1949 Claxton Shield

1949 Australian Championship Series

1949
Tournament information
Date	31 July – 7 August
Host(s)	Melbourne, VIC
Teams	4
Defending champions	Victoria
Final positions
Champion	Victoria (3rd title)
1st runner-up	New South Wales
2nd runner-up	South Australia

The 1949 Claxton Shield (at the time known as the 1949 Australian Championship Series[1]) was the tenth annual Claxton Shield, an Australian national baseball tournament. It was held in Melbourne, Victoria from 31 July to 7 August, and was won by Victoria for the third time overall, all in successive years.[2] The other participants were South Australia, New South Wales and Western Australia.[1]

Format

The 1949 edition of the Claxton Shield saw a new format introduced. Each of the four teams played a double round-robin schedule, meeting each other team twice. This ensured that each team would be guaranteed to play six games during the tournament. Two competition points were on offer in each game, with the points were awarded as follows:

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

At the end of the round-robin games, if a team had an outright lead over all other teams, they would be declared the champions. If two teams were tied for the lead, they would then play in a championship game on the final day. If the championship game was not required, an Australian team would have been named after the round-robin games to play The Rest as an alternative, however given weather constraints this game was not played.[3]

References

1. Clark 2003, pp.61
2. "Victoria Wins Baseball". The Sunday Herald, Sporting Section. Sydney, NSW. 7 August 1949. p. 10. Retrieved 17 January 2010.
3. "Next Baseball Series Fixed". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. 4 August 1949. Retrieved 26 February 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.