ON AUGUST 13, 1938, at Wavertree Stadium in Liverpool, 10,000 spectators witnessed a 3-0 Great Britain win against the United States. It was the first match-up of the first five-game amateur world baseball series, which Great Britain went on to win with a game to spare.

The fifth game at Headingley in Leeds was played regardless, following meetings in Hull, Rochdale, and Halifax. Britain won that final game 5-3 for good measure.

This series would later be considered the first baseball World Cup — a tournament that was dominated by Cuba, which won 25 of the 38 editions, and ran until 2011 when it was replaced by the now-expanded World Baseball Classic.

Since those games 84 years ago, success, even appearances, on the world stage have been few and far between for British baseball, but last week Great Britain made history by qualifying for the World Baseball Classic for the first time.

19-year-old Seattle Mariners Major League Baseball (MLB) prospect, Harrison “Harry” Ford, plays for the Mariners-affiliated Modesto Nuts in California, but this past month the Atlanta-born catcher, whose parents were born in the UK, has been in Regensburg, Germany, gaining valuable experience as part of that successful Great Britain side.

“I definitely didn't expect any of this,” Ford said after Great Britain secured qualification.

“When I first thought of Great Britain, I definitely didn’t think of baseball.

“Then when I got here and saw the solid group of guys we had I was like, oh, shoot, we can kind of hit!”