1934 Claxton Shield

The 1934 Claxton Shield was the first annual Claxton Shield, an Australian national baseball tournament. It was held at the Adelaide Oval^[1] and Hindmarsh Oval^[2][3] in Adelaide from 5 to 12 August, and was won by the hosts South Australia.^[4][5] The other participating teams were New South Wales and Victoria.^[6]

Australia Interstate Baseball Carnival

1934
Tournament information
Date	5 – 12 August
Host(s)	Adelaide, SA
Teams	3
Defending champions	Inaugural tournament
Final positions
Champion	South Australia (1st title)
1st runner-up	New South Wales
2nd runner-up	Victoria
1935 →

The tournament was the first of what would be an ongoing series of regular national tournaments. Prior to 1934, there had been interstate tournaments, where one state would host only one of the others for a series of games, and there had been two national tournaments, the first in 1910 with New South Wales, Tasmania and Victoria, the second in 1912 which also included South Australia, both of which were won by New South Wales.^[7] Though the specifics of the tournament's format would change over the years, with the exception of the suspension due to World War II, the tournament would continue through to 1988 as the highest level of baseball in the country.^[5]

Format

Each team met each other team twice over the course of the week. In each game, two competition points were on offer to the teams. The points were awarded as follows:

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

At the end of the tournament, the team with the most points was declared the winner, and awarded the Claxton Shield. As there was a tie between New South Wales and Victoria for second place at the end of the tournament, their net for and against was used to split them, hence New South Wales finishing second.^[8]

Results

Pos	Team	Pld	W	T	L	RF	RA	RD	Pts
1	South Australia	4	3	0	1	14	10	+4	9		—	2–1	4–2
2	New South Wales	4	1	1	2	13	13	0	4		2–0	—	6–6
3	Victoria	4	1	1	2	18	22	−4	4		5–8	5–4	—

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

5 August 1934	South Australia	4 – 2	Victoria	Hindmarsh Oval

5 August 1934	New South Wales	2 – 0	South Australia	Hindmarsh Oval

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7 August 1934	Victoria	5 – 4 (F/8)	New South Wales	Adelaide Oval

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9 August 1934	New South Wales	6 – 6 (F/12)	Victoria	Hindmarsh Oval

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12 August 1934	South Australia	2 – 1 (F/11)	New South Wales	Adelaide Oval

12 August 1934	Victoria	5 – 8	South Australia	Adelaide Oval

References

1. "Interstate Baseball—Victoria Defeats N.S.W." The Argus. Melbourne, VIC. 8 August 1934. p. 10. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
2. "Victoria Defeated". The Argus. Melbourne, VIC. 6 August 1934. p. 15. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
3. "Baseball—Tie Between Victoria and N.S.W." The Argus. Melbourne, VIC. 10 August 1934. p. 12. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
4. "South Australia Wins Championship". The Argus. Melbourne, VIC. 13 August 1934. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
5. Clark 2003, pp.52–3
6. Harris 2009, p.26
7. Kent, Mitsie. "Baseball Backgrounder". Australian Baseball Federation. Archived from the original on 10 February 2009. Retrieved 25 May 2010.
8. "Baseball—Interstate Series". The Sydney Morning Herald. 14 August 1934. p. 17. Retrieved 29 May 2010.

Bibliography

• Clark, Joe (2003). A History of Australian Baseball: Time and Game. Lincoln, NE, United States: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-6440-2. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
• Harris, John O. (2009). Baseball Queensland 1905-1990. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2009.