Baseball in Ireland

File:1958 Tramore Sea Lions Team Photo.jpg

File:Baseball in Ireland (1) - 25 of 50.jpg

The first baseball game in Ireland was played in 1874, when the Boston Red Stockings played the Philadelphia Athletics in Dublin.{{cite web |url=https://protoball.org/Philadelphia_Athletics_v_Boston_Red_Stockings_on_24_August_1874 |website=Protoball|title=Philadelphia Athletics v Boston Red Stockings on 24 August 1874 - Protoball }}

In 1942 and 1943, several games were played in Belfast among teams of US servicemen.{{cite web |url=https://wartimeni.com/article/baseball-northern-ireland/ |website=Wartime NI|title=Baseball in Northern Ireland }}

The first organised baseball team in Ireland was the Tramore Sea Lions.{{cite web |url=https://irishbaseball.org/the-history-of-baseball-in-ireland-1958-1965/ |title=The history of baseball in Ireland 1958-1965 |website=Irish American Baseball Society |access-date=2020-05-30 |archive-date=2020-10-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001163537/https://irishbaseball.org/the-history-of-baseball-in-ireland-1958-1965/ |url-status=dead }} The Sea Lions were a youth team in Tramore, County Waterford. The team was organised and coached by local businessman Clive Butterworth.{{cite web |url=https://irishbaseball.org/the-clive-butterworth-award/ |website=Irish American Baseball Society|title=The Clive Butterworth Award - Irish American Baseball Society |date=17 May 2020 }}

The success of the Tramore Sea Lions in the local community led to the creation of the Waterford Walruses, a team based in nearby Waterford City. In 1962, Clive Butterworth brought two United States Air Force baseball teams to Waterford for an exhibition game. The game was played on Waterford GAA grounds. Butterworth also brought baseball to Dublin in the early 1960s, bringing the total number of Irish baseball teams to three. Within a few years, Butterworth's declining health led to the end of organised baseball in Ireland for nearly three decades.{{fact|date=August 2023}}

In 2019, the Irish American Baseball Society and Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame announced the creation of the Clive Butterworth Award.{{cite web |url=https://www.rockawave.com/articles/iabhof-announces-2019-inductees/ |website=The Rockaway Wave|title=IABHOF announces 2019 inductees - the Wave |date=24 May 2019 }} The award recognises "outstanding volunteer service" among youth baseball coaches in Ireland.

{{main|Irish National Baseball Team}}

The Irish National Baseball Team has been in existence since 1996 and has taken part in several major baseball tournaments and tours.

Ireland played its first game in international competition in 1996 against the Czech Republic, losing by a score of 23-2.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=USi7PA151vIC&q=Irish+Baseball+League&pg=PA209|title=Baseball in Europe: A Country by Country History|first=Josh|last=Chetwynd|date=16 July 2008|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786451753|via=Google Books}} Ireland's national team has won at least one game in every tournament it has entered including 1996, in Kingston upon Hull.

The Emerald Diamond, a documentary film released in 2006, chronicled the history of baseball in Ireland and the Irish National Baseball Team.

The Irish National Baseball Team won its first bronze medal at the 2004 European Championships in Germany. In August 2006, the team won the silver medal at the European Championships held in Antwerp, Belgium. They also competed in the European championships held in Vienna in Austria, Stockholm, Karlovac, Abranches, Antwerp, Barcelona and Ljubljana.

In 2018, the team won the gold medal at the European Baseball Championship tournament held at the International Baseball Centre in Ashbourne, County Meath. By winning, the team advanced to the next round of Olympic qualifying in 2019.{{Cite web|url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/sport/irish-baseball-stars-now-target-olympic-qualification-858928.html|title=Irish baseball stars now target Olympic qualification|date=2018-07-31|website=www.irishexaminer.com|access-date=2018-12-30}}

{{main|Irish Baseball League}}

Although the existence of baseball in Ireland is not widely known, the game has been played there since the early 1990s. What began with a few friends playing pickup games on football and rugby fields in Dublin and Greystones, soon grew into a small league.{{cite web|url=http://www.the42.ie/take-me-out-ot-the-ballpark-how-to-follow-baseball-in-ireland-111872-Mar2011/|title=Take me out to the ballpark: how to follow baseball in Ireland|first=Andrew|last=McGeady}}

In the years since, baseball has spread elsewhere Ireland, being played in Ashbourne, Clones, County Cork, Shankhill, Greystones, Dublin and Belfast.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

The Irish Baseball League was founded in 1997. Participating teams come from Dublin, Ashbourne, Belfast, Clones, Cork, Greystones and Portmarnock. Baseball Ireland is the governing body of baseball on the island of Ireland, covering both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.{{cite web|url=http://www.irishcentral.com/sports/ireland/baseball-a-growing-favorite-sport-in-ireland|title=Baseball a growing favorite sport in Ireland|date=17 January 2014}}

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The Irish cadet team (13–18) played in a Dutch tournament held in Alphen aan den Rijn Netherlands.{{when?|date=August 2023}} The Irish team came home with a bronze medal, with Amsterdam Pirates receiving the runners-up prize.{{fact|date=August 2023}}

• {{section link|Baseball awards|Ireland}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20191109154212/http://www.baseballireland.com/ Baseball Ireland Official website] (archived 2019)
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070819192009/http://www.belfastbaseball.com/ Belfast Baseball Association] (archived 2007)
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20190101021350/http://irishbaseballmovie.com/ The Emerald Diamond] (archived 2019)
• [http://irishbaseballseason.blogspot.com Irish National Team pitcher Cormac Eklof's blog]
• [https://www.baseball-reference.com/bio/Ireland_born.shtml Register of Irish-born Major League Baseball players]

{{Baseball in Ireland}}

{{Sports governing bodies in Ireland}}

{{WBSC Europe associations}}

Baseball