Crown of the Four Flowers
When Derby industrialist Francis Ley visited the Republic of Puerto Rico in 1889, he returned with a deal to build a foundry on the island—and thorough wonderment at how every boricua, player or fan, exulted in their beloved baseball.
Ley, who never allowed prudence to preempt his good ideas, immediately sent for a sizable group of Puerto Rican players and organized the Twentysides—the first organized professional league in European baseball history, which played through the 1890s, even hosting Puerto Ricans and Cubans who fled their war-torn islands.
By the 1900s, the league had expanded and developed its own traditions, including the actual Crown of the Four Flowers: a trophy made of the iron that enriched Ley, into which each championship team stamped one of their national flowers.
In time, Scottish, Irish, English and Welsh players would become some of the brightest stars in the Liga Nacional Puertorriqueña—after spending their childhoods cheering for some of these following teams.
Baseball Federation of Scotland & Ireland (1905-)
Lìog Ball-stèidhe na h-Alba
- LBSA titles: 1890, 1891, 1892, 1893, 1895, 1896.
- BFS&I pennants: None.
- Thistles in the Crown: 1891.
Denizens of Aberdeen have for decades marveled at how, thanks to its high mica content, the granite quarried from Rubislaw Hill—which adorns its public buildings—sparkles like silver.
FOUNDED 1901
- LBSA titles: None.
- BFS&I pennants: None.
- Thistles in the Crown: None.
Scotland’s newest baseball side comes from a city that, at the time, was the center of the global jute industry—one third of its famous “three Js,” along with jam and, of all things, journalism.
- LBSA titles: None.
- BFS&I pennants: None.
- Thistles in the Crown: None.
Among the most enduring symbols of Scottish prowess and ferocity in battle, the claymore naturally suggested itself to baseball players, who wield similarly large and heavy weapons of choice.
- LBSA titles: 1894, 1897, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904.
- BFS&I pennants: None.
- Thistles in the Crown: None.
Without the deepening and dredging of the River Clyde, the Glaswegian shipbuilding industry would never have developed into one of the mightiest economic powerhouses in the area.
- LBSA titles: None.
- BFS&I pennants: None.
- Thistles in the Crown: None.
James VII claimed that the Order of the Thistle, which he founded in 1687, was a revival of an older chivalric organization from the Early Middle Ages—which was a bit of an exaggeration.
- LBSA titles: None.
- BFS&I pennants: None.
- Thistles in the Crown: None.
Baseball bats have been made from various types of wood—ash, birch, hickory, maple, and in the modern and more exciting era, bamboo—but not the larch, which rules over an entirely different sport.
Sraith Daorchluiche na hÉireann
- SDÉ titles: 1891, 1892, 1893, 1894, 1895, 1896, 1897.
- BFS&I pennants: None.
- Shamrocks in the Crown: 1892, 1896.
Medieval Celtic society is hard to understand for modern audiences in many aspects, including the exalted social status granted to members of the bardic profession—some of them equal to kings.
- SDÉ titles: 1903.
- BFS&I pennants: None.
- Shamrocks in the Crown: None.
Though Cork is not particularly well-known for salmon fisheries, its tradition of defying the rest of the island led the locals to identify with a mythical creature known for its profound wisdom.
- SDÉ titles: None.
- BFS&I pennants: None.
- Shamrocks in the Crown: None.
Derry is the last walled city to be built in Europe, and therefore perhaps unsurprisingly retains the last set of intact walls on the continent—despite the multiple sieges they have undergone.
- SDÉ titles: 1890.
- BFS&I pennants: None.
- Shamrocks in the Crown: None.
For over three hundred years, at the end of which the Norman conquest would cut their power short, Norsemen ruled the area of County Dublin as an influential kingdom.
- SDÉ titles: 1901, 1902, 1904.
- BFS&I pennants: None.
- Shamrocks in the Crown: 1901, 1902, 1904.
International trade has been the lifeblood of Galway since the medieval era, to the point that its political and economic life was for a long time in the hands of the Tribes—fourteen powerful merchant clans.
FOUNDED 1901
- SDÉ titles: None.
- BFS&I pennants: None.
- Shamrocks in the Crown: None.
Whether their name comes from a lost Viking term or their more romantic Italian cousins, the gandelow—a flat-bottomed long boat used for fishing—is famous up and down the River Shannon.
Baseball Federation of England & Wales (1905-)
English Baseball Championship
FOUNDED 1901
- EBC titles: None.
- BFE&W pennants: None.
- Roses in the Crown: None.
England’s industrial domination would not have been possible without towns full of skilled workers like Birmingham, whose aggregated creativity and drive harnessed the power of steam.
- EBC titles: 1891, 1892, 1893, 1897, 1904.
- BFE&W pennants: None.
- Roses in the Crown: None.
From motorcycles to taxis, Coventry’s role as an early center of the British motor vehicle industry was a natural extension of its earlier role in the production of bicycles.
- EBC titles: None.
- BFE&W pennants: None.
- Roses in the Crown: None.
Usually these notes explain the origin of each team’s moniker, but Derby is simply using an established local team name; more importantly, it was one of the earliest centers of English baseball.
- EBC titles: 1901, 1902, 1903.
- BFE&W pennants: None.
- Roses in the Crown: 1903.
Be it by sea-coal from ships on the Thames or the chimneys of the dark Satanic mills, the quality of London’s air has been notoriously execrable since the 13th century.
