Derby Baseball Club is a defunct professional baseball club from DerbyEngland, formed as Ley's Recreation Club by Francis Ley in 1890 and dissolved in the same year.[1] A new Derby Baseball Club was formed (with Ley as chairman) in 1890 to succeed his dissolved club, this new Derby Baseball Club played until 1900, winning numerous National League titles in the 1890s, albeit as amateurs.
Baseball was introduced to Derby by Francis Ley,[2] an industrialist who owned Ley's Malleable Castings. Following a visit to the United States of America in 1889, Ley decided that, as a way of ensuring a healthier and more productive workforce, an investment should be made in promoting recreation for his workers.
During his journey to the States, Ley had seen the way in which baseball fields had been laid out by companies and factories for the use by their workers and decided to follow suit on his return to Derby. Consequently, Ley had the Ley's Recreation Centre (later renamed Baseball Ground) built; a 12-acre (49,000m2) park for the use of workers with cricket and baseball facilities. The Baseball Ground eventually became the home stadium of football club Derby County.
Uniform
It was stated that for their first ever game Derby's uniforms were very similar to those worn by Blackburn Rovers and were supplied by Thompson and Sons of Babbington Lane.[3] For the 1890 National League of Baseball of Great Britain season Derby played in grey uniforms, with blue lettering to the front.[4]
First ever game
In March 1890 local press featured advertisements appealing for "professionals aged 20 to 25" and "cricketers who can field smartly" to attend Ley's Recreation Centre to help form a new club.[5]
In May 1890 Ley's Recreation Club hosted Erdington in “the first baseball match ever played in Derby”. Due to the expert coaching of Americans Bryan, Bullas and Reidenbach Ley's team stormed to a 23–0 lead after just two innings, at which point the Americans competed the rest of the game on the side of Erdington. The game closed out with a 23–11 win for Ley's Recreation Club.[6] The Ley's roster for the game was:
In June the first annual meeting of the National League of Baseball of Great Britain was held at the Queens Hotel, Birmingham, with the constitution being drawn up.[8]Thomas Slaney (president) and Harry Lockett (administrator) of the Stoke Baseball Club), Francis Ley (president of Derby Baseball Club), William McGregor (President of the Aston Villa Baseball Club) and James Allard on behalf of the absent William Sudell (president of the Preston North End Baseball Club) were all in attendance, Morton Betts was in the chair. A National League schedule was confirmed for the four clubs, Francis Ley agreed to supply the pennants and badges for the winning club.[9]
On 4 August Secretary Alexander Langland of Derby officially ‘retires’ the club from the National League, with immediate effect, citing financial losses and low attendances.[10] On 5 August Ley wrote to the Derby Daily Telegraph to propose that the ‘retired’ Derby take on other local baseball clubs for a local challenge cup, donating £52 10s. towards a cup for the winning club.[11] On 8 August the Derbyshire Advertiser and Journal stated that “owing to the decision of the National League requiring the Derby club to not pitch Reidenbach, the American pitcher, in remaining championship matches, the Derby club have withdrawn from the league.” Ley threatened that he intended to cease the activities of the club altogether, and had refused A. G. Spalding’s request for Derby to finish their National League fixtures. It was stated that Reidenbach and Bullas, American professionals at Derby, are the only Americans in the employ of Ley, in order to allow them to play for Derby.[12]
On 8 August Morton Betts, Secretary of the National League of Baseball of Great Britain issued a statement, in response to “incorrect statements” given to regional press by Ley, on events leading up to Derby ‘retiring‘ from the National League. It was stated that on the 9 July Ley agreed to only use his professional American pitchers in games versus Aston Villa, and that under this new arrangement Derby had lost four out of their six matches, harming their championship prospects to the degree that Ley broke a number of bye-laws, under threat of his Derby club withdrawing from the league, including refusing to field a nine on 6 August and giving the League Board no option but to erase the National League record of Derby.[13] On 11 August the Birmingham Daily Post wrote that three of the four National League clubs were being financed by Spalding Bros, whereby Derby were financed by Ley, leading to various financial disagreements.[14]
On 15 August the Derby Daily Telegraph published an article claiming that the Derby had won the National League, under Section 21 of the league constitution, under which it was said the club with the highest win percentage will be the winner of the pennant. The club claimed that up until their ‘withdrawal’ from the National League, on 5 August, they would have a win percentage that would have been unachievable for the remaining clubs, based on their completed season stats to that date.[15] In reality Aston Villa were the first and only professional baseball champions of Great Britain, being awarded the pennant for the season, with Derby's record expunged from the official stats.
