Story: Softball and baseball

Canterbury, first national softball champions

Canterbury, first national softball champions

The Canterbury team poses after winning the first New Zealand Baseball (Softball) Championship. The final was played at Wellington on 25 March 1939, with Canterbury winning by nine runs to Wellington's five. The Canterbury team included three Mormon missionary elders: L. F. Toronto, G. L. Rudd and J. M. Bodell (all absent from the team photo). Softball was often called baseball in New Zealand until the mid-1940s.

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Private collection, Peter Campbell

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How to cite this page:

Tony Smith and David Green, 'Softball and baseball - Origins and organisation', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/39625/canterbury-first-national-softball-champions (accessed 29 March 2024)

Story by Tony Smith and David Green, published 5 Sep 2013, updated 1 Jul 2015