1939 Claxton Shield

The 1939 Claxton Shield was the sixth annual Claxton Shield, an Australian national baseball tournament. It was held at Richmond Cricket Ground, Albert Ground,[1] South Melbourne Cricket Ground[2] and National Park[3] in Melbourne from 29 July to 5 August,[4] the second time Melbourne had hosted the Shield. New South Wales won the Shield for the third time, successfully defending their title from the previous two years. Queensland joined the other four states for the first time in the tournament. The other participating teams were Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia.[5] It was also the first year an Australia national team was picked primarily based on the Championships.[6]

1939 Claxton Shield
Australia Interstate Baseball Carnival
Tournament details
SportBaseball
CountryAustralia
Hosts Melbourne, VIC
Teams5
Dates29 July – 5 August
Defending champions New South Wales (1938)
Final positions
Champions
 New South Wales (3rd title)
Runner-up
 Western Australia
Third place
 Victoria
Fourth place South Australia
Fifth place Queensland
← 1938
1946 →

Format

As had been the case in the 1937 tournament, the four teams played a round-robin schedule, meeting each other team once, with two competition points were on offer in each game. The points were awarded as follows:

  • Win – two points
  • Tie – one point
  • Loss – no points

At the end of these preliminary games, the top two teams played each other to determine the champions, while the remaining two teams faced each other to determine third place. In the event of a tie between teams in terms of points, the tiebreaker used would have been the net runs for and against, with the team achieving the greater value placing in the higher position.

Results

Preliminaries
Team Points Wins Ties Losses For-Against
 Western Australia 63–1+16
 New South Wales 5211+23
 Victoria 5211+20
 South Australia 42–2+22
 Queensland 0––4-81
29 July 1939 Western Australia  2 – 1  South Australia Richmond Cricket Ground
29 July 1939 Victoria  4 – 4 (F/11)  New South Wales Richmond Cricket Ground
31 July 1939 Queensland  0 – 23  New South Wales Albert Ground
31 July 1939 Victoria  2 – 8  Western Australia Albert Ground
1 August 1939 Victoria  6 – 5  South Australia Albert Ground
1 August 1939 Western Australia  11 – 1  Queensland Albert Ground
2 August 1939 Victoria  25 – 0  Queensland Albert Ground
2 August 1939 New South Wales  3 – 4  South Australia Albert Ground
3 August 1939 New South Wales  2 – 1  Western Australia South Melbourne Cricket Ground
3 August 1939 South Australia  24 – 1  Queensland South Melbourne Cricket Ground

Third place final
5 August 1939 South Australia  2 – 5  Victoria National Park

Championship game
5 August 1939 New South Wales  1 – 0  Western Australia National Park
 1939 Claxton Shield Champions 

New South Wales
3rd title

All-Australian team

At the conclusion of the tournament, representatives from the Australian Baseball Council selected an All-Australian team. Though the selected team did not actually play together, it was the first time an Australian team had been selected.[7]

PositionPlayer
Pitcher J. Lanfear
C. Puckett
Catcher L. Miller
A. Goodwin
First Base A. Barras
Second Base F. Catt
Third Base W. Rankin
Short Stop R. Corby
Outfield N. Blanche
S. Yum
J. Denison
Utility G. Borwick
Manager D. Mould

References
  1. "Baseball Teams Here To-Day". The Argus. Melbourne. 28 July 1939. p. 16. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
  2. "Baseball Win To S.A. – N.S.W. Surprised". The Argus. Melbourne. 3 August 1939. p. 21. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
  3. "Ground For Baseball Final Changed". The Argus. Melbourne. 5 August 1939. p. 16. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
  4. "Baseball – Entertaining The Teams". The Argus. Melbourne. 11 July 1939. p. 15. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
  5. Clark 2003, pp.52–4
  6. Harris 2009, p.28
  7. "Baseball Games To Continue – Australian Team". The Argus. Melbourne. 8 August 1939. p. 15. Retrieved 6 January 2010.

Bibliography
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