Bolton Robots of Doom
| Bolton Robots of Doom | ||||
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Bolton Blaze is an English baseball team from Bolton situated in the North West region of England, playing in the Northern Division league 1 under the British Baseball Federation.
History
Information on the beginnings of Bolton baseball are scarce. The earliest known details date back to 1938. The then named Bolton Scarlet's Baseball team played their first game at Raikes Park in Bolton against a team from Oldham in May 1938.
The modern team began in the summer of 2002 while Matthew Norburn was the General Manager and player for Manchester Baseball Club. Frustrated with the lack of direction and commitment Norburn decided to look into setting up a new club in his hometown of Bolton.
After early talks with the Bolton Local Authority, who were eager to have a baseball team set up in Bolton plans moved forward. Norburn recruited fellow player Barrie Joyce from Manchester to help set the club up. Norburn and Joyce finished off the season in Manchester and Norburn resigned as the clubs GM.
Bolton Baseball Club took the team name of Brewers and went about preparing for 2003 baseball season, with only two team members. The Brewers soon secured a council grant that would ensure adequate equipment could be purchased.
As the 2003 season came closer Bolton had built up a good roster size with former junior players and people new to the sport. However the planned baseball field would not be ready till the end of the inaugural season. In a last minute deal Bolton Baseball agreed to join CMB Sports Club located in Lostock and became know as CMB Baseball Club.
Bolton Baseball Club remained part of CMB Sports Club for 3 years before making a move to their own facility. The team took this opportunity in 2006 to rename the team to the Blaze. The move to a new ground proved to be one of the biggest mistakes the club would ever make. The new ground provided by the Local Authority turned into a money pit. The ground situated off Slack Lane, Westhoughton was continually flooded by poor drainage. Looking to put a brave face on and play the season opener on this poor attempt of a field, Bolton awaited visiting team Humber. After looking at the state of the field, Humber refused to play at that site. The teams did however manage to locate a suitable site across town to play the game at Markland Hill Playing Fields. With no official home field, Bolton played the rest of the 2006 season at two different locations.
During the off season of 2006 a major interest was put to the local council for use of the Markland Hill playing fields. After many discussions with the council it was agreed that the Blaze could use the field. The field was renamed the Ballpark at Stapleton Avenue. Since the 2007 season the Blaze have invested heavily in developing the ball park in the aim that it will become one of the best facilities in the country.
Bolton Blaze continue to promote and develop baseball in Bolton. During 2007 a Junior team was reintroduced into baseball, originally headed by John Baxendale later to be fulfilled by Andrew Lee Heaton. The junior team, named the Bear’s will look to enter league play in 2008.
Quick facts
- Uniform colors: White, Navy Blue, Orange,
- Logo design: Dueling elephants inside a baseball infield outline.
- Alternate logo design: to be announced.
- Team motto: "Be ready"
- Mascot: Blaze Dragon.
- Spring Training Facility: St James's Sports College.
Current roster
| Pitchers | |||
| Player | Nationality | Positions | Bat/Throw |
| 50 Jamie Sherlock |  |
P/C/3B | R/R |
| Catchers | |||
| Player | Nationality | Positions | Bat/Throw |
| 13 John Baxendale | |
C | R/R |
| 35 Rico Toniolo |  |
C | R/R |
| Infielders | |||
| Player | Nationality | Positions | Bat/Throw |
| 99 Matthew Norburn |  |
1B/OF/P | R/L |
| 46 Phil Daft |  |
2B | R/R |
| 55 Martin "Bellie" Bell | |
3B/P | R/R |
| 77 Tony "Yogi" Berry | |
3B/P/SS | R/R |
| 17 Paul "Mort" Mortimer | |
2B/SS | R/R |
| Outfielders | |||
| Player | Nationality | Positions | Bat/Throw |
| 79 James "Moose" Newall | |
OF | R/R |
| 5 Paul "Jockey" Wilson | |
OF/3B | R/R |
| ?? Steve Wilson | |
OF | R/R |
| 48 Andrew "Lee" Heaton | |
OF | R/R |
| 11 Simon Evans | |
OF | R/R |
| Utility Players | |||
| Player | Nationality | Positions | Bat/Throw |
| Bat Boy | |||
| Player | Nationality | Positions | Bat/Throw |
| -- Melvin Cullen | |
Bat Boy | N/A |
Retired Numbers
33 Adam Johnson
July 1981 - September 2004
External links
See also
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