The Croydon Pirates, known between 2012 and 2019 as the South London Pirates, is a

British baseball Welsh baseball ( cy, Pêl Fas Gymreig), is a bat-and-ball game played in Wales. It is closely related to the game of rounders. In the tradition of bat-and-ball games, baseball has roots going back centuries, and there are references to "ba ...

club based in

South London South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, London Borou ...

. They have two diamonds in

Roundshaw Roundshaw is a housing estate and park in south Wallington and Beddington on the eastern edge of the London Borough of Sutton. Grid Ref . History Roundshaw was built on the site of the former Croydon Airport which once occupied the building ...

playing fields in Sutton, UK the main one being Dave Ward Field. Previously, Roundshaw and the Pirates have been hosts to the yearly London Tournament and on occasions the BBF's National Finals. From 2004 until 2017, the Pirates were made up of different teams competing at various levels including the National League, double-A, and single-A. Since 2020, the team has competed only at the double-A level.

History

Early history

The club was formed around 1980 by Eric Petrie and Pete Paulley, who had previously played for the Croydon Blue Jays. The first team played as the Croydon Borough Pirates and placed 3rd in the 1981 Southern England Baseball Association (Group B) division with a 5-11 record. For the 1989 season, the team was renamed the Croydon Pirates, continuing to play in the 2nd Division which by this time featured twelve teams. They finished the season placed 4th with a 15-10 record, including a seven-inning, one-hitter in which pitcher Chris Gahan recorded 21 strikeouts against the Croydon Blue Jays. In the 1990s, the Pirates continued to set unexpected records. In 1992, across 16 games, the team collectively notched 355 stolen bases with zero times caught stealing. Club founder Eric Petrie recorded the most, with 48.

National success

From 2004 the team's top players formed the P1 roster, which competed in the National Baseball League, the top flight of British baseball. The P1 team were National Champions in 2004, defeating the Windsor Bears 12-10 in the National Championship game, and again in 2005, beating the Brighton Buccaneers 2-0 in a best-of-three series. After being runners-up to the Richmond Flames in 2006, their 2007 regular season record of 26 wins and 0 losses earned them the right to compete in the Final 4 tournament for the 4th consecutive year, on the weekend of 1–2 September 2007 along with the

London Mets The London Meteorites, better known as the London Mets, are a British baseball team who play in the southern section of the BBF National League. History The club began as an adult softball team in 1988 and were initially called the London Milli ...

, Menwith Hill Patriots and Liverpool Trojans. Croydon and the Mets won their semi-finals to advance to the final, where the Pirates were defeated 2–0 in a best-of-3 series.

Developmental team

Around this time a second roster of developmental players was started, which competed at the single-A level. In 2005 they became Premier Division Champions, notably winning 9 of their last 10 games to claim the title. In 2008, this P3 team again won their British Baseball single-A division, finishing the season with a record of 10 wins and 2 losses. They were promoted to the double-A division for the 2009 season.

2012–2017: The South London Pirates

In 2012 the club changed its name to the South London Pirates. South London Pirates I (formerly P1) played in the British NBL; while South London Pirates III (P3) played in the AA South Division. However, in 2017, falling player numbers halted the club from competing in either league. Croydon Pirates Summer 2020

2019 revival and current team

After two years without a team, the Pirates once again began playing under the Croydon name and hosted a series of

friendlies An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

in autumn 2019, before joining the AA South Division for the 2020 season, competing against the Guildford Mavericks, London Musketeers, Richmond Dragons, and South Coast Pirates. The season, shortened due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, saw the team competing in a series of double-headers throughout August, finishing 4th with a 3-4 record along with one rained-off game. The 2021 season brought greater success, however, with the team posting a 21-9 season record and narrowly losing to the London Sidewinders 20-19 in the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

. They beat the Milton Keynes Bucks 13-10 to place 3rd overall.

Home ground

The Croydon Pirates play their home games at Roundshaw Playing Fields in Waddon, located a few miles southwest of Croydon. The playing fields occupy part of the site of the former

Croydon Airport Croydon Airport (former ICAO code: EGCR) was the UK's only international airport during the interwar period. Located in Croydon, South London, England, it opened in 1920, built in a Neoclassical style, and was developed as Britain's main air ...

, London's primary airport in the

interwar years In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relativel ...

Currently, the Pirates have the use of two purpose-built

diamonds Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, b ...

, including Dave Ward Field, a fenced field measuring 395 ft from home plate to the centre field boundary. Named in honour of the former Pirates player and manager, its left field and right field lines measure 320 ft and 307 ft respectively, and there is a bullpen behind the left field foul line. The other field is unnamed and has a full dirt infield and unfenced outfield. Both make use of the shared pavilion on Hannibal Way.

The London Tournament

Throughout its history, the club has regularly hosted an invitational tournament at Roundshaw, usually held around mid-July and known as The London Tournament. Open to a variety of teams from around the British leagues, the popular weekend-long competition has also included a Home Run Derby. The Croydon Wolves, with whom the Pirates shared Roundshaw in the 1990s, have also hosted.

Notable former players

* Matt Ayling (GB Men's National Fast-Pitch Softball Team) * Clare Butler (GB Women's National Fast-Pitch Softball Team) * Steve Fullan (GB Men's National Fast-Pitch Softball Team, Manager) * Glenda Lawson (first female UK player) *

Jon Ossoff Thomas Jonathan Ossoff ( ; born February 16, 1987) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Georgia since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Ossoff was previously a documentary filmmaker and investigativ ...

* Eric Petrie * Pete Paulley * Darrin Ward (GB National Baseball Team pitcher, 1996) * Dave Ward *

Brett Willemburg Brett derives from a Middle English surname meaning "Briton" or "Breton", referring to the Celtic people of Britain and Brittany, France. Brette can be a feminine name. People with the surname * Adrian Brett (born 1945) English flutist and writer ...

(South Africa National Baseball Team shortstop, leading batting average in 2006)

Sources

*''Croydon Pirates 30th Anniversary Yearbook'' (2011)

External links

* {{official, https://www.croydonpiratesbaseball.com/
Team stats at britishbaseball.org.uk

Baseball teams in England Sports teams in London Baseball teams in the United Kingdom