Gary Bedingfield
Gary Bedingfield (born 20 January 1963) is a British historian of baseball. He is a native of England and developed an interest in baseball as a youth. As a catcher, he played in competitive league baseball for over twenty years with the Enfield Spartans (British league champions in 1989, 1990 and 1991) and was a member of the Great Britain national baseball team (1986, 1989 and 1991).[1]
In the 1990s he began work as a baseball historian and focused on the history of baseball during World War II. In 2000 he created the Baseball in Wartime website, launched the monthly Baseball in Wartime e-Newsletter in 2007, and in 2009 he launched the Baseball in Wartime blog. He was instrumental in arranging an announcement at every minor league ballpark on Memorial Day 2008 honoring the players who served during World War II and those who made the ultimate sacrifice. Bedingfield is also the author of numerous articles and two books about the history of baseball during the Second World War.[1] Bedingfield currently maintains the only online biographical database dedicated to professional baseball players who were killed during World War II (there are currently 143 names in the database). In 2012, Bedingfield launched the "Baseball's Greatest Sacrifice" website dedicated to baseball players who lost their lives in military service. He will also be releasing a set of baseball cards dedicated to baseball players killed while serving in the military. In 2007 Bedingfield was the keynote speaker at the When Baseball Went to War conference at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans.[1]
After attending Enfield Grammar School, Bedingfield attained a Further Education teaching qualification at Southgate College. Bedingfield currently resides in Glasgow, Scotland where he runs Gary Bedingfield Training, a training company that delivers train the trainer, personal development and employability skills courses. In 2014, he wrote the Training for Trainers Manual published by Chrysalis House. [1]
Works
- Baseball in World War II Europe. Charleston: Arcadia Publishing, 1999.
- (contributing author) When Baseball Went to War. Chicago: Triumph Books, 2008.
- Baseball's Dead of World War II: A Roster of Professional Players Who Died in Service. McFarland, 2010.
- Training for Trainers Manual. Glasgow, Scotland: Chrysalis House Publishing, 2014.
References
- 1 2 3 4 "Gary Bedingfield". Amazon.com. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
External links
- Gary Bedingfield's Baseball in Wartime
- Gary Bedingfield's Baseball's Greatest Sacrifice
- Gary Bedingfield