Who’s Who in the England Team

Danny Wright—Captain of Halifax B.C. Pitcher and outstanding centre field. Was instructor at the first baseball school to be established in the North.

William Daniel ‘Danny’ Wright (1911–?) was born in St Thomas, Ontario, to recent immigrants from England. He played baseball for the St Thomas Tom Cats in the Inter-County League in 1934 and 1935 before moving north to Kirkland Lake and playing for Lake Shore in the Miners’ League. While at Kirkland Lake, he also turned out for the local softball team.[i]

In the spring of 1937, Wright received an offer to travel to England to join London Major League team West Ham. However, although he made the trip, in the event, his debut in English baseball was with Yorkshire League team based in Bradford, the Greenfield Giants, in June 1937. Late in the season, by which time he had become the Giants’ coach, pitcher, and captain, he showed for the first time the mercurial side of his character that would get him into much more trouble later on, leading a walk-off by the Giants over a disputed decision. While at Bradford, he became involved in baseball outreach, giving talks on the techniques and rules of baseball at the Textile Hall.[ii]

For the 1938 season, Wright transferred to a new team in a new league: Halifax in the combined and now semi-pro Yorkshire–Lancashire League. At Halifax, he became a hugely popular captain, pitcher, and coach. On pitching duty, he created a new league record by striking out 24 players in a game against the Liverpool Giants. He was also on pitching duty the day that Halifax and future England player, Sam Hanna, hit three home runs in three times at bat, another league record. Another future England player, Frank Cadorette, was also in the team. Wright’s coaching duties extended to running practice sessions for all-comers at Halifax’s Spring Hall training ground.[iii]

The start of the 1939 season saw Wright serving as player–coach for the Liverpool Giants team. However, his time at Liverpool was to be short-lived, as in early June, he received a full-season suspension following an incident at a Yorkshire–Lancashire inter-county game that was described euphemistically as a ‘breach of discipline’.[iv] With the war on the way, this ended his career in baseball in England.

He saw active service as an army private in World War Two and spent part of the conflict as a prisoner of war in Germany.[v] Research into his later life is ongoing.

Wright is one of the forgotten men of baseball in Britain in the 1930s, overshadowed by players like Kendrick, Wilson, and Strong, who were better pitchers, Robinson and Ritchie, who were bigger hitters, and McNeil and Robinson, who brought home more trophies as team captains and coaches. He had a fiery temper, but was also committed to raising the profile of the game that brought him to England. His contribution to the game is worthy of re-evaluation.

[i] Biographical information for Danny Wright from 1931 Canada Census, St Thomas District, ancestry.co.uk, Ancestry.com Inc. Operations, accessed 1 August 2025. For St Thomas Tom Cats: ‘May Play in England’, Waterloo Region Record, 27 March 1937 and ‘Squeeze in Nineth Beats Panthers’, Waterloo Region Record (Kitchener ON), 3 July 1934; moves to Kirkland Lake and turns out for Lake Shore: ‘St Thomas Ahtlete is Moving North’, Niagara Falls Review, 8 May 1936. Softball for Kirkland Lake: ‘Harry Turner Leads Softballers South’, North Bay Nugget, 30 October 1935.

[ii] Wright debuts for Greenfield: ‘Baseball: Visit of Yorkshire Champions’, Hull Daily Mail, 12 June 1937; leading walkoff of Greenfield players: ‘A Baseball “Incident”’, Bradford Observer, 9 August 1937. Outreach: ‘Baseball Classes’, Bradford Observer, 3 November 1937.

[iii] Wright’s 24 strikeouts: ‘Baseball Record’, Leeds Mercury, 13 June 1938; Hanna’s three home runs in succession: ‘Hat-Trick of Home Runs’, Halifax Evening Courier, 6 June 1938. Wright coaching  at Spring Hall: ‘Baseball Preparations: Evening Practices at Spring Hall’, Halifax Evening Courier, 30 April 1938.

[iv] ‘Danny Wright Suspended for Rest of Season’, Halifax Daily Courier, 10 June 1939. ‘Breach of Discipline’: ‘Baseball: Three Home Runs in Roses Battle’, Halifax Evening Courier, 30 May 1939.

[v] ‘List 325 More Canadians Liberated, Total Over 2000’, Toronto Daily Star, 7 May 1945.