Richard Christopher "Paddy" Hennessey (6 January 1929 – August 2016) was a baseball (British/Welsh) player, famed for his high-speed bowling.

Life and playing career

Born in

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, Hennessey's early sports were

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...

and

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

, but having emigrated to

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, he used to watch his factory co-workers in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

playing baseball in their breaks. At 21, he played his first competitive game for the works team. He removed St Mary's of

Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ent ...

for no runs and 13 extras. After a couple of seasons in the lower levels of the league, he was signed by

Splott Splott ( cy, Y Sblot) is a district and community in the south of the city of Cardiff, capital of Wales, just east of the city centre. It was built up in the late 19th century on the land of two farms of the same name: Upper Splott and Lower Spl ...

US (University Settlement), and he was an instant success at the top level. In 1957 he made his debut for

in the annual international against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. He opened the bowling and had the English at 33 for 7, but was removed after a protest over his bowling style and a series of no-balls was called. He was again selected for the 1958 international match at

Maindy Stadium Maindy Centre ( cy, Canolfan Maendy, formerly known as Maindy Stadium, now also known as Maindy Pool and Cycle Track) is a velodrome and indoor swimming pool facility in the Maindy area of Cardiff, Wales. The velodrome was used in the 1958 Britis ...

, and he bowled

out for just 17 in their second innings, taking Wales to a comfortable win. He was named

Welsh Baseball Union The Welsh Baseball Union (WBU) (founded 1892) is the national governing body of the traditional code of Welsh baseball in Wales. It is a member of the International Baseball Board. The WBU organises the men's and youth league and cup competit ...

player of the year. By 1962, he had joined Grange Albion, and in that year's international he dismissed

for just 11 in their first innings and 14 in the second, with only four batsmen hitting the ball. Two years later, his performance in the international was even more impressive, removing

for just 6 runs in their first innings, a feat which again helped him to the WBU player of the year award, becoming the first man to achieve the honour twice. His devastating form came to the attention of

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

team,

Glamorgan County Cricket Club Glamorgan County Cricket Club ( cy, Criced Morgannwg) is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Glamorgan ( cy, Morgannwg). Founded in 1888, ...

, who considered that a super-fast underarm bowler could give them an advantage in the new

limited overs Limited overs cricket, also known as one-day cricket or white ball cricket, is a version of the sport of cricket in which a match is generally completed in one day. There are a number of formats, including List A cricket (8-hour games), Twenty ...

version of their game. As the first round of the new Gillette Cup loomed, captain

Ossie Wheatley Oswald Stephen Wheatley (born 28 May 1935) is a former cricketer who played for Cambridge University Cricket Club, Cambridge University, Warwickshire County Cricket Club, Warwickshire and Glamorgan County Cricket Club, Glamorgan, whom he captai ...

invited Hennessey for a trial in the nets at

Cardiff Arms Park Cardiff Arms Park ( cy, Parc yr Arfau Caerdydd), also known as The Arms Park, is situated in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. It is primarily known as a rugby union stadium, but it also has a bowling green. The Arms Park was host to the British E ...

, with the thought of recruiting him as a "secret weapon". However, the trajectory of a baseball delivery and the trajectory of a cricket delivery were incompatible.

Trivia

Paddy Hennessey is mentioned in "The Baseball Song" by

The Hennessys The Hennessys are one of Wales' foremost traditional folk music groups. History In 1966, Frank Hennessy and Dave Burns (born David Burns, 4 November 1946, in Cardiff), both from Cardiff's Irish community, won a talent competition organised b ...

on their album ''Cardiff After Dark''.

References

Andrew Weltch, "Paddy Hennessy – Cardiff's Baseball Legend" in Andrew Hignell and Gwyn Prescott (eds) ''Cardiff Sporting Greats'', 2007 Stroud, Stadia. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hennessey, Paddy Players of British baseball 1929 births 2016 deaths

Life and playing career

Trivia

See also

References