1956 Claxton Shield

1956 Claxton Shield
Tournament details
Sport	Baseball
Country	Australia
Hosts	Adelaide, SA
Teams	4
Dates	28 July - 4 August
Defending champions	New South Wales (1955)
Final positions
Champions	Victoria (5th title)
Runner-up	Western Australia
Third place	South Australia
Fourth place	New South Wales
← 1955

The 1956 Claxton Shield was the 17th annual Claxton Shield, it was held in Adelaide, South Australia. The participants were South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia. The series was won by Victoria in due to a controversial decision in the final game. They claimed their fifth Shield title. The 1956 Olympic Baseball team was selected from the tournament.^[1]

Controversy

The final game of the Shield erupted in controversy when South Australia played Victoria. Victoria stood with a 3-0 record, Western Australia with a 2-1 as well as South Australia. If South Australia won against Victoria in the final game, the winner would be determined on runs for and against.

The game was tied 4-4 at the end and went to extra innings, with South Australia making the break through, going ahead 5-4 going into the bottom of 12. The South Australian team realised that a 1 run win would not be enough to win the series and needed to score more runs, therefore they had to allow Victoria to score so they could chance a bigger win in the 13th inning. With a Victorian runner on third base the pitcher attempted a pickoff, deliberately throwing the ball away. The umpire called a dead ball and sent the runner back to third. The next pitch, the South Australian pitcher deliberately balked, which would have allowed the run to score, but the home plate umpire called the game over and gave the game to Victoria 9-0 on the technicality South Australia brought the game into disrepute.

Appeals by the South Australian team to the Australian Baseball Corporation were denied, so the championship was awarded to Victoria.^[2]

References

↑ Clark, Joe (2003). A History of Australian Baseball: Time and Game. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-6440-2.
↑ Clark, Joe (2003). A History of Australian Baseball: Time and Game. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-6440-2.

Claxton Shield

Australian Baseball League (1989-1999) International Baseball League of Australia Australian Baseball League (2010-) List of champions

Series	1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 ~~1940~~ ~~1941~~ ~~1942~~ ~~1943~~ ~~1944~~ ~~1945~~ 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 ABL Championships IBLA Championships 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Teams	Australia Provincial New South Wales Patriots Northern Territory Buffaloes Perth Heat Queensland Rams South Australia Victoria Aces

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