1979 Australian Baseball Team at Goodwill Series in Japan – photograph

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Overview

A colour photograph of the 1979 Australian Baseball Team in Japan. The team members are formally attired in their uniform of a tan blazer, white shirt, team tie and dark brown trousers.

The photo was taken at night with the team standing on the baseball field in front of the illuminated scoreboard which displays a welcome message.

Historical information

Members of this 1979 Goodwill Series Australian baseball team are:
Back row (L-R): Murray Westphal (WA), Bob Ossey (WA), Kevin Greatrex (SA), John Kyle (WA), Allan Jones (Umpire), Michael Klinger (VIC), Geoff Martin (QLD), Mark Peters (SA), David Ziersch (SA), John Hodges (VIC), Alan Albury (QLD), Lionel Harris (NSW), Greg Elkson (SA), Sandy Rennie (Physio).
Front row: Don Knapp (WA), Ray Michell (WA), Graham Ward (WA), Gary Challen (SA), Don Kyle (WA), John Galloway (SA).
Absent from the photo is Rod Byrne (WA Coach).

A report in the 'Canberra Times' of Sunday 16 September 1979 reads:
'Australians triumph
NAGOYA, Japan, Saturday (AAP-AP). — Kevin Greatrex hit two home runs and Mark Peters smashed a solid homer, leading the Australian national baseball team to a 4-3 victory yesterday over the Mitsubishi Nagoya team at Toyoda Sports Centre Stadium in Nagoya, central Japan.
It was the Australian team's first victory against one defeat in a six-game goodwill series in Japan. Another game against the Toyota motor team was washed out.'

[National Library of Australia - https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/110598161]

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-100-2020.404

Item type

Photographs

Themes

People
Photography
Social History
Sport

Material

Photographic Paper

Width

25.5000 cm

Height or length

20.2000 cm

Inscriptions and markings

'Welcome Australian Team' [Illuminated on scoreboard]

Contextual Information

Of the 18 team members, 7 were Western Australian, together with Western Australian coach Rod Byrne.

This photograph was donated to the Baseball WA Museum & Archives by two members of that team, Bob Ossey and Don Knapp.

Keywords

Australian Baseball Team

Australian Baseball Team Uniform

Goodwill Baseball Series

Japan-Australia Goodwill Series 1979

Sports Uniform

Nagoya, Japan

Toyoda Sports Centre Stadium, Nagoya, Japan

Statement of significance

This image is of historical importance as it identifies elite baseball players who represented Australia in an international competition in 1979. Seven of the team members, as well as the coach Rod Byrne, are Western Australians, which is of special significance for the Baseball WA Museum & Archives' collection. The item's provenance comes from the two donors of the photograph, who were members of the team.

Primary significance criteria

Historic significance

Social or spiritual significance

Comparative significance criteria

Object’s condition or completeness

Rare or representative

Well provenanced

Baseball WA

Organisation Details
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