINESE TAIPEI.

[Duwane]

Yes they do now..... don't know all the info on it but its something like USSA or something.... united school sports. It was not big when i was in school but you do hear about it.

Baseball gets played in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban and Pretoria. South West District Boland and Eastern Cape have teams to. But the Cape is the strongest now, were Johannesburg was the strongest with North, East and central having there own leagues.

[Duwane]

United School Sports Association of South Africa (USSASA) - baseball :)

[Cadworks]

Sorry, do not remember the Peters, but that is not to say they were not around.

My brother Stephen played with those guys as well.

The whole family moved to the U.S. I now watch pro ball on TV all the time, I have also been fortunate to go watch many pro games live as well. Have seen the Cleveland Indians, Yankees, etc....