1936 – Baseball at Crown Flatts
Professional Baseball at Crown Flatt
In the summer of 1936, when Crown Flatt became the home of Dewsbury Royals Professional Baseball Club. Dewsbury Royals were founder members of the Yorkshire Baseball League.
The first game was on Saturday May 9th, 1936. The Dewsbury Reporter noted that, “Local sportsmen will have their first opportunity to see the game that is all the rage in America at Crown Flatt this weekend when Dewsbury Royals, the newly formed baseball team, will play their first Game with Hull in the Yorkshire League. Players have been busily practicing all week under the direction of WT Graham who has played the game in Canada, and until more local players have learnt the game, Dewsbury will have the assistance of Jack Pomerantz, an American professional pitcher, Sam Berman, an American professional catcher, Towler Cox of Settle, who has experience of the American game in Canada, and Graham.”
Despite this a large crowd turned out to watch the game. The Reporter noted, “Probably 80 per cent of the those who visited Crown Flatt last Saturday to see Dewsbury Royals play their first League baseball game out of curiosity. It was a pity, therefore, that conditions were so miserable, or by now there might be many more baseball fans in the Heavy Woollen District. Even as things turned out, a bitterly raw afternoon, with an icy wind with rain at times, most people would have their appetites whetted, for there was no doubt about it, the game made some appeal. Compared with the usual sporting spectacles at Crown Flatt, bad as they were last season I do not think baseball is as thrilling as Rugby League football, but when Heavy Woollen District people are sufficiently versed in the laws as to appreciate the finer points of the game, and, more important still, when some of the Dewsbury players themselves understand its possibilities better, the game should command a good following.” (16 May 1936).
However, the summer of 1936 was the first and last for professional baseball in Dewsbury – the team had a run of poor results and never won the hearts of the Dewsbury public.
More information can be found in this interesting article by Ian Smyth
Professional Baseball in Dewsbury (sabr.org)
