____ WHO SAID WHAT? _
I. The way sport has de\Jeloped in this country is a matter of history and it is really quite impossible to attempt to w'lpe LINED it all out and start again. 2. I thou~ht baseball was a sport when I bec~m'ea commis Volume III No.2 sioner. I was mistaken. The semi-bandih Own it. • 3. I am a fra id I pl~y no outdoor games at all, except do BASEBALL IN BRJTAIN 1994 minoes. I have somet;mes played dominoes outside French c.fes. 4-. rve. never seen a manager w'm a pennant. Players win pennants. 5. It was not 'Very wonderful that Catherine should prefer cricket, baseball, riding on horseback ,.nd running around the country to books. 6. In a. wa.y ~n umpire is like a woman. He makes Guick decision~, ne.ver reverses them and doesn't think you're safe when you're out. 7. The only real way you know you've been hred,',s when you arrj"e at the ball p:.rk and -hnd your n~me has been scrat.ehe.d trom the pa rk ing Ii st. BALL 8. Baseball gives every American boy a chance to excel, not. GAME just. to be as iood 4LS, but to be bette.r th4\n someone else. COME ANt> SeE This is the nature of man and th.e name of the ~2me.. THE i:l STARS Unforfunately the names belonging fo fhese quofaft'ons have ON SUNDAY become deprocessed. Can you do us a favour by ,..eprocessfng them and affach/ruj fhem to their re~pec.five 9uofahons? TRY ZERO GAL ANN USE A JET LIMITED LAWS CHIPPIN PERIL TRY MINI BALL RADIO CLEWS HYPER HANDCLAP SON'S PA DRANK RYE LONDON WARR IORS LONDON WARRIORS NATIONAL LEAGUE SCHEDULE 1994 NATIONAL LEAGUE Sun 1st May away to Enfield Spartans L 9-10 TEAK ROSTER 1994 Sun 8th May HOKE TO BURY SAINTS Usual Fielding Position Uniform Number Sun 15th May away to Essex Eagles Rupert Armitage Rightfield 20 Sun 22nd Kay Harry Atwood Second Base/Shortstop 12 Sun 29th May away to Waltham Forest Angels Alan Bloomfield Catcher/Second Base 4 Sun 5th June HOKE TO BROMLEY BLUE JAYS Cody Cain Pitcher/First Base 19 Sun 12th June away to Lakenheath Yankees Steve Demain Rightfield 16 Sun 19th June HOME TO TONBRIDGE BOBCATS Oliver Heidecker Third Base/Second Base 14 Sun 26th June Rain date & revised schedule starts. Steve Juhase Rightfield 16 Sun 3rd July HOME Richard Kemp Leftfield/Centrefield 17 Sun 10th July away Kevin Murphy Leftfield/Centrefield 18 Sun 17th July HOME Carlos Rodriguez Centrefield/Rightfield 15 Sun 24th July Alan Smith Pitcher/First Base 8 Sun 31st July away Stanley Smulders Rightfield/Leftfield 15 Sun 7th August Brad Thompson Catcher 6 Sun 14th August HOKE Dean Ward Third Base 5 Sun 21st August HOKE Sun 28th August away Sun 4th September away SUBSCRIBE TO LINEDRIVE ! Sun 11th September If you would like to receive Linedrive ! on a regular basis, then CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY orFS send a cheque payable to P Ross for t1.25 per issue, Cine P & P>, or flO for 10 issues, to Linedrive !, Flat 2 'Thanescroft', Selborne r Sat 18th September Road, Croydon CRO 5JQ. Tel 081 686 7727. Sun 25th September Alternatively, follow the LONDON WARRIORS through the season and ' get your Linedrive ! FREE !!! LINEDRIVE ! VOL III ISSUE 2 ! VOL TTL LS/3UE' :2
In NL Central, the Cubs look ready to become the first team to A BRITISH BASEBALL FANZINE reach double figures in games out of first, with the lowest winning perecentage in the majors, and a three game series (Hay 2-4) THE WORKS OF ART against Cincinnati to be added to the standings. By courtesy of Art Bloomfield we are privileged to browse in his COMPETITION TIME extensive archive material relating to baseball over the years in Britain. It is comforting' to know that Linedrive ! is not a venture Don't forget to enter the Linedrive Major League Baseball into uncharted waters, but is in every way grounded in tradition. Competition. You have until the end of May to name your Mr Bloomfield's archive contains magazines, posters, schedules, nominations for the six Major League Divisional'Champions. statistics, league constitutions, agendas and a host of other material, together with photographs. Pictured are, among others, the Each pundit will start with 50 points, and they will then have the Sutton Braves of 1973, the Richmond Red Sox of 1962, and the games out of first (GB), for each of