Growing South Africa’s baseball talent

Looking back

Baseball was introduced to South Africa in 1898 by American gold miners who worked on the Crown Mines and City Deep shafts, in Witwatersrand (Gauteng). These miners were true baseball ambassadors: they brought equipment, constructed playing fields, and established the Giants Baseball Club in 1904. In line with the growing popularity of the sport, the Transvaal Baseball Association was formed in 1905.

Although the Americans brought baseball to the Transvaal, it was the Japanese who captivated the people of Port Elizabeth with this new ball game in 1934. Shortly thereafter, the South African Baseball Federation was formed in 1935 with the Western Province, Eastern Province, Border, Northern Transvaal, and Transvaal.

During the Second World War, baseball entered a quiet period, but resumed in earnest after 1945. Then in 1955, South Africa stepped onto the international stage when an all-American All Stars team toured South Africa. But this was short lived because in October 1963, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided that South Africa had to eliminate racial discrimination in sport before 31 December1963 or the country would not be permitted to send a team to the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Though the deadline was later extended to allow SA more time, the government was not prepared to permit multi-racial sports. As a result, the IOC did not invite SA to the Olympic Games in Tokyo. This was a heavy blow for South African sporting circles and the sport loving community.

Following Prime Minister J. B. Vorster's relaxed sports policy, a committee of the IOC visited SA in September 1967 to examine the situation. The committee presented a favourable report and stated that SA had undertaken to send a multi-racial team, selected on merit, to the next Olympic Games. On the strength of this report, SA was invited to the 1968 games in Mexico, but this elicited such sharp protests from black African countries, who threatened to withdraw if SA participated, that the IOC was obliged to withdraw its invitation in April 1969. The ban was only lifted prior to the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, when the international community was convinced that SA was irrevocably on the road to political transformation and democracy.

Impressive record

Since the fall of the apartheid government in 1994 and South Africa’s return to international baseball, we have built up an impressive record. In 1999, we were undefeated in the Africa-Oceania Olympic qualifier; we finished 8th in the 2000 Olympics (3-2, in 10 innings, beating the current European Champions); played in two out of three Baseball World Classics (2006 and 2009); and are currently ranked 29th out of 79 countries.

During this time, the game has also spread to the nation’s capital, Tshwane (Pretoria), Natal, and many other areas, including rural townships. Today, participation in adult and youth leagues is estimated at more than 250,000 players. That’s about a third of what rugby claims.

Challenges faced

Although South Africa has a baseball history that spans more than 100 years, the sport remains in the shadow of rugby, soccer, and cricket. In fact, most South Africans are not even aware that baseball is played in their country. The baseball community is very much like our hockey community; both struggle with financial backing, they are constantly hampered by politics and infighting, and are in the shadow of traditional sports like rugby, cricket, and football.

As a result of these challenges, developing baseball in South Africa has proved challenging. However, it is not all doom and gloom. Africa was recently identified as the Major League Baseball’s (MLB) next major development project. The MLB currently run and sponsor the African Baseball Academy in Cape Town, where local, national, and club coaches get to meet and be trained by some of the world’s best coaches. The MLB also invites many of Africa’s top players to this academy to be trained and possibly even scouted by the international coaches. In addition, we have a group of wonderfully talented players, who are committed to putting our country and this sport on the map again, and dipping into their pockets to see this happen. But they cannot do it alone. With support from government and corporates, as well as ordinary South Africans, we can take baseball to a whole new level. And who knows, it might even give our traditional sports a run for their money.

The game

Baseball in South Africa is played under the direction of the South African Baseball Union and at club level. The clubs are affiliated to provincial/regional governing bodies, for example, Cape Town clubs are affiliated to the Baseball Association of the Western Province. Currently, the hot spots, in terms of baseball talent, lie in the Eastern Cape, Durban, Johannesburg, and Cape Town.

Leagues

The 10-team wooden bat league (top leagues that make use of wooden bats, as seen on TV (ESPN Major League Baseball), whilst some of the lower leagues make use of metal bats), which has produced numerous players who have gone on to play professional baseball in the United States and Europe. Additionally, more than three-quarters of the players from the South African National Team, who competed in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, were products of the Western Province Major League.