The History of Greek Baseball

The History of the Hellenic Amateur Baseball Federation

The HABF has been organizing Baseball Championships in Greece since the year 2000.  It has also been fielding competitive National Teams which have competed in various international tournaments with excellent results.  The most recent achievement was realized in July of 2010 when the Greek National Baseball Team took 4th place in the European Championship.  By taking 4th place in Europe, the Greek team qualified for the 2011 IBAF Baseball World Cup that will be played in the Central American country of Panama from October 1 until October 15, 2011.  Please refer to the corresponding link on our web site for more information concerning this great achievement.

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The 2011 Greek League Championship is now History and we have a New Greek Champion Team:   MAROUSI 2004!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The baseball fans of Greece were treated to two weekends of truly excellent baseball.  The two best teams in Greece played some great baseball both on the weekend of December 10-11, and December 17-18, 2011. In regular season play, Marousi finished the season in first place with a record of 12 wins and 2 losses while Spartakos ended up in 3rd place with a regular season record of 10 wins and 4 losses.  Both teams played their hearts out while ignoring fatigue and injuries, especially on the last day of the competition when Marousi won the Sunday morning game to force a double header and decisive game 5!

Games Recap:

Saturday, December 10, 2011:  Spartakos started game 1 off with a 4 run first inning and then added another 2 runs in the 2nd, thus establishing an impressive 6 - 0 lead.  However, Marousi fought back scoring a run or two every inning and by the 7th inning went ahead by a score of 9 - 7.  In the bottom of the 8th Marousi scored another 4 runs making the score 13 - 7.  Spartakos staged a rally in the top of the 9th scoring 4 runs, but Marousi ended the game on top and the final score was 13 - 11.    MAROUSI  1 game    SPARTAKOS  0 games

Sunday, December 11, 2011:   The two Athenian teams faced off promptly at 10:00 am for game 2.  Marousi struck first with a run in the top of the 1st to take the lead.  But Spartakos easily scored 4 runs in the bottom of the 1st and took control. Although Marousi was able to keep the score close, they never were able to retake the lead away from the Glyfada team. Marousi staged a courageous rally and threatened in the top of the 9th, but came up short by one run and the final score was 17 - 16.         MAROUSI 1 game     SPARTAKOS   1 game

Saturday, December 17, 2011:  Plagued by injuries suffered during the first two play-off games, both teams were missing men from their rosters.  However, Spartakos took the lead early in game 3 and never looked back.  By the top of the 7th, Spartakos had established an 8 run lead and threatened Marousi with defeat by mercy rule. But the northern suburb team would not go down without a fight and eliminated that possibility with a strong bottom of the 7th.  However, Spartakos struck again in the 8th and 9th innings and put the game out of reach. The game ended with a score of 19 - 13 with Spartakos on top.       MAROUSI  1  game     SPARTAKOS    2 games

Sunday, December 18, 2011:  With thick clouds looming overhead and the danger of rain spoiling the day, the two teams started game 4 promptly at 10:30 am.  Marousi, with its back to the wall, had to win this game at all costs and at the end of 9 innings, that is what they did.  The final score was 13 - 9 and this forced the two teams to play game 2 of a double header that started only 10 minutes after the end of the first game.  Thus the decisive game 5 was played between the two already exhausted teams. In an almost insane display of determination and self sacrifice, Marousi's Jimmy Lomis pitched all 18 innings for his team. Not having anyone else on their roster who could pitch for them, his teammates told him that the Championship was his to either win or lose!  The two teams threw caution to the wind and battled courageously and in the end Marousi 2004 won game 5 by a score of 20 - 15.  

Date               Field                               Time               Home Team              Visitors                      Result

3/12/11      Thessaloniki                       1:00 pm                ARIS                  SPARTAKOS                0 - 9 (forfeit)

4/12/11          Athens                            9:00 am           SPARTAKOS                ARIS                       9 - 0 ( forfeit)

4/12/11          Athens                            1:00 pm             MAROUSI              EVRYALY                  24 -  17

FINAL BEST OF 5 SERIES

10/12/11        Athens                            1:00 pm            MAROUSI              SPARTAKOS               13 - 11

11/12/11        Athens                           10:00 am           SPARTAKOS         MAROUSI                    17 - 16

17/12/11        Athens                            11:00 am          MAROUSI             SPARTAKOS                13 - 19

18/12/11        Athens                            10:00 am          SPARTAKOS         MAROUSI                      9 - 13

18/12/11        Athens                             1:00 pm           MAROUSI              SPARTAKOS               20 - 15          

With this victory, Marousi 2004 has now won a total of 5 Greek Championships thus establishing a tie with Spartakos Glyfadas, which also has won 5 Greek Championships.  The Panthers of Patras are the only other team to ever win a Greek Championship title.  The Greek Champions thus far have been:

2000              Marousi 2004

2001              Marousi 2004

2002              Marousi 2004

2003              Marousi 2004

2004              Spartakos Glyfadas

2005              Spartakos Glyfadas

2006              Spartakos Glyfadas

2007              Spartakos Glyfadas

2008              No Championship was played

2009              Spartakos Glyfadas

2010              Panthers of Patras

2011              Marousi 2004