In August 1890 a meeting at the Athenaeum, Derby, took place to discuss the idea of forming a new baseball club for the town. It was noted that Ley was to be elected as chairman of the new club, given that his old club had been dissolved. Ley agreed to the town's new baseball club being tenants of the Ley's Recreation Centre (known later as the Baseball Ground) rent free until the club was making a profit. It was reported that “for all practical purposes it (the dissolved club) was Ley’s Recreation Club” and the new club would be the real Derby Baseball Club. Ley also maintained his claim that his dissolved works club had actually won the 1890 National League of Baseball of Great Britain and not Aston Villa, who were the official pennant winners.[10] Ley also agreed to supply all uniforms and equipment.
It was questioned by the local population at the meeting who the new Derby club would have as opposition, if they were to remain outside the National League, to which Ley agreed to donate 50 Guineas to establish a ‘Ley’s Challenge Cup‘ for the new town club to compete for. By June 1891 Ley had withdrawn his offer of funds for the proposed Challenge Cup and stated that he believed baseball was dead in Derby.[17] This lull, however, was short lived, with the Derby baseball club once again taking its place in the national championship within weeks of Ley's prediction of the death of baseball.
Success at last
Steve Bloomer, and the Derby County goalkeeper Jack Robinson both made their first appearances for Derby Baseball Club on 5 May 1894 in a 33-4 win against a team selected from the other clubs who were affiliated to the Derby Baseball Association.[18] Ley led the new Derby Baseball Club to a period of national dominance until 1900, winning the (now amateur) national League title in 1895, 1897 and 1899. A photograph of the 1897 roster shows football star Steve Bloomer still played at that time for Ley's Derby Baseball Club.
Derby County name confusion
Throughout 1899 Ley set about encouraging regional football clubs to form baseball clubs, with the view to forming a new baseball league.[19] As a result, a number of new rivals to Derby Baseball Club emerged, including a Nottingham Forest Baseball Club and a new Derby based club... Derby County Baseball Club.
In the 1900 season both Derby Baseball Club and Derby County Baseball Club existed in the same league, which appears to have led to confusion in modern history. In May 1900 a joint advertisement regarding season tickets for both clubs appeared in regional press, with both clubs having their own secretaries.[20] In fact Ley's Derby Baseball Club was never commonly known as Derby County Baseball Club, so the new club appears to be short lived and the only time a real Derby County Baseball Club actually existed, contrary to popular modern belief.
Local news reports from the 1900 season make it appear that Derby Baseball Club were the continuation of Ley's official Derby club, with players including Saxton, Berresford and Booth still being on the Derby Baseball Club roster.[21] In February 1900 a Derby Baseball Club roster was reported to still include Steve Bloomer,[22] however on 27 June 1900 it was reported that Derby Baseball Club had defeated Derby County, sending Derby Baseball Club top of the National League. The Derby County Baseball Club roster for the game featured Steve Bloomer.[23] Had Bloomer defected to the newly formed Derby County Baseball Club? At this point both clubs appear to disappear, though it seems apparent Ley's two successive Derby Baseball Clubs, formed from his Ley's Recreation Club, were never universally known as Derby County Baseball Club.
1900 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.
The Baseball Ground was a stadium in Derby, England, that was first used for baseball, as the home of Derby Baseball Club from 1890 until 1898, and then for football, as the home of Derby County from 1895 until 1997. The club's reserve and youth sides used it until 2003, when it finally closed as a sports stadium after 113 years and was demolished.
StephenBloomer was an England international footballer and manager who played for Derby County – becoming their record goalscorer – and Middlesbrough. The anthem "Steve Bloomer's Watchin'" is played at every Derby home game and there is a bust of him at the Pride Park Stadium. He is also listed in the Football League 100 Legends and English Football Hall of Fame.
William McGregor was a Scottish association football administrator in the Victorian era who was the founder of the Football League, the first organised association football league in the world.
John Henry George Devey was an English football player and a first-class cricketer. He is considered one of Aston Villa's greatest captains.
George Frederick Wheldon was an English sportsman. In football, he was an inside-forward with good footwork and an eye for goal who played for England and several Football League clubs, in particular for Small Heath and Aston Villa. In cricket, he was a right-handed batsman and occasional wicket-keeper, who played county cricket for Worcestershire in their early seasons in the first-class game.
Birmingham St. George's F.C. was a football club based in Smethwick, England. The club started as St George's FC in Aston, before moving to the Cape Hill brewery in 1886 under the name Mitchell St George's.
Long Eaton Rangers Football Club was a football club based in Long Eaton, Derbyshire, England, which, for a brief period in the 1880s, had a legitimate claim to being one of the best teams in the country. They were founding members of the second ever league, The Combination, in 1888, and when that folded, the Football Alliance in 1889.
Derby County Football Club is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system.
