Joe.
Jamie Barras.
The two-part story of Joe Dalton (1915—1984), the only pitcher in the top tier of the American baseball in Britain in the 1930s to have learned his baseball in Britain. Joe was the future that the game imagined for itself if war had not intervened.
Part I: Bradford Boy (1936 & 1937): Joe’s origins and the sometimes triumphant, sometimes tragic, story of the first baseball team he played for, the Thornbury Trojans.
Part II: Native English Hurler (1938 & 1939): Joe’s time as the only pitcher in the game’s top tier to have learned his baseball in Britain.
Joe Dalton (second row, fourth from left), Bradford City FC, 1936. Ardath Photo Card (Yorkshire teams series, No. 16). Author's own collection.
Joe Dalton (centre), Bradford City FC, 1936. Ardath Photo Card (Yorkshire teams series, No. 16). Author's own collection.
Joe Dalton's signature, 1939 Halifax baseball programme. Author's own collection.
The all-conquering Halifax baseball team, 1939. Image courtesy of Project COBB.