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OTHER
NEWS
SPARTANS ARE IRISH LEAGUE CHAMPIONS AGAIN!!!
The Spartans deservedly claimed their sixth Irish League Championship by beating the Dublin City Hurricanes 14-5 in the 'winner takes all' Final at Corkagh Park in Clondalkin on September 22, 2007. Led by terrific pitching and very timely hitting, the Spartans jumped out to an early lead that they never relinquished.
In the B-Leaue Final, the Mariners took home their first piece of League Silver by defeating the Hurricanes B-Club 14-13. Amazingly enough, the M's took an 11-0 lead after two innings but trailed 12-11 after the fourth! They reclaimed the lead with three runs in the fifth and held on to take the Title. |
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ANOTHER IRISH LEGEND IS MADE - JERRY O'CONNOR
Jerry O'Connor (the guy being strangled by the infamous Phillies Phanatic) works for the Philadelphia Philles Baseball Club in the US. He was also instrumental in coordinating an Irish Heritage Night at Citizens Bank Ballpark on September 8th. Not only did he get Brian Morris to throw out the first pitch (Morris threw a strike) he also oversaw the donation of a tonne of equipment for the Baseball Ireland Development Programme.
The photo at right shows the Phanatic, Jerry, Jon Jaoquin (of Phillies Fan Development - Jon was also a big help to the cause), Ireland National Team Pitcher, Brian Morris and Emerald Diamond Creator, John Fitzgerald.
Our sincerest thanks to Jerry and Jon - the latest Legends of Irish Baseball! |
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SPECIAL THANKS TO DAVID FANTIN - LEGEND
We were recently contacted by David Fantin from the United States. David played for the USA Foreign Devils in the Prague International Baseball Tournament in June.
He noticed that an Irish club team will also be particupating and this hightened his interest in Irish Baseball. Before we knew what happened, David had organised and donated two teams worth of gloves, bats and balls for our Youth Development Programme. It is this kind of generosity that makes it all worthwhile. And, to top it off, he's a Cardinal fan. This guy will be bronzed when it's his time to go! Go raibh mile maith agat, Daithi.
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OKI PRAGUE INTERNATIONAL BASEBALL CUP
The Dublin Hurricanes represented Irish club baseball at the Tempo Titans annual invitational club tournament in Prague held the weekend of 30th June to 1st July. There were several club teams from the Czech Republic, a touring club from the USA and the Hurricanes in attendance. The Hurricanes showed just how far Irish club ball has come by going 2-1, only losing to the eventual tournament winners, Sabatt Praha, by a single run.
On Sunday, in the third place playoff, the Hurricanes overcame the host Tempo Titans in probably the best game of the tournament. Woody Woodburne scored on a single by Eoin O'Connor in the 9th inning as the game went two extra innings with the teams tied after the allotted time.
The highlight of the Hurricanes tournament? Undoubtedly, Rafael Diaz's opposite field three run home run in the game against Sabatt Praha. The Hurricanes also beat Czech side Aligátoři Znojmo on the Saturday, 15-3. |
NORTHERN KNIGHTS WIN DUBLIN INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENT
The Northern Knights Baseball Club from England won the 2007 Dublin International Tournament by defeating the home town Dublin Spartans 10-4 in the Championship final on Sunday, July 22 at Corkagh Park in Clondalkin. The Northern Knights played teriffic baseball all weekend and were led by Tournament MVP Todd Rapello, who pitched two very solid games including the decider.
I want to thank the Knights for visiting and look forward to them coming back to next year's event. I also want to pay special thanks to Jason Nebenzahl, Eoin O'Connor and Brian Connolly for doing the organising of the tourney and keeping it on track the whole weekend. |
COACH TRAINING CLINIC A GREAT SUCCESS
Baseball Ireland ran a very succesful coach training course over the St Patrick's Day weekend at NUI Maynooth. Eight Junior League coaches from around the country received training from MLBI coach Tom Gillespie in all aspects of the game. The course was extremely informative and the coaches went away with a wealth of ideas that will greatly benefit their coaching practice. The coaches received instruction that will bring them up to Level 2 of the BSUK coaching awards.
