Baseball WA

The real beginnings of baseball in Western Australia started in the mid 1930’s. The major innovation was Western Australia’s official entry into the National Claxton Shield Championship Series in 1937 in Adelaide. At that time, baseball in the Eastern States was far more developed with regular club competitions, interstate games a regular occurrence and games against visiting American teams.

Up to that point in Western Australia, games had been played locally and the WA State team had improved its standard through games against South Australia and Victoria in 1936.

Instrumental to the development of baseball during the 1930’s were the efforts of Bert Kortlang, a Victorian businessman who had lived in the United States and saw that baseball would improve the skills of cricketers. The standard of baseball was significantly raised in 1936 by WA Newspapers, who formed the Press Team and recruited players from Victoria and Queensland to contest a 6–team local competition.

From humble beginnings, the State has now won the Claxton Shield title on 15 occasions with the Perth Heat a very dominant organisation in the professional league. Western Australia has provided the national team with numerous international players and also provided an opportunity for younger players to aspire to a major league baseball career in the USA.

The current Baseball WA Board oversees the development and management of the game in Western Australia. The Baseball WA Museum and Archives (BWAMA) is an initiative by the Baseball WA’s Heritage Committee.

The Baseball WA Museum and Archives comprises baseball memorabilia objects such as baseball bats, caps, playing jerseys, Claxton Shield programs, blazers, pennants, medallions, and trophies. It also includes documentary archives and the beginnings of a photographic collection. BWAMA is in the early stages of establishment and we welcome the opportunity to register and showcase our collection via this Collections WA digital platform.