World Baseball Codes
Versions of Baseball and Rounders are played throughout Northern and Northwestern Europe. Other than Rounders played in Britain and Ireland, Welsh Baseball (also known as English Baseball in Liverpool or British Baseball) is like a cross between Baseball, Rounders and Cricket. It is primarily played in South Wales and Liverpool. Other versions of Baseball include Pesäpallo, which is Finland’s National Sport and Brännboll, a traditional game of Sweden.
Welsh (British) Baseball
Welsh Baseball is a version of Rounders played primarily in South Wales, and also in Liverpool, where it is known as English Baseball. It is like a cross between Baseball, Rounders and Cricket. During the latter half of the 19th Century, the famous A.G. Spalding of Major League Baseball fame organised a Baseball Tour of England and Ireland, and in the process played a number of games against English and Welsh Rounders teams, who adopted some of the rules (such as tagging a playerout with the ball and two-handed batting). It kept the poles rather than flat bases and left the diamond in an irregular shape with all four sides unequal in length. Welsh Baseball also has a bat more like a Cricket Bat than a Baseball Bat, and it tapers towards the handle. According to sources in referenced in the articles below, Irish immigrants to Liverpool and South Wales were numerous among the Working Classes playing the game in the 20th Century. It is still played in South Wales and Liverpool but is now mostly a Children’s and Teenagers Game.
Welsh Ladies Baseball Union
Welsh Ladies Baseball Union
Photo Credit: roibu Hand holding a rounders ball. Rounders is a bat and ball game between two team that involves hitting a hard leather cased ball with a wooden bat. [Internet] Available from: https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/hand-holding-rounders-ball-bat-game-277897988 [Accessed 19 February 2022][Last Accessed 30 December 2023][Edited for Eirball Irish Sports Archives by Enda Mulcahy 30 December 2023]
WLBU Premier Divison Overviews:
Welsh Ladies Baseball Union Premier Division 2012-2018
WLBU Premier 2019 Champions: Newport (24 Pts / 14 Games)
WLBU Division 1 Overviews:
Welsh Baseball Union
Welsh Baseball Union
Photo Credit: roibu Hand holding a rounders ball. Rounders is a bat and ball game between two team that involves hitting a hard leather cased ball with a wooden bat. [Internet] Available from: https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/hand-holding-rounders-ball-bat-game-277897988 [Accessed 19 February 2022][Last Accessed 30 December 2023][Edited for Eirball Irish Sports Archives by Enda Mulcahy 30 December 2023]
WBU Premier Division (Overviews):