The Melbourne Baseball Club, nicknamed the ''Demons'', is a

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises * ...

based in the inner

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

suburb of Box Hill. The club is the baseball section affiliated with the

Melbourne Cricket Club The Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) is a sports club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is one of the oldest sports clubs in Australia. The MCC is responsible for management and development of the Melbourne Cricket Groun ...

(MCC). Having been established as the baseball section of the MCC in 1888, it is one of the oldest baseball clubs in Australia.

History

The club had been involved in baseball since 1857, when a group of cricket enthusiasts played a game held in the

Carlton Gardens The Carlton Gardens is a World Heritage Site, UNESCO World Heritage Site located on the northeastern edge of the Melbourne central business district, Central Business District in the suburb of Carlton, Victoria, Carlton, Melbourne, in the stat ...

. By the 1860s S.P. Lord led several attempts to organise baseball in Melbourne, although the game never progressed beyond games in the Carlton Gardens. The 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition showed that the United States was on the road to become an economic world power and baseball could be a crucial link between the US and the new colony. From then on, American influence became more pronounced. The

Melbourne International Exhibition (1880) The Melbourne International Exhibition is the eighth World's fair officially recognised by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) and the first official World's Fair in the Southern Hemisphere. Preparations After being granted self-gov ...

caught the attention of several foreign observers who realised that Melbourne looked like an "American-style" city. In October 1885, members of the

played the officers of the US Enterprise which were the first ever played at the

Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as the 'G, is a sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the Lis ...

. The American won 23–17 but they could watch the progress of the Australians in the sport. To commemorate the

United States Declaration of Independence The Declaration of Independence, formally The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen States of America in the original printing, is the founding document of the United States. On July 4, 1776, it was adopted unanimously by the Second Continen ...

in 1887, the American Baseball Club established in Melbourne played a team captained by H.F. Boyle of the MCC, being defeated. The MCC committee continued to support the expansion of local interest in baseball. In 1888 they resolved to form a team and arrange exhibition games as a preparation for a visit to the US. The MCC played the MBC who were American expatriated mostly. The game, played in Albert Park, saw MCC to win 35–29. The matches against the resident Americans became a regular practise during those times. On December 23, 1888, Melbourne played a four-inning game against the Chicago White Stockings of the American

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

, visiting Australia as part of the

Spalding World Tour The Spalding World Tour was an exhibition baseball tournament that circumnavigated the globe from in October 1888 to April 1889. Financed by former player and sporting goods executive Albert Spalding, the tour – composed of Spalding's own Chica ...

, before a crowd of 12,000; cricketer William Bruce was pitcher for the Melbourne side, who was reported to have "very good form for a novice."

References

External links

Official website
{{Baseball Victoria Summer League, state=collapsed Australian baseball clubs Baseball teams in Melbourne 1888 establishments in Australia Baseball teams established in 1888 Sport in the City of Whitehorse

History

See also

References

External links