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
Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...
team in 1988 and were initially called the London Millions,
About the club
/ref> after the name of the company which sponsored them. The adult club (by now called th
London Meteors
began organising and training a separate baseball programme for young people in the Park in 1995 under the name London Meteorites. The London Meteors remains a very popular and successful softball club.
The London Mets Youth Baseball Club has rapidly expanded in the past few years. The club organises free training sessions for young people aged from 7 to 25 years old and has three youth teams that play in the Southern Division of the BBF national youth baseball league. They were the only British club to field two Bronco (under 13's) teams in 2007. The London Mets Pony (under-16's) team won their BBF National Championship in 2007. The Club won a nationa
CCPR
Sports Club of the Year award and the loca
award in 2007.
In 2007 the club's popularity - along with the need to provide development opportunities for older club members - meant that they were able to start a senior team for the first time, which was entered into the BBF National Baseball League - the highest level baseball league in Britain.
In this first season in the National Baseball League the London Mets had a W20 L6 record for the season. They played the Croydon Pirates in the 2007 BBF National Championship Final 4. The Mets won the best of three final series 2-0 to be crowned National Champions.
The London Mets NBL team maintained a W23 L1 record through the 2008 season, losing only to Croydon. The London Mets faced the Richmond Flames in the 2008 BBF National Championship Final 4, winning the 9-inning final 11-4 to regain their National Championship title.
The 2007 and 2008 team included MLB on five analyst Josh Chetwynd.
In 2008 the London Mets expanded with a second senior team, the London Metros, in the BBF AAA League. In their first season the London Metros finished in 2nd place in the AAA South Group B and won the Wild Card spot in the 2008 BBF National Championship Final 4 with a W18 L8 record. The London Metros lost 12-6 to the Oxford Kings in the semi-final round to take 3rd place.
For 2009, the club has added a third senior team, the London Marauders, which will play in the BBF A League.
The Club is the first British youth baseball club to field two Bronco teams for two consecutive seasons.
Affiliated Club Teams
The London Mets Youth Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...
Club train and play in Finsbury Park
Finsbury Park is a public park in the London neighbourhood of Harringay. It is in the area formerly covered by the historic parish of Hornsey, succeeded by the Municipal Borough of Hornsey. It was one of the first of the great London parks ...
, Harringay
Harringay (pronounced ) is a district of north London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is centred on the section of Green Lanes running between the New River, where it crosses Green Lanes by Finsbury Park, and Duckett' ...
, North London, where they have a clubhouse and three 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, bu ...
.
See also
*Baseball in the United Kingdom
Baseball is a growing, minor sport in the United Kingdom, with an estimated 22,500 people playing in 2020.
The sport is governed by the British Baseball Federation, which runs a multi-tier national league. There are also independent regional l ...
*British Baseball Federation
The British Baseball Federation (BBF) is the national governing body of baseball within the United Kingdom. Organised modern baseball has been played in the United Kingdom since the first baseball league began in 1890, with a succession of dif ...
References
{{Reflist, 2
External links
Team stats at baseballsoftballuk
Official site
Baseball teams in England
1988 establishments in England
Baseball teams established in 1988
Sports teams in London
Baseball teams in the United Kingdom