James Abner Hart was an American professional baseball manager in the late 19th century. In the major leagues of the era, he managed the Louisville Colonels and the Boston Beaneaters for parts of three seasons. During the 1890s, he managed baseball teams in the United Kingdom.
Baseball is a growing minor sport in the United Kingdom, with an estimated 22,500 people playing in 2020.
Sir Francis Ley, 1st Baronet was an English industrialist. He founded Ley's Malleable Castings Vulcan Ironworks in Derby. He (re-)introduced baseball into the United Kingdom town of Derby with the Ley's Recreation Club and owned Ley's Recreation Centre from 1890 to 1924, which was home to Derby County Football Club.
John William Robinson was a professional footballer who played for, among others, Derby County, Southampton and England.
Aston Villa had a disappointing 1890–91, their 3rd season, having finished ninth. They also had a poor season in the F.A. Cup going out in the second round against Stoke. As consolation Aston Villa won the 1890 National League of Baseball of Great Britain and remain National Baseball champions.
Harold Lockett (1855–1930) was an English association football manager and administrator.
The history of Derby County Football Club from 1884 to 1967 covers the major events in the history of the club from its formation in 1884 until the end of the 1966–1967 season.
John Eccles was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Stoke.
Simeon Edward Bullas was an English born professional baseball player who played catcher in the American Association for the 1884 Toledo Blue Stockings.
The 1890 National League of Baseball of Great Britain was the first, and to date only, professional baseball championship for the national baseball title of Great Britain. The National League's headquarters were located at 38 Holborn Viaduct, London. Aston Villa were the National League champions, despite Derby Baseball Club leading the league for much of the season, following their contentious dismissal from the championship, mid-season. Aston Villa were officially known as Birmingham Baseball Club Limited, with their uniforms emblazoned with ‘Birmingham AV’ on the jersey, despite being officially part of the famous football club. As a result, in some reports of the day, they were referred to as Birmingham. Preston Amateurs were the Amateur League champions, beating Birmingham Amateurs 43-15 and 42–7 in a best of three finals. A large number of leading football and cricket professionals of the era were involved, alongside American professional baseball players.
Preston North End Baseball Club were a short lived English professional baseball club, who played their home games at Deepdale, competing for the 1890 National League of Baseball of Great Britain. Preston North End Baseball Club Limited were formally established on 21 June 1890, with £2,000 in £10 shares, with the Directors being Thomas Slaney, William Sudell, J. Brown, Morton Betts, Jim Hart and Newton Crane, and were registered by Richard Barnes.
References
↑ "Formation of a Baseball Club for Derby". Derby Daily Telegraph. 11 August 1890. p.3.
1 2 "A Baseball Association Formed". Derby Daily Telegraph. 10 October 1889. p.3.
↑ "Notes on Outdoor Sports". Derby Daily Telegraph. 7 May 1890. p.4.
↑ "Notes on Outdoor Sports". Derby Daily Telegraph. 25 June 1890. p.4.
↑ "Wanted". Derby Daily Telegraph. 26 March 1890. p.3.
↑ "Baseball Match in Derby". Derby Daily Telegraph. 5 May 1890. p.3.
↑ "The Spread of Baseball in England". Leicester Daily Post. 6 March 1890. p.6.
↑ "Notes on Outdoor Sports". Derby Daily Telegraph. 11 June 1890. p.4.
↑ "Baseball League". Sporting News. 7 June 1890. p.11.
1 2 "Notice". Derby Daily Telegraph. 4 August 1890. p.3.
↑ "National Baseball League Proposed Challenge Cup". Derby Daily Telegraph. 5 August 1890. p.3.
↑ "Derby and the National Baseball League". Derbyshire Advertiser and Journal. 8 August 1890. p.3.
↑ "To the Editor of the 'Sporting Life'". Sporting Life. 13 August 1890. p.2.
↑ "Notes on Sport". Birmingham Daily Post. 11 August 1890. p.5.
↑ "The Derby Club". Derby Daily Telegraph. 15 August 1890. p.3.
↑ "Notes on Outdoor Sports". Derby Daily Telegraph. 17 June 1891. p.4.
↑ "Baseball. Derby v. Rest Of League"Derby Mercury, Wednesday 09 May 1894, p.7. Via British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 28 September 2021.(Subscription required.)
↑ "Proposed Baseball League". Athletic News. 13 February 1899. p.7.
↑ "Notice". Derby Daily Telegraph. 18 May 1900. p.3.
↑ "Baseball League". Derby Daily Telegraph. 28 May 1900. p.3.
↑ "Untitled". Derby Daily Telegraph. 20 February 1900. p.2.
↑ "Notes on Outdoor Sports". Derby Daily Telegraph. 27 June 1900. p.2.
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