How baseball kept Bish on right track

RUGBY MATTERS

A weekly look at the game’s other talking points

BRENDAN GALLAGHER

Ken Poole, the head of economic development for Cardiff City Council, has just penned a short illustrated history of St Illtydians Baseball Club, which wouldn’t ordinarily concern this column overly … except on closer inspection it is very much a rugby story as well.

Baseball used to be big in Wales and in particular Cardiff for a period during the 1980s when the Old Illtydians were among the best teams in the Principality and certainly the highest profile. The latter was because among their ranks were some of the biggest personalities in Welsh rugby – not least Mark Ring, David Bishop, Terry Holmes, Paul “Pablo’ Rees, and a host of other seriously good club rugby players.

And to cut a long story short the reason for that is that the Old Boys, already a well-established junior rugby club that produced a conveyor belt of players for Cardiff and others, suddenly decided to take baseball seriously.

The team had existed since the late 60s largely as a means of keeping burly rugby players prone to putting a few pounds on in tolerably decent nick during the summer months before the dreaded pre-season training/torture started every August and, to a certain extent, that ethos never disappeared but gradually, as they unearthed better players, they climbed the leagues.

Being full of elite rugby players they didn’t lack a competitive edge and it soon got to the point where winning rather than just keeping fit took over.

Ringo was a natural in all sports but only really learned baseball after joining the club on spec – he quickly developed into a brilliant fielder and talented batter and earned Wales baseball honours, once taking the MOM award in a baseball international against England. The Bish meanwhile was a demon fast bowler and useful batter and won four caps against the English, bowling them out for 20 in just 17 minutes in one innings at Roath Park.

“It was a community thing really – Irish Catholic Cardiff if you like,” recalls Bishop. “I was always told it started with the dockers down in the docks playing pick up games with oranges but perhaps that’s just folklore.

Home run: Mark Ring in baseball action for Wales against England

PICTURE: South Wales Echo

“St Illtyd was the big Catholic secondary school in the east of Cardiff and all the Catholic primary schools fed into it. We concentrated on rugby in the winter and baseball in the summer although there was the option of football and cricket if you wanted it.

“After school quite a few of us played baseball for some of the more established top teams in the summer – Iplayed for St Albans and Llanrumney Youth club – but there came a point when we all returned to the Old Boys and brought some mates as well. For me the catalyst was when I came out of Aylesbury jail in 1981 and Ken Poole asked me to play. He probably sensed I could do with being around some friendly faces.

“The rugby connection became very big. As well as Ringo, Pablo and Holmsie we had other classy Cardiff RFC players like Dave Barry, Mike Murphy, Kevin Trevett and at one stage Terry Charles while there was also Brendan MaCaloon playing up at Newbridge and Paul Gorin, possibly the best player of all, who played a bit at Glamorgan Wanderers. Philip Neil – Nelly – was another one. He was captain down at CIACS. The Cardiff Catholic connection was the common theme, most of us had gone to the local Catholic schools and played sport with or against each other for years.

“The clubhouse scene afterwards was bloody good, a much more relaxed atmosphere than the post-match rugby swills. We moved around a bit taking our custom to various boozers but the ones I remember are the New Dock Tavern Broadway and the Royal Oak. I was never a great drinker, three or four pints and that was me finished, but it was very lighthearted and good craic after the baseball with the likes of Pablo and Kevin Trevett holding court.

“As a bowler and a batter I loved it. I bowled pretty quick and learned a lot at the feet of Frank “Hanky’ Sanders who was a veteran who knew all the tricks of the trade. The banter and sledging out there was fierce, worse than rugby games. You had to be able to take it as well as dish it out.”

Bishop had first promise with Llanrumney Youth club in 1977 when he was voted Welsh Youth player of the year and 1988, after his heroics against England, he won the Welsh senior player of the year. That was the season he also returned, battered and bruised, from his Hull KR debut to help bowl out Caerau Ely in the Welsh Brewers Cup Final at Roath in front of a big crowd with the game televised live, Alun Wilkins providing the commentary.

“Baseball slotted in really well most of the time other than when I was off on a summer tour. Rugby-wise there would be a few Sevens tournaments at the end of the season and then some more in August pre-season but in between it was baseball and boxing work down the gym for me. I never really got out of shape so I never had to get back into shape and the fitness sessions at Pooler never intimidated me. I arrived there fit so avoided the agony.

“The baseball team was part of my life during all my tough times – getting out of prison, coming back from a broken neck, being banned, being ignored by Wales and even when I went North with Hull KR I came back for a few games including that final. I am really pleased Ken has taken the trouble to get it down on paper. The Old Boys teams is no more now but the memories live on.”