On July 18, 1924, Ranelagh Paris baseball made the first official demonstration of baseball during the Paris Olympics!
Robert Berthet, one of the founders of Ranelagh, was on the field. Born in the United States, he had played baseball from a young age and upon his return to France, he quickly joined Jacques Séraphin’s team, the Ranelagh Baseball Club, which played in the Paris Baseball League. His son came to play at the Hippodrome d’Auteuil and shared his personal archives, including the official certificate signed by Pierre de Coubertin himself, attesting to the historic presence of baseball at the 1924 Olympics!
Unfortunately, we have not found any archives from this historic date, but thanks to GP Archives (Gaumont Pathé), we can today celebrate together the 100th anniversary of the French Baseball and Softball Federation by broadcasting for the first time an exceptional archive for our sport: footage of professional players from the New York Giants and the Chicago White Sox during their demonstration at the Stade de Colombes in November 1924.
In partnership with Baseball TV France, this is the first time you will be able to discover these unknown images from the cinematic newsreels of the time, for which GP Archives has given us an exceptional broadcast authorization.
This unique moment should remind us that although baseball is not at the Paris 2024 Olympics, our sport is over a century old in France and our best years are ahead of us!
