Herts Baseball Club has confirmed that Geoff Hare has been appointed as the new manager of the Herts Londoners.

Hare is one of the club’s longest serving members. His baseball career spans four decades during which he played for Hemel Red Sox in the 1980s and then for the Herts Falcons where he was the starting shortstop.

In 2004 he recorded the rare feat of going through an entire season without striking out. Since 2005 he has progressed through the umpiring ranks and has become one of the most respected umpires in the National Baseball League.

Despite a busy umpiring schedule, he was still finding time to remain firmly involved as a Herts coach running the very successful Wednesday Night Baseball programme and being an ever-present coach every Spring as the Herts teams prepare for the season ahead.

This is a new challenge for Hare and it comes at a time of rapid growth for the club so he will be working with many players who are new to the club, but there will be many familiar faces too.

Londoners’ inaugural season last year was in the Triple-A League but, as announced earlier this week, the club made a last-minute decision to move the Hawks up from Double-A to Triple-A and Londoners down to Double-A. Some players from last year’s Londoners team are expected to be assigned to the Herts Hawks in Triple-A team and some of last year’s Hawks have already expressed interest in playing at the club’s Basing Hill Ballpark in North West London, but it is still too early to predict what the five Herts rosters will look like.

The first opportunity to see the Herts Londoners under their new manager will be in the Herts Spring League which starts in March.

The Herts managers have left plenty of room in the rosters so that new players are able to join the teams in the coming months. Existing players who have not reactivated their registration for the 2020 season can do so here. New players can register for the new season here or, if you would like to take part in one of the upcoming open sessions to give baseball a try and help you decide whether to join the club, then contact us for more details.

Earlier this evening Herts Baseball Club issued the following statement regarding the Herts Londoners:Friday, 16 August 2019

On Tuesday, 13 August 2019, Herts Baseball Club submitted an appeal in relation to the way the playoff places had been allocated in the BBF Triple-A League, after the Herts Londoners finished in a 3-way tie for the two remaining places.

We have now received the decision of the BBF Appeals Committee confirming that our appeal has been rejected and therefore the Herts Londoners have been eliminated from the Triple-A League Postseason.

This is a heavy blow for the Herts Londoners players, in particular, who have worked so hard to earn their place in the Postseason, but they and our club as a whole accept and respect the decision of the BBF.

We have seen a large number of comments on social networks, speculating about the grounds for our appeal.

In the interest of accuracy, below we have included links to our appeal document and the decision of the BBF Appeals Committee. We hoped the BBF will also publish the decision in accordance with its procedures, but we feel that it is important to publish it now in order to avoid any further speculation and inaccurate information being posted on social networks.

We understand that the Appeals Committee was made up of the other six teams in the Triple-A League. We also understand that the Appeals Committee may not have received a copy of our appeal document and therefore they may not have been aware of the grounds on which our club is appealing against the Triple-A playoff places.

This dispute was never about an argument with a specific club, and we have no ill will towards any of the Triple-A teams which have gone forward to the postseason. Our concern was that published rules were not being followed, and we feel this sets a worrying  precedent for the future governance of our leagues. We hope our position on this case, and on the underlying issue, will be clarified by the documents we are now releasing.

We thank the BBF and in particular the BBF Board members who had the difficult task of stepping into the vacant role of BBF Senior League Commissioner at a very short notice.

The Herts Londoners extend their gratitude to the other six teams in the Triple-A League for a very enjoyable season and some truly memorable games.

We take the opportunity to wish all the very best to the five remaining teams in the Triple-A League Postseason.

· LINK: Herts Baseball Club appeal document

· LINK: BBF Appeals Committee decision on the appeal by Herts Baseball Club

Note: In accordance with data protection guidelines, names, email addresses and other personal information has been removed from the document links above.

 

Herts Baseball Club

Herts Baseball Club passed another milestone on Sunday, May 19th, and did it with a bit of style and drama.

The Herts Londoners, in their inaugural season in Triple-A, played their first game at their new home in north-west London – and came away with a walkoff win against the defending champions.

The Londoners were at home against the Richmond Knights at Basing Hill Ballpark, close to Brent Cross, which was opened this year as Herts expanded to cope with demand. Until now – while final preparations were made – the team has been playing its home fixtures at Grovehill.

Now they were really coming home.

Herts was delighted to welcome local councillor, Anne Clarke, to perform the ceremonial honours and throw out the first pitch. She had a chance to warm up and get some tips from our expert coaches – and admitted she had been practising!

“This is a really positive project”, she said. “It’s great to see the park being used regularly, and to have a sports team make it their home.”

After the teams were introduced, and the national anthem was played, Councillor Clarke — watched by her family as well as a number of spectators – threw a strike to Herts catcher, Andrew Roberts.