his nominations deducted from Leatherhead Maple Leafs of 1956. And a direct link wit the present that score. The idea, of course, is to keep a perfect 50. is the young lad with bushy curly fair hair batting in a red top bearing the number four, Periodically, we will pUblish a table of the top pundits, and although we cannot offer a prize, it will be nice to be able to see Of the magazines, the comparatively recent Baseball Mercury is a your name in print, to prove to people you were right all along ! challenge to Linedrive ! in the breadth of it's coverage, and the whole of this archive opens up our remit, for in addition to The editor boldly stuck his neck out and put down his divisio~al reporting present events and looking to the future, we feel bound predictions in Issue 1, and his score is currently 46 havlng to draw on the fascinating evidence of the days when baseball here droipped 2\2 points on the Houston Astros, 1 point on the Toronto at home, judging by the photographs, drew what could almost be Blue Jays and \2 point on the Cleveland Indians. called crowds..
Drop us a line, see if you can't beat that score Within our scope, we hope to feature as much as we can of past pleasures while reflecting the current game, thereby forming a link NATIONAL LEAGUE 8/5/94 between the time when baseball in Britain was popular and the time when it will again acheive the support it deserves Bury Saints @ London Warriors Rex Phillips Essex Eagles @ Waltham Forest Angels Tonbridge Bobcats @ Lakenheath Yankees JUST LIKE IN ENGLAN~ 15/5/9" Bromley Blue Jays @ Bury Saints Across the pond in 'The Show', theories ranging from the profound Enfield Spartans @ Tonbridge Bobcats to the absurd, are being put forward to explain the early home run London Warriors @ Essex Eagles bonanza. Some claim the ball is livelier, though Rawlings deny any Waltham Forest Angels @ Lakenheath Yankees change in it's composition, whilst other's feel that expansion has diluted the pitching strength, by spreading the talent too thinly. ------Another darkly humorous theory suggests players are striving to - 8 - acheive high home run stats before the season is curtailed by industrial strife. LINEDRIVE ! VOL III ISSUE 2 LINEDRIVE ! VOL III ISSUE 2
Whatever the reason, an unexpectedly high score gave rise to a American League West moment of confusion at a Llnedrive ! editorial meeting, when Phil Wn Lt Pcnt GB L10 Ross (editor) and Rex Phillips (artwork and research), were California Angels 8 12 .400 3-7 thumbing through a recent Baseball Weekly. They reached the Seattle Mariners 7 11 .389 5-5 American League Box Scores for April 12th. "22-11 !" squawked the Oakland Athletics 7 12 .368 ~ 2-8 editor incredulosly, spotting the Red Sox - Royals game. "No," said Texas Rangers 5 11 .313 1 3-7 Mr Phillips "1 make it five past ten" National League East Whatever the reason, Major League run rates are growing, and whilst Wn Lt Pcnt GB L10 the majority of games finish with single figure scores, it seems Atlanta Braves 14 6 .700 5-5 that one or two teams are taking it into their heads to try and New York Mets 9 9 .500 4 4-6 exceed any scoreline put up in Britain. Perhaps the effect of the Montreal Expos 9 10 .474 4~ 5-5 UK game is more profound than we imagine ! Florida Marlins 9 10 .474 4~ 5-5 Philadelphia Phil's 8 11 .421 512 4-6
National League Cenj;ral Wn Lt Pcnt GB LI0 24th April 1994 Cincinnati Reds 12 5 .706 6-4 1112131415161718191 RL St Louis Cardinals 11 7 .611 112 6-4 EnfieLd~rJ
RBI singles for Alan Bloomfield (c) and Oliver Heidecker, put Warriors on the scoreboard in the fifth, and RBI singles for Harry Atwood (ss), Bloomfield again, and a 2 RBI double for Cody Cain, ------tied the game at 6-6. - 6 - - 3 - LINEDRIVE ! VOL III ISSUE ;;; LINEDRIVE ! VOL III ISSUE ;;; ------Heidecker and Dean Ward <3b) batted in two further runs for aaF STANDINGS AFTER WEEK 4 1/5/94 Warriors in the eighth, and after Julien Fountain faced three batters in the ninth to load up the bases, Rob Lanario took to the National Premier League South hill. He walked Cain for 9-6 Warriors, but then got the three outs without further loss. W L Pcent GB Bedford C Indians 3 0 1. 000 Cody Cain then took to the mound for the ninth, and with National Essex Arrows 3 0 1. 000 League's lowest ERA for the 1993 season, this looked like a good Hounslow Rangers 1 1 .500 1\0 move. Unfortunately, he walked five batters to concede two runs, Crawley Comets 1 2 .333 2 and yielded a further two runs on a Rob Lanario single to give Bristol Black Sox 02 .000 2\0 Spartans their second victory in two weeks. Brighton Buccaneers 03 .000 3
