Preston North End Baseball Club were a short lived English professional baseball club, who played their home games at Deepdale, competing for the 1890 National League of Baseball of Great Britain. Preston North End Baseball Club Limited were formally established on 21 June 1890, with £2,000 in £10 shares, with the Directors being Thomas Slaney, William Sudell, J. Brown (both of Preston North End), Morton Betts, Jim Hart and Newton Crane, and were registered by Richard Barnes.
Ballpark
Due to being owned by the President of Preston North End and playing games during summer, when football was not played, the baseball club were able to use Deepdale Stadium.
1890 National League of Baseball of Great Britain
Preston hosted Derby Baseball Club on 21 June 1890, the first baseball game to be played at Deepdale, with Derby winning 6–9. A crowd estimated to be either 300 or 500 spectators cheered on Preston in their second game, versus Aston Villa at Perry Barr Stadium, Birmingham. It was noted that this crowd was nearly three times larger than the opening day attendance. Interestingly, it was reported that "it was openly whispered around the field on Saturday that Mr. Fancis Ley, the presiding deity of the Derby baseball club had promised the Deepdale players so much a man in the event of taking down the Brums". This is telling, as the league ended acrimoniously, amid accusations of cheating. Things remained unsettled for Preston in the early weeks of the championship, when some of the players, who had been paid to practice since May, reportedly refused to sign professional terms for the club.
In August Preston travelled with Aston Villa to put on an exhibition game at Cathkin Park in Glasgow. At this point the captain of Preston, Leech Maskrey returned to his native United States, having been presented with a gold watch chain and fob by his teammates. In November 'Sir' John Woods, Chairman of both Preston North End and Preston North End Baseball Club visited Philadelphia, and made comments to the Philadelphia Inquirer regarding the success of baseball in Britain, comments which were subsequently picked up and printed by the local press in Preston. Woods appears to have claimed that his baseball club had won the national championship and that his football were the "champion association football club of the world"! Woods went on to praise his long time partner in organising sports in Preston, William Sudell, for his efforts in establishing baseball in England, stating that Spalding had personally come to Preston North End to ask for Sudell and Woods to take on the responsibility for creating a national baseball championship. Financially the season had been a success, with Preston charging spectators a 3d. admission fee per game, and "their expenses were nothing like that amount".
Professional roster
H. Brown – Right field (also was an umpire for some games of the championship) J. Brown – Pitcher ? Colford – Short stop and right field Samuel Dobson – Centre field George Drummond – Right field ? Gillespie – Short stop, second base, right field and pitcher Billy Hendry – Second base and first base Billy Hogan – Right field, pitcher and short stop W. Livesey – Third base Leech Maskrey – Catcher (Also player-coach and captain) Moses Sanders – Left field William Stewart – Right field, first base and centre field James Trainer – First base
W. Livesey was a sprinter of some regional notoriety who played as a reserve for Preston North End, local rugby union and as a professional baseball player for Preston North End. He was killed in 1893.
J. Brown, Colford and Maskrey were all American professionals.
1890 Amateur Championship Baseball Cup winners
In August 1890 an amateur side was formed. On 29 September, at Perry Barr Stadium in Birmingham, the Preston amateur side met with their counterparts from Aston Villa. Preston scored an amazing 42 runs, which was said to be a British record. F. Brown, captain of the amateur side, was presented with the Amateur Championship Baseball Cup of Great Britain, the trophy was provided by Spalding and Co. and was put on display in Preston Town Hall.
Amateur roster
F. Brown – Catcher
W. Brown – Catcher
Fred Dewhurst – Outfielder (unknown position) John Drummond – Second base J. Eastham – Right field Jack Gordon – Centre field Robert Holmes – Pitcher J. Healey – Left field Bob Howarth – Outfielder (unknown position) Bob Kelso – Short stop W. McKenna – Short stop Jimmy Ross – Third base Nick Ross – First base