This weekend sees the pinnacle of the British baseball season, with the Final Fours taking place at Roundshaw in Croydon. Twelve teams will compete across three tiers for the titles of National Champions, AAA-Champions, and AA-Champions. An A-Final was also scheduled to take place between Croydon Pirates III and the Old Timers – winners of the two groups in that tier – but the latter is unable to field a team.
Full details of the event can be found here. Below, I list the recent champions and look at the 2008 contenders.Â
National Baseball League
Past champions (back to 2002)
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2007 London Mets
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2006 Richmond Flames
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2005 Croydon Pirates
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2005 Croydon Pirates
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2003 Windsor Bears
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2002 Brighton Buccaneers
2008 contenders
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London Mets (with a 23-1 record in the South)
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Manchester Eagles (20-2 in North)
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Menwith Hill Patriots (12-8 in North)
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Richmond Flames (15-9 in South)
In the National Baseball League, the past nine finals have been contested between two teams from the South-East of England, but the Manchester Eagles, who take a 20-2 season record into their one-game semi-final against the Richmond Flames, will be hoping to end that streak. The Menwith Hill Patriots will go into their semi-final as underdogs against the London Mets, a team that has dominated the competition in the NBL South. Since a loss to the Southampton Mustangs on Sunday 6 May 2007, the Mets have won 42 games and lost just three (each of those to the Croydon Pirates). And of 12 meetings between them and the Richmond Flames in regular-season play since the team was founded, the Mets hold an 11-1 advantage.
All four teams will need to decide whether to go with their ace in the semi-final and thus limit their options from the mound in the final (which has a best-of-three format), or take a gamble in the semi-finals to keep their ace fresh. This is arguably the single most important decision of the season for these teams.
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AAA-Division
Past champions (back to 2002)
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2007 Richmond Knights
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2006 Cambridge Monarchs
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2005 Croydon Pirates II
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2004 Cambridge Monarchs
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2003 Hull
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2002 Menwith Hill Patriots
 2008 contenders
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Herts Falcons (21-3 in South group B)
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Humber Pilots (13-9 in North)
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London Metros (18-8 in South group B)
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Oxford Kings (18-8 in South group A)
The Herts Falcons are the top team in a club that has grown impressively in recent years thanks to the hard work of Aspi Dmitrov and a number of other individuals, and they possess the best record of the four qualifiers. Humber are looking to add a AAA-crown to their AA-crown from last season. The Metros will be hoping that the Mets take the top-tier title and that they can back this up for the London club with the AAA title. Lastly, the Kings have had the best regular season in the team’s history and would love to ice the cake.
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AA-Division
Past champions (back to 2002, where contested)
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2007 Humber Pilots
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2006 Northampton
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2005 Windsor Bears
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2004 Sheffield Bladerunners
2008 contenders
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Birmingham Maple Leafs (18-4 in Midlands)
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Bournemouth Sharks (13-2 in South)
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Manchester A’s (14-8 in North)
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Sidewinders (12-2 in South)
