Wally O'Neil

• School University of Toronto

• Born in Ontario Canada

Biographical Information

Wally O'Neil was a star player in Britain.

O'Neil was born in Canada and fenced in college. When he moved to Britain to work as an engineer, he became a star baseball player there. In 1963, he hit .388 and was 9-3 as a pitcher. In a 1965 exhibition match with the Dutch national team, he played for Great Britain, fanning 11 and allowing 7 hits and 2 walks in a 3-1 loss to the European powerhouse. He played for the Stretford Saints in the 1965 European Cup; they were the first British team in a European Cup. He took a loss against second-place Sparta Rotterdam, ending a personal 18-game winning streak.

Wally tied for the league home run lead in Britain in 1965 in addition to his outstanding pitcher. He led the Northern Major League in homers and RBI in 1966 and the Saints won a national title. He again represented Britain in a 1968 match with the Netherlands. He managed Stretford to a 56-13 record from 1962-1964 as well. In 2016, he was inducted into the British Baseball Hall of Fame.

Sources include Mister Baseball