Prince Harry reigns as underdogs of baseball 
knock it out the park

Somebody once excused themselves from talking to me at a party, only to join a conversation about the difference between fixed rate and variable mortgages instead.

At the time, I was explaining why getting ahead in the pitch count is so important. A fascinating subject. It came off the back of a monologue about the most effective use of the bunt. Truly riveting.

Alas, talking about baseball in the UK, to the vast majority of people, is about as interesting as reruns of old Covid-19 daily briefings. It is very much a case of ‘next slide(r) please’. That’s a top-drawer baseball joke, just for the record.

So, this week has been bizarre, to say the least. The very same friends and colleagues who constantly nibble at me with ‘fat blokes in pyjamas’ jibes all of a sudden want to talk about home runs.

The reason for this was simple. The Great Britain team won a game at the World Baseball Classic, an international tournament. It was a proper underdog story, which we love, plus we are all partial to a bit of glory hunting!

The lazy comparison would be to say it’s baseball’s answer to football’s World Cup, but it is not even on the same planet. It’s only in its fifth edition.

However, this was Britain’s first appearance, entering as rank outsiders, so when they beat Colombia 7-5 on Monday, it captured hearts and minds, and my parallel universe began.

CNN compared it to Ali beating Liston and the Miracle on Ice, while Drew Spencer’s side drew headlines in most of the UK national newspapers.

It is genuinely really exciting, with young Harry Ford, a top prospect at the Seattle Mariners, looking like he could do more for the profile of baseball in the UK than a thousand Metro columns from someone as dull as myself.

And what a name! He was actually born and bred in the shadow of the Ford plant in Dagenham, moving to the USA a year ago. Okay, no, he was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and, like so many members of this team, qualified through family who upped sticks and moved to the States. And so what? It was the best and right way to change the script, and many other sports have travelled this road before.

It is not the hometown of the player that interests me. It’s the hometown of the kid who might pick up a baseball bat off the back of the fairytale.

The whole squad, whether they were born in Birmingham, England or Birmingham, Alabama have embraced a very different red, white and blue and scenes of Ford donning a crown and cape after a home run and being mock knighted was just one of the moments that lit up an under-covered event.

He said: ‘My mom’s British but my dad is like really, really British.’ That’ll do for me, Harry. See you Friday for fish n chips and a pint of bitter!

I’ll not get into the weeds on this but huge kudos to coach Spencer and his team for all that they have done, and to those who have gone before but continue to fly the flag for British baseball as they move on. Liam Carroll and Brad Marcelino to name but two.

Baseball is not going to explode in the UK overnight. There’s no weekly Pitch Of The Day show coming any time soon to the BBC but this exciting young team have added precious profile to the sport here, as well as giving true inspiration to those who play it, and pride to people like me who just love to watch it.

For more information about how you can enjoy baseball or get your kids involved, head to the British Baseball Federation and the rest is a walk in the ballpark.

Anyway, seeing as there’s a genuine interest now, let me tell you all about the ground rule double! No? You’re going over there to talk to that person about motorway traffic? Okay.

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