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 leagues, and around 20
universities field teams currently in existence. At various times in history professionalism has existed, most notably the
1890 National League of Baseball of Great Britain
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, Londo ...
.
In
1938
Events
January
* January 1
** The Constitution of Estonia#Third Constitution (de facto 1938–1940, de jure 1938–1992), new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the a ...
the
Great Britain national baseball team won the
Baseball World Cup, and were runners-up in the
1967
Events
January
* January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair.
* January 5
** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...
and
2007
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
European Baseball Championship. They have also qualified for the finals of the
2023 World Baseball Classic
The 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC), an international professional baseball tournament, is set to be the fifth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. It was originally set for 2021 (as per tradition to hold the event every four years), but wa ...
. As of 2020 Great Britain competed internationally at under 12, under 15, under 18, under 23 and senior levels. The under 23 team placed fifth at the
2019 European Under 23 Baseball Championship.
Despite relatively low numbers of participation today, historically there have been a number players born in the United Kingdom to have played in
Major League Baseball. Of over 90 players who have played in MLB
Danny Cox,
Lance Painter and
Bobby Thomson are most notable. Thomson hit the
Shot Heard 'Round the World
"The Shot Heard 'Round the World" is a phrase that refers to the opening shot of the battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, which began the American Revolutionary War and led to the creation of the United States of America. It was an ...
that took the
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
to the
World Series in 1951.
Major League Baseball players born in the United Kingdom
Over 90 players born in the four constituent nations of the United Kingdom and
pre partition Ireland have played professionally in
Major League Baseball. This does not include players born outside the United Kingdom but of British heritage or players who have played in MLB and represented the
Great Britain national baseball team, but who were born outside the
United Kingdom.
Inductees to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
Harry Wright, born in
Sheffield, was described by fellow Hall of Fame inductee, Harry Chadwick, as “the father of professional base ball” and is currently the only United Kingdom born inductee of the
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
Although not born in the United Kingdom,
George Wright is another