With National League only two weeks into their season, it is, as QQy1hern Division One North yet too early to give standings. W L Pcent GB lIDF Soutlli:rn Di vis;lQn.....Qn.e. 1st May 1994 Glostor Meteors 2 0 1. 000 Hemel Red Sox 201.000 Croydon Pirates 22 Stevenage Knights 11 Totteridge T'blazrs 2 1 .667 \0 Cambridge Monarchs 1 1 .500 1 After an opening day defeat, Pirates have notched three consecutive Droitwich Spa Tans o 2 .0002 victories, two of them slaughters, batting in an impressive 57 runs Reading Royals o 2 .0002 in 21 innings played, a rate just over 2.71. City Slick o 3 .0002\0
Initially Pirates struggled, Harvey Sahker conceeding five runs in Southern Division One - South the first inning, in his first spell on the hill for Pirates. However, the offense powered back to close the game after seven W L Pcent GB innings. Arun Panthers 2 0 1. 000 Gillingham Dodgers 2 0 1. 000 Pirates are away to Lashing Sluggers (8th May) in the First Round Hounslow Hawks 2 1 .667 \0 of the BBF Knockout Cup. Bournemouth Bees 1 1 .500 1 Croydon Pirates 1 1 .500 1 Meanwhile in Southern Division Two, the Caterham Athletics finally Tunbridge W Royals 1 1 .500 1 got their season unden-lay. The experienced Mike English, formerly Stevenage Knights o 3 . 000 2\0 of the Sutton Braves, opened for Caterham, and initially all went well as they held the all conquering London Wolves to 3-3 after six innings.
However, their fortunes dipped, and Wolves, with the previous victories under their belts, stormed ahead to win 11-5. - 5 - - 4 - LINEDRIVE ! VOL III ISSUE ;;; LINEDRIVE ! VOL III ISSUE ;;; ------Heidecker and Dean Ward <3b) batted in two further runs for aaF STANDINGS AFTER WEEK 4 1/5/94 Warriors in the eighth, and after Julien Fountain faced three batters in the ninth to load up the bases, Rob Lanario took to the National Premier League South hill. He walked Cain for 9-6 Warriors, but then got the three outs without further loss. W L Pcent GB Bedford C Indians 3 0 1. 000 Cody Cain then took to the mound for the ninth, and with National Essex Arrows 3 0 1. 000 League's lowest ERA for the 1993 season, this looked like a good Hounslow Rangers 1 1 .500 1\0 move. Unfortunately, he walked five batters to concede two runs, Crawley Comets 1 2 .333 2 and yielded a further two runs on a Rob Lanario single to give Bristol Black Sox 02 .000 2\0 Spartans their second victory in two weeks. Brighton Buccaneers 03 .000 3
With National League only two weeks into their season, it is, as QQy1hern Division One North yet too early to give standings. W L Pcent GB lIDF Soutlli:rn Di vis;lQn.....Qn.e. 1st May 1994 Glostor Meteors 2 0 1. 000 Hemel Red Sox 201.000 Croydon Pirates 22 Stevenage Knights 11 Totteridge T'blazrs 2 1 .667 \0 Cambridge Monarchs 1 1 .500 1 After an opening day defeat, Pirates have notched three consecutive Droitwich Spa Tans o 2 .0002 victories, two of them slaughters, batting in an impressive 57 runs Reading Royals o 2 .0002 in 21 innings played, a rate just over 2.71. City Slick o 3 .0002\0
Initially Pirates struggled, Harvey Sahker conceeding five runs in Southern Division One - South the first inning, in his first spell on the hill for Pirates. However, the offense powered back to close the game after seven W L Pcent GB innings. Arun Panthers 2 0 1. 000 Gillingham Dodgers 2 0 1. 000 Pirates are away to Lashing Sluggers (8th May) in the First Round Hounslow Hawks 2 1 .667 \0 of the BBF Knockout Cup. Bournemouth Bees 1 1 .500 1 Croydon Pirates 1 1 .500 1 Meanwhile in Southern Division Two, the Caterham Athletics finally Tunbridge W Royals 1 1 .500 1 got their season unden-lay. The experienced Mike English, formerly Stevenage Knights o 3 . 000 2\0 of the Sutton Braves, opened for Caterham, and initially all went well as they held the all conquering London Wolves to 3-3 after six innings.
