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tricey · 09-17-2016, 05:46 PM

Bloxham Rockets owner Spencer Hambleton had long been a controversial figure. The Cardiff native had expressed his dissatisfaction with the unwillingness of Bloxham city officials to support him in extending and promoting baseball in the area. The club was sited on an island part-way between St Georges and St Davids Islands, and Hambleton had repeatedly expressed his concerns about the high costs of operating a team in the area and the lack of assistance he was receiving. This was seen mostly as an attempt to distract from the terrible teams that the Rockets were putting on the field, achieving a winning season just once in franchise history in 1949.

However during September rumours mounted that this was to be Bloxham’s final season of organised baseball. As expansion loomed Hambleton decided to act to protect the financial fortunes of the club and the risk of being moved to the weaker St Davids League. He courted financiers and city officials from his native Cardiff at the northern tip of St Georges Island, and then forced the ABL’s officials to agree his proposed move. The club’s 9-7 win against Finsbury Park was the last to be played at the School Grounds, as it was announced that Bloxham were re-locating to Cardiff to become the Dragons, displacing the Triple-A franchise of the same name.

Without a franchise, Bloxham fans were up in arms. The ABL acted swiftly and announced that in 1953 the Triple-A Dragons would swap locations and play in Bloxham for one season as the Rockets, before becoming one of the new clubs added to the Major Leagues in the planned 1955 expansion.

Hambleton’s move was seen as a breathtaking act of brinksmanship and transformed the landscape of the GL which hitherto had been split by the Highbury Gunners and Ealing Stars. With new resources at his disposal the baseball world looked on in anticipation of what Hambleton might do to develop baseball in the northern regions of the island, where rugby traditionally held sway.

09-17-2016, 05:46 PM	#47
tricey Minors (Single A) Join Date: Mar 2015 Posts: 66	Bloxham move North Bloxham Rockets owner Spencer Hambleton had long been a controversial figure. The Cardiff native had expressed his dissatisfaction with the unwillingness of Bloxham city officials to support him in extending and promoting baseball in the area. The club was sited on an island part-way between St Georges and St Davids Islands, and Hambleton had repeatedly expressed his concerns about the high costs of operating a team in the area and the lack of assistance he was receiving. This was seen mostly as an attempt to distract from the terrible teams that the Rockets were putting on the field, achieving a winning season just once in franchise history in 1949. However during September rumours mounted that this was to be Bloxham’s final season of organised baseball. As expansion loomed Hambleton decided to act to protect the financial fortunes of the club and the risk of being moved to the weaker St Davids League. He courted financiers and city officials from his native Cardiff at the northern tip of St Georges Island, and then forced the ABL’s officials to agree his proposed move. The club’s 9-7 win against Finsbury Park was the last to be played at the School Grounds, as it was announced that Bloxham were re-locating to Cardiff to become the Dragons, displacing the Triple-A franchise of the same name. Without a franchise, Bloxham fans were up in arms. The ABL acted swiftly and announced that in 1953 the Triple-A Dragons would swap locations and play in Bloxham for one season as the Rockets, before becoming one of the new clubs added to the Major Leagues in the planned 1955 expansion. Hambleton’s move was seen as a breathtaking act of brinksmanship and transformed the landscape of the GL which hitherto had been split by the Highbury Gunners and Ealing Stars. With new resources at his disposal the baseball world looked on in anticipation of what Hambleton might do to develop baseball in the northern regions of the island, where rugby traditionally held sway.