Lord English, the Earl of Ranelagh, lends his name to a street, a garden, and a metro station in the 16th arrondissement. In 1913, he also lends his name to one of the very first baseball clubs in France, more than 10 years before the creation of the French Baseball Federation in 1924. That same year, it was this club that put on a baseball demonstration at the Olympic Games in France.
In the 20th century, the Paris Baseball League regularly saw six teams face off in a championship, between the Bois de Boulogne, Colombes, and Bagatelle. French and American Parisians played together back then.
In 2021, under the impetus of its current President, Bertrand Maire, a former international baseball player, the Ranelagh club was reborn. In the cosmopolitan tradition, players from all over the world come to enjoy the joys of friendly matches. The team thus formed was able to go train in Sénart at the beginning of September. Last weekend, it was at the Auteuil racecourse that the official rebirth of the club was launched. The latter had invited the Paris Universitaire Club for a new exhibition match.
Exceptional site in Auteuil, where it is easier to meet horses than baseball bats and gloves. The essential refreshment stands, prized by the supporters’ stands (more than 200 people), admired the stylized orange jersey of this new club.
Franco-American friendship is at the heart of the club’s raison d’être, and the ranks of the players radiate this mix of nationalities. The match, for newcomers, was even commented live by a commentary personality: François Mays, who regularly works for Bein Sport for MLB matches of the American leagues.
The projects are not lacking for this Parisian club, starting with a field in Longchamp or Bagatelle, but as with any edifice, time will impose itself as the judge of the evolution of baseball on the land of Baron de Coubertin.