However, their fortunes dipped, and Wolves, with the previous victories under their belts, stormed ahead to win 11-5. - 5 - - 4 - LINEDRIVE ! VOL III ISSUE 2 LINEDRIVE ! VOL III ISSUE 2 ------Southern DjyisioD Two However, for Rob Lanario (ss), his three RBI triple in the fifth began to open up the tiring Wilesmith, and three more runs in the II' L Pcent GB sixth, saw Blue Jays switch the battery around as Wilesmith racked London Wolves 2 0 1. 000 up his ninth walk of the day. Lashing Sluggers 101.000 12 Tiptree Hotsports 1 0 1.000 12 Bob Ratcliffe inherited two men on (Fountain and Rob Lanario) and Guildford Mavericks 1 1 .500 1 one out. He then walked the next two batters (Simmons (2b) and Bracknell Blazers o 0 .000 1 lain Lanario (of», to make it 11-4 Spartans. Caterham Athletics o 1 .000 112 Chichester Kyotes o 1 .000 112 The Spartans then rounded off the day by using their opening Hounslow Falcons o 2 .0002 catcher, Gary Bedingfield, as closing pitcher. He conceeded three runs, including the second and third RBI's of the day to new Blue Southern Division Three, both North & South, still features many Jay, Brett Marty (2b), who in turn was then batted in by Matt Gill teams with only one game played. Standings should be issued in (rf) for an impressive debut performance. Linedrive ! 3 1st May 1994 MAJOR LEAGUE STANDINGS 25/4/94 1112131415161'fl8191 RI London Warriors 1010101012141012111 91 LP Cody Cain (0-1) American League East Enfield Spartansl21QI311lQIQIQIQI41101 WP Rob Lanario (1-0) Wn Lt Pcnt GB L10 Boston Red Sox 13 6 .684 7-3 The two sides who have contested the National League championship New York Yankees 12 6 .667 12 8-2 over the last three seasons, produced another nailbiter, just as Toronto Blue Jays 12 7 .632 1 6-4 they have done many times before. Baltimore Orioles 11 7 .611 112 6-4 Detroit Tigers 6 12 .333 6\2 3-7 Warriors' starter, Alan Smith, struggled to find his true form, but in fairness, infield errors lead to two unearned runs in the American League Central opening frame. Enfield forged further ahead with singles from Chris Wn Lt Pent GB L10 McGovern (cf) (l RBD and Julien Fountain (p) (2 RBI's). Milwaukee Brewers 11 7 .611 6-4 Cleveland Indians 10 7 .588 12 4-6 Smith then walked Chris Stein (If) and Gary Bedingfield (c) to load Chicago White Sox 11 8 .579 \2 6-4 up the bases with no outs, but great defensive teamwork saw Smith Kansas City Royals 8 9 .471 2\2 6-4 put out Fountain at home, and a 4-3 dOUble-play from Oliver Minnesota Twins 7 13 .350 5 4-6 Heidecker to Cody Cain eliminated the potential run feast for the Spartans.
