The British Baseball Hall of Fame announced five 2022 inductees: Brian Holland, Richard Klijn, Frank Parker Jr., Stephan Rapaglia, Ryan Trask and Doreen Megson. It's the 13th class elected since the foundation of the Hall of Fame in 2009.
Holland was the official scorekeeper for the first official game for Great Britain. As the Hall of Fame states in a press release, "If the word ‘scorebook’ was synonymous with only one person in British baseball history, it would be Brian Holland."
Klijn retired in 2020 after a decorated playing career. He appeared in eight major competitions for Great Britain, including a World Cup, five European Championships, and two World Baseball Classic Qualifiers. At club level, he played 12 seasons in Germany’s Bundesliga 1, winning five national championships, each a record for British-born players.
Parker is the middle link in three generations of talented players. He was one of the top hitters of the 1980s and 90s. Best known as one Great Britain’s top sluggers and son of Hall-of-Famer Frank Sr., Frank Jr. picked up where his father left off, playing in six European Championships and nine other events over a storied 18-year international career. Domestically, Parker earned two all-star nods and delivered key hits in the national playoffs and cup.
Rapaglia served as the Great Britain National Team’s head coach for seven years, beginning in 2004, and led the squad to one of its greatest performances in European Baseball history - a silver medal at the 2007 Euros in Spain. It was only the second time Great Britain had won a medal in European Championships, and no other squad since has equalled the feat.
Trask moved to Bracknell, UK, from South Africa in 1999 and made his senior baseball debut one year later at only 14 years old. His contributions to Bracknell as a young player were significant and he was an invaluable member of the Blazers’ 2009 National Championship squad. Trask was also a regular for Great Britain, suiting up in a dozen events between 2002–13.
Megson was not only a trailblazer for women in British baseball, but played a pivotal role in Hull’s emergence as the hub of baseball activity in the U.K. after World War II. In early 1953 - still only in her twenties, and with four Hull Ladies’ League titles under her belt - she became the first known woman in England to pass an umpire’s exam.
Exactly 50 players, officials and game builders are now enshrined in the British Baseball Hall of Fame.
