Western Australian baseball team – 1952 Claxton Shield Series champions
A photograph of the 1952 Western Australian baseball team. The black and white photo is mounted on cream-coloured cardboard. Below the photograph are signatures in blue ink of 11 of the 17 team members pictured.
The 1952 Australian Baseball Championship was the 13th annual Claxton Shield Series; an Australian national baseball tournament. It was held in Perth, Western Australia at the Western Australian Cricket Association (WACA) ground from August 2-10. The participants were South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia. The series was won for the first time by Western Australia.
Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1952_Claxton_Shield]
Details
Details
[Signatures]
'Gil Eddington'
'Alan Bell'
'B. Crutchett'
'G. Shom'
'E. Goodwin'
'Alex Barras'
'Roy Gooch'
'Geo. Dickinson'
'A. Meloncelli'
'Don Callanan'
'Bruce Jeffreys'
Western Australia first competed in the Australian Baseball Championship in 1937. They won their first Claxton Shield title in 1952. This is a photograph of the winning team:
Back row: Gil Eddington (Manager), Charlie Puckett, Ron Frankish, Geoff Forsaith, Eric Goodwin, Alex Barras (Captain), George Dickinson, Andy Meloncelli, Bruce Jeffreys.
Front row: Basil Rigg, Alan Bell, Brian Crutchett, Ben Shom, Jim Dore, Roy Gooch, Don Callanan, Jack Warburton.
During the carnival Western Australian pitcher Charlie Puckett broke an Australian record when he pitched without change for 16 innings against Victoria. Puckett struck out the Victorian side 11 times and held it to eight safe hits. Western Australia defeated Victoria 1‒0. Puckett's hit in the 16th innings was also responsible for the winning run of the game. The duration of the game was also an Australian record for this series.
When the All-Australian team was chosen following the championship, five Western Australians were chosen by the panel of selectors; namely D. Callanan, J. Dore, G. Dickinson, C. Puckett and G. (Ben) Shom.
National Library of Australia [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/49045575]
National Library of Australia [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/49046048]
The photograph was donated to the Baseball WA Museum & Archives by team member George Dickinson's family.
This rare original photograph of the first Western Australian baseball team to win the Claxton Shield, has both historical and social significance. Its rarity is further enhanced by the original signatures of 11 of the 17 team members. It has excellent provenance, having belonged to Australian Baseball Hall of Fame and Baseball WA Hall of Fame inductee George Dickinson.
Other items from Baseball WA
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1951 Western Australian Claxton Shield Series baseball team
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Western Australian Baseball League catch card
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1947 Western Australian Claxton Shield Series baseball team and officials
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1978 West Australian Junior Baseball League State Pee-Wee Series team
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1962 Western Australian Claxton Shield Series baseball team
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1971 Western Australian Claxton Shield Series baseball team
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1972 Western Australian Claxton Shield Series baseball team
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1978 Western Australian Claxton Shield Series baseball team
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1979 Western Australian Claxton Shield Series baseball team
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1980 Western Australian Claxton Shield Series baseball team
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1963 Western Australian Claxton Shield Series baseball team
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1974 Western Australian Claxton Shield Series baseball team
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