We wish to extend our gratitude to Monsignor Farrell of St Patrick's College for making this splendid facility available to us. I would also like to thank Tom Gillespie for coming over to run the course (a tough decision to have to visit Dublin on Patrick's weekend) and Simon Sweeney for his help in organising the event. Details of future coaching courses will be listed on his website. Will Beglane - Youth Development Officer
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Tom Gillespie (far left) and the Coaches who attended the Coach Training Course at St Patrick's College, NUI Maynooth.
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2006 ANNUAL AWARDS CEREMONY
At the 2006 Irish Baseball League Awards Ceremony on Saturday, September 16th, Darran O'Connor deservedly won the 'Andy Leonard MVP Award' and Chaime Cuevas was the prime choice in winning the 'Tommy Bond Best Pitcher Award'.
IRELAND TAKE SILVER MEDAL AT EUROPEAN OLYMPIC QUALIFIER (2006)
The Irish National Team lost to Croatia 12 -2 in the European Championship Final on Saturday, August 5th, 2006 and in so doing laid claim as well deserving Silver Medalists.
Having only lost to Croatia and beaten the heavily favoured Belgians in the semi-final in one of the games of the tournament, Ireland again showed improvement and achieved their greatest ever accomplishment in European Championship competition.
At the end of the day, Croatia are deserved Champions. They only gave up eight runs for the entire tournament and down the stretch, they allowed just three runs in three games. |
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THE EMERALD DIAMOND WINS AWARD AT HALL OF FAME BASEBALL FILM FESTIVAL
The Emerald Diamond won the Critics Choice Award at The National Baseball Hall of Fame's Baseball Film Festival in Cooperstown, N.Y. which took place from November 10-12.
The award was selected and presented by NBC film critic Jeffrey Lyons. Lyons was amazed by the Irish National Team's perserverance, especially in the face of Dublin's notorious rain. "I'll never complain again about playing softball in April in Central Park in the New York Showbusiness League again," explained Lyons. "It was a wonderful story."
The juried competition featured 11 films that covered a wide variety of topics from Chicago Cubs great Ron Santo and his battle with diabetes (This Old Cub) to MLB's Dominican pioneers (The Republic of Baseball: The Dominican Giants of the American Game). |
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IRELAND TAKE 2 OF 3 FROM GREAT BRITAIN TO WIN SERIES 'EURO WARM-UP' (2006)
The weekend of July 28th, 2006 saw Ireland win 2 of 3 from Great Britain (14-6, 5-6 & 6-5) to win the first ever series between the European island nations.The Great Britain National Baseball Team hosted the Irish National Baseball Team for a ‘friendly’ tripleheader on the newly refurbished baseball diamond at the Finsbury Park Cricket Ground . The tournament was a perfect final warm-up prior to Ireland's participation in the 2006 European B-Pool Championships which begins in Belgium on Tuesday, August 1st. Check out our neighbours site for more info
BASEBALL IS ALIVE AND WELL IN COUNTY ANTRIM, NORTHERN IRELAND
Check out the great website about the Portstewart Eagles and the Portrush Mustangs Youth League teams in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.
THE EMERALD DIAMOND DUBLIN SCREENING - A MASSIVE SUCCESS!!!
The Emerald Diamond screenings in the Sugar Club, Leeson Street, Dublin on Monday 24th & Tuesday 25th July was a tremendous success with both nights hosting standing room only. We'd like to thank all of you who attended and fully supported Irish Baseball.
The Emerald Diamond is an amazing feature-length documentary following the history of Baseball Ireland and the Irish National Baseball Team. Filming began in May 2004 and has continued in Dublin, Belfast, New York, Rhode Island, Los Angeles and Germany. The sold-out World Premiere took place on February 25th, 2006 at the prestigious Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville, New York.
