1955 European Baseball Championship
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Country | Spain |
| City | Barcelona |
| Dates | 10–15 July |
| Teams | 5 |
| Defending champions | Italy |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Spain (1st title) |
| Runners-up | Belgium |
| Third place | West Germany |
| Fourth place | Italy |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Games played | 10 |
| Awards | |
| MVP | José Luis Bernardo |
The 1955 European Baseball Championship was held in Barcelona, Spain and was won by Spain. Belgium finished as runner-up. Five teams competed in the tournament, with France joining the four teams that competed in the previous edition in 1954.
The format for the tournament had also changed. Instead of a knockout tournament, which was the 1954 championship's format, it was a round-robin tournament played over five days from July 10 to 15.[1]
By winning the tournament, Spain qualified for the 1955 Global World Series.[2] However, the Spanish organizers incurred a debt of 150,000 pesetas organizing the event, which was not paid off by the 1960 championship, also held in Barcelona.[3]
Results
Standings
| Pos. | Teams | W | D | L | P | R | RA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spain | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 32 | 3 |
| 2 | Belgium | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 23 | 9 |
| 3 | Germany | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 27 |
| 4 | Italy | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 24 | 15 |
| 5 | France | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 61 |
Matches
| 1955 | Belgium | 10–2 | West Germany | |
| 1955 | Spain | 21–3 | France | |
| 1955 | Belgium | 9–4 | Italy | |
| 1955 | Spain | 9–0 | West Germany | |
| 1955 | Belgium | 4–1 | France | |
| 1955 | West Germany | 5–4 | Italy | |
| 1955 | West Germany | 5–4 | France | |
| 1955 | Spain | 0–0 | Italy | |
| 1955 | Italy | 16–1 | France | |
| 1955 | Spain | 2–0 | Belgium | |
Source[4]
Awards
- Most valuable player and best pitcher: José Luis Bernardo
- Best hitter: Juan Casals
- Best umpire: Alfio D'aprile[5][6]
References
- ^ Chetwynd, Josh (2008). Baseball in Europe : a country by country history. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co. pp. 233–257. ISBN 978-0-7864-3724-5. Retrieved 5 January 2026.
- ^ Schiroli, Riccardo (2019). The Game We Love (PDF). World Baseball Softball Confederation. p. 68.
- ^ Pernas López 2011, p. 307.
- ^ "Baseball - European Championships 1955 - Calendar & Results". the-sports.org. Retrieved 2026-01-15.
- ^ Pernas López, Julio (2011). Strike Two: El Béisbol en la españa de la posguerra 1939-1960 y otras curiosidades del deporte español [Strike Two: Baseball in post-war Spain 1939-1960 and other curiosities of Spanish sport] (PDF) (in Spanish). Barcelona: Federación Española de Beísbol. p. 221. Retrieved 2 August 2024 – via World Baseball Softball Confederation.
- ^ "Hall of Fame Umpires". fibs.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2026-01-15.