RBI singles for Alan Bloomfield (c) and Oliver Heidecker, put Warriors on the scoreboard in the fifth, and RBI singles for Harry Atwood (ss), Bloomfield again, and a 2 RBI double for Cody Cain, ------tied the game at 6-6. - 6 - - 3 - LINEDRIVE ! VOL III ISSUE 2 LINEDRIVE ! VOL III ISSUE 2
Whatever the reason, an unexpectedly high score gave rise to a American League West moment of confusion at a Llnedrive ! editorial meeting, when Phil Wn Lt Pcnt GB L10 Ross (editor) and Rex Phillips (artwork and research), were California Angels 8 12 .400 3-7 thumbing through a recent Baseball Weekly. They reached the Seattle Mariners 7 11 .389 5-5 American League Box Scores for April 12th. "22-11 !" squawked the Oakland Athletics 7 12 .368 ~ 2-8 editor incredulosly, spotting the Red Sox - Royals game. "No," said Texas Rangers 5 11 .313 1 3-7 Mr Phillips "1 make it five past ten" National League East Whatever the reason, Major League run rates are growing, and whilst Wn Lt Pcnt GB L10 the majority of games finish with single figure scores, it seems Atlanta Braves 14 6 .700 5-5 that one or two teams are taking it into their heads to try and New York Mets 9 9 .500 4 4-6 exceed any scoreline put up in Britain. Perhaps the effect of the Montreal Expos 9 10 .474 4~ 5-5 UK game is more profound than we imagine ! Florida Marlins 9 10 .474 4~ 5-5 Philadelphia Phil's 8 11 .421 512 4-6
National League Cenj;ral Wn Lt Pcnt GB LI0 24th April 1994 Cincinnati Reds 12 5 .706 6-4 1112131415161718191 RL St Louis Cardinals 11 7 .611 112 6-4 EnfieLd~rJ In NL Central, the Cubs look ready to become the first team to A BRITISH BASEBALL FANZINE reach double figures in games out of first, with the lowest winning perecentage in the majors, and a three game series (Hay 2-4) THE WORKS OF ART against Cincinnati to be added to the standings. By courtesy of Art Bloomfield we are privileged to browse in his COMPETITION TIME extensive archive material relating to baseball over the years in Britain. It is comforting' to know that Linedrive ! is not a venture Don't forget to enter the Linedrive Major League Baseball into uncharted waters, but is in every way grounded in tradition. Competition. You have until the end of May to name your Mr Bloomfield's archive contains magazines, posters, schedules, nominations for the six Major League Divisional'Champions. statistics, league constitutions, agendas and a host of other material, together with photographs. Pictured are, among others, the Each pundit will start with 50 points, and they will then have the Sutton Braves of 1973, the Richmond Red Sox of 1962, and the games out of first (GB), for each of his nominations deducted from Leatherhead Maple Leafs of 1956. And a direct link wit the present that score. The idea, of course, is to keep a perfect 50. is the young lad with bushy curly fair hair batting in a red top bearing the number four, Periodically, we will pUblish a table of the top pundits, and although we cannot offer a prize, it will be nice to be able to see Of the magazines, the comparatively recent Baseball Mercury is a your name in print, to prove to people you were right all along ! challenge to Linedrive ! in the breadth of it's coverage, and the whole of this archive opens up our remit, for in addition to The editor boldly stuck his neck out and put down his divisio~al reporting present events and looking to the future, we feel bound predictions in Issue 1, and his score is currently 46 havlng to draw on the fascinating evidence of the days when baseball here droipped 2\2 points on the Houston Astros, 1 point on the Toronto at home, judging by the photographs, drew what could almost be Blue Jays and \2 point on the Cleveland Indians. called crowds.. Drop us a line, see if you can't beat that score Within our scope, we hope to feature as much as we can of past pleasures while reflecting the current game, thereby forming a link NATIONAL LEAGUE 8/5/94 between the time when