1946 Claxton Shield
{{Short description|Australian baseball tournament}}
{{Use Australian English|date=January 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2018}}
{{Infobox tournament
| name = Australian Interstate Baseball Carnival
| year = 1946
| date = 3 – 10 August
| host = {{flagicon|New South Wales}} Sydney, NSW
| defending_champs = {{bb-state|New South Wales}}
| teams = 3
| champion = {{bb-state|New South Wales}}
| num_championships = 4
| runner-up1 = {{bb-state|Victoria}}
| runner-up2 = {{bb-state|South Australia}}
| previous = 1939
| next = 1947
}}
The 1946 Claxton Shield was the seventh annual Claxton Shield, an Australian national baseball tournament—the first time the tournament was held after a seven-year break due to World War II. It was held at Petersham Oval{{cite news |date=5 August 1946 |title=Double Baseball Success By N.S.W. |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=FIEQAAAAIBAJ&pg=3695%2C495471 |accessdate=6 January 2010 |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |page=7 |via=Google News Archive}} and Marrickville Oval{{cite news |date=9 August 1946 |title=Baseball Win By Victoria |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GIEQAAAAIBAJ&pg=3292%2C1116306 |accessdate=6 January 2010 |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |page=9 |via=Google News Archive}} in Sydney from 3 to 10 August, and was won by the hosts New South Wales for the fourth time in a row.{{cite news |date=12 August 1946 |title=N.S.W. Baseball Outstanding |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GoEQAAAAIBAJ&pg=2210%2C1475505 |accessdate=12 February 2010 |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |page=8 |via=Google News Archive}} With this tournament win, they overtook South Australia as the outright leading state in Claxton Shield tournament wins.
The other participating teams were Victoria and hosts South Australia. The two newest teams to the tournament—Western Australia and Queensland—did not participate. However both did host an interstate series: Western Australia hosted a South Australian team,{{cite news |date=8 August 1946 |title=S.A. Confident Of Baseball Win |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=F4EQAAAAIBAJ&pg=3027%2C1024338 |accessdate=6 January 2010 |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |page=8 |via=Google News Archive}} and Queensland hosted New South Wales after the Sydney season.{{cite news |date=29 August 1946 |title=Baseball Team For Queensland |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sydney-morning-herald-baseball-team/165656890/ |accessdate=2025-02-15 |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |page=9 |via=Newspapers.com}}
Format
With the reduction of participating teams back to the original three, the format also returned to a pure round-robin tournament. Once again, each team met each other team twice over the course of the week. In each game, two competition points were on offer to the teams. The points were awarded as follows:
- Win – two points
- Tie – one point
- Loss – no points
At the end of the tournament, the team with the most points was declared the winner, and awarded the Claxton Shield.
Results
| class="wikitable" border="1" style="text-align:center"
! Team ! width=50 | Points ! width=50 | Wins ! width=50 | Ties ! width=50 | Losses | |||
| align=left | {{bb-state|New South Wales}}
| 8 | 4 | - | - |
| align=left | {{bb-state|Victoria}}
| 4 | 2 | - | 2 |
| align=left | {{bb-state|South Australia}}
| 0 | - | - | 4 |
{{baseballbox
| date = 3 August 1946
| team1 = {{bb-state-rt|New South Wales}}
| score = 9 – 1
| team2 = {{bb-state|South Australia}}
| stadium = {{flagicon|New South Wales}} Petersham Oval
}}
{{baseballbox
| date = 3 August 1946
| team1 = {{bb-state-rt|New South Wales}}
| score = 3 – 0
| team2 = {{bb-state|Victoria}}
| stadium = {{flagicon|New South Wales}} Petersham Oval
}}
----
{{baseballbox
| date = 6 August 1946
| team1 = {{bb-state-rt|Victoria}}
| score = 6 – 4
| team2 = {{bb-state|South Australia}}
| stadium = {{flagicon|New South Wales}} Petersham Oval
}}
----
{{baseballbox
| date = 8 August 1946
| team1 = {{bb-state-rt|Victoria}}
| score = 5 – 3
| team2 = {{bb-state|South Australia}}
| stadium = {{flagicon|New South Wales}} Petersham Oval
}}
----
{{baseballbox
| date = 10 August 1946
| team1 = {{bb-state-rt|New South Wales}}
| score = 8 – 0
| team2 = {{bb-state|South Australia}}
| stadium = {{flagicon|New South Wales}} Marrickville Oval
}}
{{baseballbox
| date = 10 August 1946
| team1 = {{bb-state-rt|New South Wales}}
| score = 10 – 2
| team2 = {{bb-state|Victoria}}
| stadium = {{flagicon|New South Wales}} Marrickville Oval
}}
All-Australian team
At the conclusion of the tournament, representatives from the Australian Baseball Council selected an All-Australian team. It was the second such Australian team selected at the end of a Claxton Shield tournament. As had been the case in the 1939 side, New South Wales players dominated the team, with seven players selected.{{cite news |date=12 August 1939 |title=Champion Baseball Side Chosen |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GoEQAAAAIBAJ&pg=2999%2C1475466 |accessdate=6 January 2010 |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |page=8 |via=Google News Archive}}
| class="wikitable" border="1"
! colspan=2 | Position ! Player |
| colspan=2 | Pitcher
| {{flagicon|New South Wales}} L. Dale |
|---|
| colspan=2 | Catcher
| {{flagicon|New South Wales}} M. Yuille |
| colspan=2 | First Base
| {{flagicon|New South Wales}} F. Brittain |
| colspan=2 | Second Base
| {{flagicon|Victoria}} N. Harvey |
| colspan=2 | Third Base
| {{flagicon|New South Wales}} M. Diegan |
| colspan=2 | Short Stop
| {{flagicon|New South Wales}} K. Gulliver (c) |
| colspan=2 | Left Field
| {{flagicon|New South Wales}} H. Hawkins |
| colspan=2 | Centre Field
| {{flagicon|South Australia}} W. Radbone |
| colspan=2 | Right Field
| {{flagicon|Victoria}} J. Nagle |
| rowspan=2 | Reserve Battery ! Pitcher | {{flagicon|New South Wales}} R. Lawler |
| Catcher
| {{flagicon|South Australia}} P. Brideoake |
| colspan=2 | Utility
| {{flagicon|Victoria}} J. Ellis |
| colspan=3 | |
| colspan=2 | Manager
| {{flagicon|Victoria}} R. Darling |
References
Bibliography
- {{cite book | last1=Clark | first1=Joe | title=A History of Australian Baseball: Time and Game | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rIXGQra02mAC&pg=PP1 | accessdate=1 January 2010 | year=2003 | publisher=University of Nebraska Press | location=Lincoln, NE, United States | isbn=0-8032-6440-2 | ref=refClark }}
- {{cite book | last1=Harris | first1=John O. | title=Baseball Queensland 1905-1990 | url=http://www.qld.baseball.com.au/default.asp?Page=52210 | accessdate=19 July 2009 | year=2009 | ref=refHarris | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706101958/http://www.qld.baseball.com.au/default.asp?Page=52210 | archive-date=6 July 2011 | url-status=dead }}
{{Claxton Shield}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Claxton Shield}}