Darwin baseball league

Established in 1953, the Darwin Baseball Association and latterly Darwin Baseball League (DBL) is the governing body of amateur baseball in Darwin, Northern Territory. The DBL is governed by Baseball NT and ultimately, the Australian Baseball Federation.

Baseball in Darwin had its beginnings courtesy of Japanese anglers and the American servicemen settled here. Prior to 1953, baseball was a disorganised social get-together. An association was formed and regulated in 1953, thanks to a basketball fan named Charles See-Kee and Wellington Chin, who were both prominent members of the Darwin Chinese community. The game was immediately popular, despite the area's limited population and urban areas.

In sports-conscious Darwin, the original baseballers were already involved with other local sports, mainly Australian rules football and basketball. Darwin baseball originally comprised competitive matches amongst only four teams: DCRC (Darwin Chinese Recreation Club) Red Sox, St. Marys, RAAF Braves and Dodgers. DCRC and St. Marys players were all "settled" residents of Darwin, whereas Dodgers were mostly Government Dept. of Works and Housing employees or bank clerks on two-year postings. RAAF Braves were predominantly defence force personnel.

Games were played on the old Darwin Oval, located on the Esplanade opposite the Hotel Darwin. The playing surface was a levelled out, rock-hard dirt, devoid of any grass, presenting a risk of skin injury to baserunners. It was a time wasn't a properly-shaped baseball field and children chased foul balls that went over the cliff behind the back net and into the sea.

Within two years the competition had grown to 7 teams, remaining through to the mid-1960s. Dodgers disappeared, to be replaced by Waratahs in 1956, which was joined by former Dodger players.

The early 1960s saw a shuffle of playing venues from Kahlin Oval, Waratah Oval, RAAF Base Squadron Oval, Fred Smith Oval, Nightcliff Oval before settling at Gardens Oval in 1965, where the home of baseball would remain for nearly 25 years. Up until then, the competition had always been conducted during the wet season, except in 1956, when a supplementary dry season was conducted at Coonawarra (opposite the Naval Base) to test player support. It was not until the mid-1960s that dry-season baseball was revived, with the league running additional competitions to the regular wet season competition. However, in 1968, with players tired of playing baseball year-round, clubs finally opted for Darwin baseball to remain a wet season sport. It was not until 1984, when the baseball season reverted to dry season competition, which it remains.

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