Check out www.theemeralddiamond.com website to see when this extraordinary story will be screened in your City. |
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PRESIDENT'S 9 WIN 2006 DUBLIN INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENT
In yet more gorgeous weather, Baseball Ireland hosted another hugely successful Dublin International Tournament at the National Fields in Corkagh Park on the 22nd/23rd July. The Menwith Hill Patriots, one of the top league teams from the UK paid a visit for the tournament. The other competing teams were the Irish National Team, the now renowned President's Nine and a late entry from the Dublin Hurricanes. The results of the qualifying round of games were as follows:
Ireland 4-5 President's Nine
Hurricanes 4-11 Patriots
President's Nine 14-6 Hurricanes
Patriots 6-16 Ireland
Hurricanes 4-15 Ireland
President's Nine 8-7 Patriots
This meant the Patriots and the Hurricanes were into the Bronze Medal Playoff Game and Ireland and the P9 into the Final. Both of these games were extremely hard fought, close games with excellent pitching and defense and some clutch hitting. In the end the Hurricanes triumphed over the Patriots by a score of Hurricanes 12-8 Patriots.
The Final was an extremely tense affair and went down to the wire with the P9 coming out on top once again this year with a score of P9 8-7 Ireland.
Individual awards were given as follows:
Cy Young pitching award: Sean Miskiman of the P9
Batting Title: Brian Joyce of the Irish National Team
Tournament MVP: Sal Rizo of the P9
The tournament was excellent preparation for the Irish National Team who head off to London this weekend to play a 3 game series against the GB Senior National Team and then head to Belgium for the European Championships next week. Thanks to all involved in the organisation and to all the players who showcased a really high level of baseball. And sincere thanks to our visitors the Menwith Hill Patriots, we hope to see you again on our shores in the future. |
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IRELAND HOSTING OF GREAT BRITAIN JUNIOR NATIONAL TEAM A GREAT SUCCESS
Baseball Ireland hosted the Great Britain Junior National Team the weekend of May 12th & 13th at the National Baseball Facility in Corkagh Park, Clondalkin, Dublin. The highly touted GB Junior squad played in a specially formatted tournament against the Irish National Team and the infamous President's 9, a select All-Star team made up of players from the Irish League. Click to see the Tournament Schedule. Both teams gained tremndous experience during the weekend series which will bolster each squad's future plans. Baseball Ireland would like to thank GB for visiting and look forward to meeting their Senior counterparts later this summer. |
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CLONDALKIN YOUTH TEAM NEWS -
2006 SPRING TRAINING OFF TO A FLYER!!!
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Despite the rain, we had a great turnout at training on Saturday, March 25th. The players are looking forward to an exciting season. We will be playing in a league for the first time making visits to Shanganagh Park, Shankill to take on the Blacksox and to Greystones to play the two Mariners Teams. There will be a number of Blitzes during the season and we plan to go down to Kerry and Cork later in the year.
We are looking to sign up more players betwween the ages of 9 and 14. You don't need to have played before. If you want to join in the fun come down to O'Malley Little League Field in Corkagh Park, Clondalkin on Saturday at 1pm. |
*2005 IRISH LEAGUE ANNUAL AWARDS*
The 2005 Irish League Awards Ceremony, which took place on September 3rd, was a great night as both the 2005 League Champioship and Individual Awards were presented. This season's Individual Awards were very special as they paid homage to some of the great Irish players of the past. Click the LINK to see who claimed this season's top honours.
*KINDLE
IMMORTALISED AS IRISH RETIRE #45
And YES, this
link is going to remain here for as long
as I want! But NO, I am not Retired! And by the way, Mitchell, Manning and Beglane are going to be buried in Numbers 2, 35 and 10 respectively.
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