Recently, Travis Bazzana made history as the first Australian to be chosen as the number one pick in the Major League Baseball (MLB) draft. Bazzana, who played college baseball at Oregon State, will now join the Cleveland Guardians. Originally from Wahroonga, NSW, Bazzana expressed a desire to help turn Australia into a baseball powerhouse. Baseball NSW quickly predicted that his achievement would significantly boost the sport’s popularity and growth in Australia. Almost a century ago, similar claims were made by baseball figures in Australia, which were undermined by theft and fraud. These crimes by a baseball official hampered the sport’s development in the country. Baseball has a long history in Australia, with the first recorded game played in Melbourne in 1855, but it has always been a niche sport there. In 1888, Albert Goodwill Spalding, a sporting goods businessman, included Australia in his world baseball tour.
Later, MLB teams the Chicago White Sox and New York Giants visited Australia during their 1913-1914 world tour. While Australians were intrigued, press coverage suggested a suspicion that baseball might rival cricket in popularity. However, by the 1920s, cricket had firmly established itself as Australia’s premier sport. Despite this, both the press and public were open to embracing baseball as a novel winter sport that could help train cricketers for the summer. In fact, the involvement of cricketers in baseball during the winter months was key to the early success of the American sport in Australia. Enthusiasts of baseball in Australia worked tirelessly to promote the sport locally in the early 20th century, leading to two tours of American amateur teams. The first visit was by Stanford University in 1928, followed by Portland’s reputable Multnomah Amateur Athletic Club in 1929. These tours included various events such as fetes, parades, baseball tournaments, and receptions with civic leaders celebrating the players. Local businesses supported these tours, with companies like Studebaker providing cars for a motorcade through Sydney after the players arrived by ship.
Contemporary records indicate that the tours sparked immense interest in baseball, resulting in a boom in local competition participation. Australian baseball authorities made efforts to bring American coaches to Australia to develop the game further, and plans were made for future tours. However, one reason baseball’s growth did not continue was that the tours were funded through criminal fraud. Cecil J. Asprey, who was the honorary secretary of the Australian Baseball Council and the chairman of the New South Wales Baseball Association executive, played a crucial role in organizing the tours by Stanford University and the Multnomah Amateur Athletics Club. He was mentioned in the press after the tours, highlighting an increase in both Australian and American interest in baseball in Australia. When the tours ended up losing money, it became clear that Asprey had funded them using money stolen from clients of the law firm he worked at. By May 1931, after unsuccessful attempts to organize further tours, everything fell apart for Asprey. He was charged in the Central Police Court on May 7, 1931, and immediately admitted that the money was used to fund the activities of the baseball association.
Asprey’s lawyer stated in court, “He has not received a single penny of the funds himself – that the whole of the money was definitely paid into the account of the association.” Eventually, Asprey faced 21 charges of forgery, embezzlement, and larceny. The story of his crimes and their impact on baseball in Australia was worsened by the vulnerability of his victims, who were generally women, most of them widows, some with limited English proficiency. One victim, Rosina Melit, a migrant from Italy, testified that Asprey took her money to pay off her mortgage, but he did not. This was a crime Asprey committed against multiple victims. A detective-sergeant at his trial noted that Asprey “had a happy knack of getting on the soft side of widows and a widower.” Asprey admitted to the court that he used everything he stole to bring over international baseball players. “I know I have done wrong. I am willing to hand over everything I possess,” Asprey told the court. He was sentenced to five years of hard labor, leaving behind a wife and two children.
The tours Asprey organized had generated significant interest. Although participation in local leagues increased in the seasons that followed, the momentum was not sustained, partly because no further tours occurred. Asprey was still trying to arrange more tours until his arrest. Had Asprey and the Australian baseball authorities been able to fund tours legitimately, the sport’s popularity likely would have continued to grow. Baseball has always had a loyal, though relatively small, following in Australia. Despite achievements like a silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics, it has remained a minor sport. In the 2000s and 2010s, baseball participation either rose or fell depending on the source. In 2022, Baseball Australia released a national plan to increase participation at all levels. Baseball’s governing body in Australia also hoped the country’s success in the 2023 World Baseball Classic would spark interest in the sport. Bazzana’s selection as the number one pick in the MLB draft will undoubtedly add to the interest in “the old ball game” in Australia. Whether this will lead to increased participation is yet to be seen.