Derby County Baseball Club

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The Derby County Baseball Club was a baseball club in Great Britain that played baseball until 1898 when football become the dominant sport in that region. To the British gentleman, baseball was an awkward sport that was the direct descendant of cricket, a game that rivaled with golf in popularity at that time.

Baseball was introduced to Derby by Sir Francis Ley, an industralist. who owned Ley's Malleable Castings. Following a visit to the United States in 1889, Ley became convinced that, as a way of ensuring a healthier and more productive workforce, an investment should be made in promoting recreation for his workers. During his journey to the States, Ley had seen the way in which baseball fields had been laid out by companies and factories for the use by their workers and decided to follow suit on his return to Derby. Consequently, Ley had the Baseball Ground built; a 12-acre park for the use of workers with cricket and baseball facilities.