Irish Baseball Championship 1961

Final, 2 September 1961

At Tramore Racecourse Car Park12345 (EI)Total
Tramore Sea Lions3251314
Waterford Walruses2531112

Reference: [1][2]

Report

The Final of the Championship involving teams in the Waterford area was the first public Baseball game ever played between two Irish teams, and preceeded a match involving two visiting US Air Force teams.

It was played by Boys aged 12-15, and was 4 Innings in scheduled length.

Tramore batted first ad scored three runs off a single by Mickey O’Brien, a double by Conor Malley and home run by Alan Lawlor.

In the second half of the first Innings, Waterford came back with two runs on a double by Pat Ryan, two walks and an error.

At the top of the second, Tramore moved to 5-2 what looked like a big innings only for a remarkable catch by Tony Condon, Pitcher Denis O’Brien gained strength from the support of his fielders and retired the remaining batter on an easy pop up fly ball.

Waterford had a huge second innings, scoring five to take the lead for the first time. John Stokes, Junior O’Neill, and Declan O’Gorman providing the hits, aided by two errors and two walks. The rally saw Pitcher Conor Molloy chased from the mound and replaced by David Kenny who stemmed the flow.

In the third, Tramore loaded the bases on an walk, a single by Tom Power and an error before Mickey O’Brien unleashed his first Home Run. Tramore scored another run before pitcher Pat Ryan got the third out.

In the bottom of the third Waterford levelled matters, with Tramore using three pitchers before Alan Leahy managed to get Waterford in check.

The fourth innings saw the see-saw match continue as Tramore went ahead again on a run on singles by Liam Morrissey and Simon Butterworth, who also stole two bases.

Waterford again levelled matters to send the match into extra innings.

In the extra, fifth Innings, Tramore scored another home run by O’Brien, with another two added to give Tramore a three-run cushion.

Tramore gave up another run on the their fourth pitcher, Simon Butterworth, but he managed to get the final out, with Waterford having the tying runs on base, leaving the Final score Tramore Sea Lions 14 Waterford Walruses 12.

Reference: [1][2]

Tramore Team:

Denis O’Brien, Liam Morrissey, Declan Keoghan, Declan, O’Brien, Edward Walsh, James O’Keeffe, Ralph Counahan, David Kenny, Tony Flemming, Connor Molloy, Alan Leahy, Simon Butterworth, Thomas Power, Peter Kerrigan, James Mills, Damien Power, Gregory Rodgers, Gregory Kenny, Ternes O’ Donnell, Ronan Power, Paschal Kelly, Jim Murphy, Michael O’Brien, Edward Deevy. Management: Mr. Clive Butterworth, Mr. Bill Barry. [3]

References:

Sources

[1] Anon. (1961) “Tramore Baseball Game | Sea Lions defeat Walruses”. Munster Express. Friday, September 8, 1961. pg. 13.

[2] Anon. (1961) “Tramore Sea Lions Baseball Champions”. Waterford News and Star. Tuesday, September 5, 1961. pg. 5.

[3] Anon. (1961) Picture footnote. Munster Express. Friday, July 28, 1961. pg. 13.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Hugh Mulcahy

About this document

Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the

Eirball | Irish World Sports Archive

Last Updated: 5 July 2019

(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and Eirball 2019

You may quote this document in part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the authors. All Rights Reserved.

2 comments

  1. Enda: Thanx so much for posting this. I am the Simon Butterworth in the story you wrote. It brought back memories. Thanks to a new friend in NY that I made last year, John Fitzgerald, the work that my father did to try and start baseball in Ireland is now part of Irish Baseball history. I spent two nights in Ireland this summer with David Kenny recalling old stories about our Baseball and growing up in a very special place, Tramore. The sad part of your article was being reminded that not all my old friends are still with us in this world.

Leave a Reply