So how was the experience of pitching? “It was a lot of fun!”, she said with surprise. “The response from people in the park has been really good, and they have enjoyed stopping by to watch the game”.

Herts baseball club hopes to develop the site in the future, adding a pitching mound and backstop. The club has already signed up a record number of players this season, and it’s expected that the arrival of the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox in London this summer will see a fresh surge of interest in the sport.

And so, to the games….

Londoners’ manager Wade Lynch was starting pitcher for Game 1, and despite solid work from him, Richmond came out swinging and built an early lead. It was 6-0 in the middle of the 3rd.

Dany Bueno put Herts right back in contention with a 2-run home run in the bottom of the frame. It was one of his 2 hits in the game, and he drove in three. The contest became tight again.

But Richmond blew it open with 10 runs in the sixth, and secured the victory 16-3. Londoners had only 10 on their roster for the day so they could perhaps be forgiven for thinking a long day was ahead.

But redemption was to come …..

There was no score in the early exchanges in Game 2. Chris Gregory was now pitching for Herts, and the Londoners gave him a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the third. He drove in one himself, to follow hits from Bueno and Hector Miguel.

The Knights came right back, surging ahead 7-3. But on a day of historic beginnings, Londoners were not going to end up on the wrong end of this result. In the bottom of the seventh, Kimiyoshi Saionji drove in Gregory to tie the game at 7 apiece. Into extra innings it went.

Richmond couldn’t score in the top of the eighth. When Herts’ Dany Bueno came up to bat with one out, he was intentionally walked – he had added a second home run in Game 2, and driven in 2 runs. The Knights were taking no chances.

Instead they opted to face Darren Priest, who had entered the game off the sub’s bench. He normally plies his baseball trade for the Herts Eagles in Single-A, but had stepped up to help the club.

“It’s all a bit of a blur now, but I’m pretty sure the count was 1-1”, he recalls. “The pitcher winds up… the tension is crippling. The ball comes in and I take a swing…CRACK!”

A hard ground ball was driven past the feet of the shortstop, and Priest was heading for second, Bueno off and running to third. Richmond saw the danger of the winning run and threw to third. But the ball hit Bueno and went out of play and he advanced to home. Game over. 8-7.

The Londoners’ victory – their first at Basing Hill – continues their excellent start to their season. It was also part of an exceptional weekend for Herts.

In the National Baseball League, the Falcons leapfrogged the Essex Arrows by sweeping their double-header at Townmead. Manager Cris Hiche credited a great all-round performance by the pitching staff and the defence for securing 8-4 and 9-5 wins.

The Herts Hawks won 2 games – bouncing back from the previous week’s defeat – while the Herts Raptors claimed their first victory of the season in Single-A thanks to a stellar pitching performance from young Nico Durer. He struck out 9 London Mustangs batters – including the first three he faced!

 

The Herts Londoners are preparing for their first home league game at Basing Hill Ballpark in North West London this Sunday.  They will face the reigning BBF Triple-A League national champions, Richmond Knights. The two teams already played against each other last month in Richmond and the Londoners caused a major upset by winning both games of that doubleheader.

They have continued their impressive performances and are currently second in the standings, one game back on the Essex Redbacks.

BBF Triple-A League Standings

“We are looking forward to the future of baseball in North West London and are aware of what that means for our club. We need to begin this chapter by playing hard and making this new field our home with winning performances” said Herts Londoners’ manager, Wade Lynch.

Although the work to develop Basing Hill into a high standard baseball venue has only just begun, this first home game for the Herts Londoners represents an important milestone for this project. To mark the occasion London Borough of Barnet Councillor Anne Clarke will be the guest of honour who will throw out the ceremonial first pitch.

The ceremonial first pitch is a baseball tradition and it is usually thrown by guests of honour such as Presidents of the United States. Over the years this has also included British dignitaries such as Prince Harry and London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, who threw out the first pitch at MLB games in New York during recent official visits to the US.

This new baseball diamond was opened this year as part of the club’s preparations for the MLB London Series to provide extra capacity to accommodate the growing number of adult and youth participants interested in playing baseball. That interest is expected to be at its peak in the weeks during and after the two MLB games between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees which will be played at the London Stadium on 29-30 June. With no other baseball venues in North West London, residents in this densely-populated region now have the opportunity to come and try baseball and join the Herts baseball teams playing in the British adult and youth leagues.

The pre-game ceremony this Sunday will start at 11:45am and the first game of the doubleheader is at 12pm. Admission is free.  The venue currently does not have seating for spectators and fans are advised to bring chairs or other seating. Basing Hill Ballpark address, transport links etc.