baseball in Britain was popular and the time when it will again acheive the support it deserves Bury Saints @ London Warriors Rex Phillips Essex Eagles @ Waltham Forest Angels Tonbridge Bobcats @ Lakenheath Yankees JUST LIKE IN ENGLAN~ 15/5/9" Bromley Blue Jays @ Bury Saints Across the pond in 'The Show', theories ranging from the profound Enfield Spartans @ Tonbridge Bobcats to the absurd, are being put forward to explain the early home run London Warriors @ Essex Eagles bonanza. Some claim the ball is livelier, though Rawlings deny any Waltham Forest Angels @ Lakenheath Yankees change in it's composition, whilst other's feel that expansion has diluted the pitching strength, by spreading the talent too thinly. ------Another darkly humorous theory suggests players are striving to - 8 - acheive high home run stats before the season is curtailed by industrial strife. LONDON WARR IORS LONDON WARRIORS NATIONAL LEAGUE SCHEDULE 1994 NATIONAL LEAGUE Sun 1st May away to Enfield Spartans L 9-10 TEAK ROSTER 1994 Sun 8th May HOKE TO BURY SAINTS Usual Fielding Position Uniform Number Sun 15th May away to Essex Eagles Rupert Armitage Rightfield 20 Sun 22nd Kay Harry Atwood Second Base/Shortstop 12 Sun 29th May away to Waltham Forest Angels Alan Bloomfield Catcher/Second Base 4 Sun 5th June HOKE TO BROMLEY BLUE JAYS Cody Cain Pitcher/First Base 19 Sun 12th June away to Lakenheath Yankees Steve Demain Rightfield 16 Sun 19th June HOME TO TONBRIDGE BOBCATS Oliver Heidecker Third Base/Second Base 14 Sun 26th June Rain date & revised schedule starts. Steve Juhase Rightfield 16 Sun 3rd July HOME Richard Kemp Leftfield/Centrefield 17 Sun 10th July away Kevin Murphy Leftfield/Centrefield 18 Sun 17th July HOME Carlos Rodriguez Centrefield/Rightfield 15 Sun 24th July Alan Smith Pitcher/First Base 8 Sun 31st July away Stanley Smulders Rightfield/Leftfield 15 Sun 7th August Brad Thompson Catcher 6 Sun 14th August HOKE Dean Ward Third Base 5 Sun 21st August HOKE Sun 28th August away Sun 4th September away SUBSCRIBE TO LINEDRIVE ! Sun 11th September If you would like to receive Linedrive ! on a regular basis, then CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY orFS send a cheque payable to P Ross for t1.25 per issue, Cine P & P>, or flO for 10 issues, to Linedrive !, Flat 2 'Thanescroft', Selborne r Sat 18th September Road, Croydon CRO 5JQ. Tel 081 686 7727. Sun 25th September Alternatively, follow the LONDON WARRIORS through the season and ' get your Linedrive ! FREE !!! ____ WHO SAID WHAT? _ I. The way sport has de\Jeloped in this country is a matter of history and it is really quite impossible to attempt to w'lpe LINED it all out and start again. 2. I thou~ht baseball was a sport when I bec~m'ea commis Volume III No.2 sioner. I was mistaken. The semi-bandih Own it. • 3. I am a fra id I pl~y no outdoor games at all, except do BASEBALL IN BRJTAIN 1994 minoes. I have somet;mes played dominoes outside French c.fes. 4-. rve. never seen a manager w'm a pennant. Players win pennants. 5. It was not 'Very wonderful that Catherine should prefer cricket, baseball, riding on horseback ,.nd running around the country to books. 6. In a. wa.y ~n umpire is like a woman. He makes Guick decision~, ne.ver reverses them and doesn't think you're safe when you're out. 7. The only real way you know you've been hred,',s when you arrj"e at the ball p:.rk and -hnd your n~me has been scrat.ehe.d trom the pa rk ing Ii st. BALL 8. Baseball gives every American boy a chance to excel, not. GAME just. to be as iood 4LS, but to be bette.r th4\n someone else. COME ANt> SeE This is the nature of man and th.e name of the ~2me.. THE i:l STARS Unforfunately the names belonging fo fhese quofaft'ons have ON SUNDAY become deprocessed. Can you do us a favour by ,..eprocessfng them and affach/ruj fhem to their re~pec.five 9uofahons? TRY ZERO GAL ANN USE A JET LIMITED LAWS CHIPPIN PERIL TRY MINI BALL RADIO CLEWS HYPER HANDCLAP SON'S PA DRANK RYE