The International Baseball Board was founded in 1927 and is the international governing body for traditional
British baseball
Welsh baseball ( cy, Pêl Fas Gymreig), is a bat-and-ball game played in Wales. It is closely related to the game of rounders.
In the tradition of bat-and-ball games, baseball has roots going back centuries, and there are references to ...
codes. It was founded in 1927 to oversee international fixtures, primarily between England and Wales, which are played at A and B level for men, and at age-group level for boys and historically women's international fixtures. It is not to be confused with the
International Baseball Federation
The International Baseball Federation (IBAF; Spanish: ''Federación Internacional de Béisbol'', French: ''Fédération internationale de baseball'') is the former worldwide governing body recognized by the International Olympic Committee as ove ...
, which is the world governing body for the American code of baseball.
History
The first international match between England and Wales was held in 1908, the first women's international match between England and Wales took place in 1926. In 1918 England took on Canada.
In July 1921 there were efforts for the establishment of a National Baseball Council, where members of the English Baseball Association and South Wales Baseball Association met to discuss the formation of the new governing body.
The IBB was finally established in 1927. One of the first acts of the IBB was to rule on the legality of a player being capped by two different nations.
Jim Sullivan was born in Wales and played both
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
and
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...
. Having turned professional with Wigan, Jim was selected for England's British baseball team in 1928.
The IBB ruled that this cap was illegal, as Jim had already been capped by Wales in 1921.
Amazingly Sullivan crossed to the American code of baseball in the mid 1930's, for Manchester Blue Sox and Greenfield Giants.
By 1960 the IBB was the leading body with responsibility for any changes to the rules first developed by the EBA, and in 1960 schools in England, who had still continued to use smaller bowling box dimensions and other peculiarities, adopted IBB regulations.
In 1989 the IBB faced a crises, when reserves of the long used worsted Webber ball were exhausted, following the manufacturer, John Jaques of London, ceasing production.
Structure
IBB has two member organisations, the
English Baseball Association
The English Baseball Association (EBA) was founded in 1892 and is the governing body of the traditional code of British baseball in England.
It is based in Liverpool and is a member of the International Baseball Board
The International Bas ...
and the
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 ...
. The EBA historically had responsibility for overseeing all aspects of the domestic game and was the body responsible for the creation and development of the original rules of the game. The EBA was formed in 1892, though this was a continuation of the much older National Rounders Association, who created the first codified rules of British baseball, between 1887 and 1888.
In 1888
and again in 1893 the South Wales Baseball Association affirmed that the EBA was the "authority" on the rules of the game and that they would continue to play to those rules.
In March 1922 the first annual meeting of the newly formed
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 ...
was held at Grange YMCA, succeeding the South Wales Baseball Association. The new body quickly made a visit to Liverpool and noted that “the closer link formed between the English and Welsh baseball authorities would materially help to attain the standard of a national pastime”.
In 1922 the Welsh Ladies Baseball League was formed under the WBU and by 1994 had 600 players across 40 clubs.
References
External links
Welsh BaseballEnglish Baseball Association
{{International Sports Federations
British baseball in the United Kingdom
Sports organizations established in 1927
International sports organizations