The 1956 Claxton Shield was the 17th annual

Claxton Shield The Claxton Shield was the name of the premier baseball competition in Australia held between state-based teams, as well as the name of the trophy awarded to the champion team. From the summer of 1989–90 until 2001–02, and again since 2010� ...

, it was held in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. The participants were

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

and

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. The series was won by Victoria in due to a controversial decision in the final game. They claimed their fifth Shield title. The 1956 Olympic Baseball team was selected from the tournament.

Controversy

The final game of the Shield erupted in controversy when South Australia played Victoria. Victoria stood with a 3–0 record, Western Australia with a 2–1 as well as South Australia. If South Australia won against Victoria in the final game, the winner would be determined on run differential. The game was tied 4–4 at the end and went to

extra innings Extra innings is the extension of a baseball or softball game in order to break a tie. Ordinarily, a baseball game consists of nine regulation innings (in softball and high school baseball games there are typically seven innings; in Little Lea ...

, with South Australia making the break through, going ahead 5–4 going into the bottom of the 12th inning. The South Australian team realised that a one-run win would not be enough to win the series and needed to score more runs, therefore they had to allow Victoria to score so they could chance a bigger win in the 13th inning. With a Victorian runner on third base the

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

attempted a

pickoff In baseball, a pickoff is an act by a pitcher or catcher, throwing a live ball to a fielder so that the fielder can tag out a baserunner who is either leading off or about to begin stealing the next base. A pickoff attempt occurs when this thro ...

, deliberately throwing the ball away. The umpire called a

dead ball Dead ball is a term in many ball sports in which the ball is deemed temporarily not playable, and no movement may be made with it or the players from their respective positions of significance. Depending on the sport, this event may be quite rou ...

and sent the runner back to third. The next pitch, the South Australian pitcher deliberately balked, which would have allowed the run to score, but the home plate umpire called the game over and gave the game to Victoria as a 9–0

forfeit Forfeit or forfeiture may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Forfeit'', a 2007 thriller film starring Billy Burke * "Forfeit", a song by Chevelle from ''Wonder What's Next'' * ''Forfeit/Fortune'', a 2008 album by Crooked Fingers L ...

on the basis that South Australia brought the game into disrepute. Appeals by the South Australian team to the Australian Baseball Corporation were denied, so the championship was awarded to Victoria.

References

Claxton Shield July 1956 sports events in Australia August 1956 sports events in Australia {{Australia-baseball-stub