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63-728: After the 2011 tournament, the Baseball World Cup was discontinued in favor of an expanded World Baseball Classic; the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) – successor to the IBAF – now organizes the WBC and awards its winner the title of "World Champion." Additionally, the WBSC sanctions two new tournaments: the biennial 23U Baseball World Cup (begun as the 21U Baseball World Cup in 2014) and its quadrennial, flagship tournament,

126-548: A big game. This time, only one coupon was returned. Their venture was about to collapse almost as soon as it had begun. In the canteen of the Commercial Cable Company, the three partners held a crisis meeting. They had kept pumping money into the fledgling business, but midway through the 1924–25 football season it was still losing money. The three young men had already invested £200, with no prospect of things improving. Bill Hughes suggested they cut their losses and forget

189-400: A director of Everton Football Club . In June, he became the chairman. On 23 June it was revealed that during the 1959–1960 season he had lent Everton £56,000 interest free so they could buy players and on 14 April 1961 he famously sacked Johnny Carey in the back of a London taxi and appointed Harry Catterick as Everton manager in his place. The event would become synonymous in football with

252-481: A line of bricklayers, his great-grandfather Sidney Moores was one (1818–1884), as was his grandfather John Moores (1847–1910), though he eventually set up a small building contractors business, and was landlord of the Church Inn where the future owner of Littlewoods was born. John William Moores later became a site foreman. He was a hard worker but developed a drink problem. In 1918 he developed tuberculosis and died of

315-578: A man who is haunted by failure rather than one haunted by regret". Moores kept faith and he paid Askham and Hughes £200 each. The following year Moores enlisted the help of his younger brother Cecil to help, along with the rest of his family. In 1927 Moores gave up working for the Cable Company but in April 1929, he was prosecuted under the Ready Money Betting Act 1920. Following a court appearance, he

378-584: A natural progression from the manufacturing work that had been carried out during World War II. He decided to delegate more and put his financial affairs in order. He took out a five-year £1 million life insurance policy and put some of his shares in trust for his children (with various conditions – they were not allowed to sell the shares, his daughters received half as many as his sons in case they married as he did not want any men who were not family having influence over his business, and no child would have any shareholder power until they were 30 years old). In 1957

441-500: A single federation allowed for the permanent alignment, merger and management of baseball and softball at the world level. The merger resulted in an immediate boost to the governance, universality and gender equality of baseball and softball, criteria for an Olympic sport that are heavily valued by the IOC. At the first-ever World Baseball Softball Congress—in Hammamet, Tunisia —Italy's Fraccari

504-961: A video game version of Baseball5 in the near future. The first official WBSC Coed Slow Pitch World Cup was greenlit on 9 June 2022, during a meeting by the WBSC Executive Board in Pully, Switzerland. It was to be held in Guadalajara, Mexico in December 2023, but it was cancelled in October 2023 due to logistical challenges. The WBSC is governed by the executive board, which consists of fourteen members: president, secretary general, two vice presidents, baseball executive vice president, softball executive vice president, treasurer, four members at large, athlete representative for baseball, athlete representative for softball, and global ambassador. The Baseball Division

567-963: Is governed by an executive committee, which has thirteen members: president, secretary general, 2nd vice president, 3rd vice president, treasurer, three members at large, four continental vice presidents (one each for Africa, Americas, Europe, and Oceania), and executive director. The Softball Division is governed by an executive committee that has twenty-three members: president, secretary general, 1st vice president, 2nd vice president, treasurer, twelve vice presidents (two each for Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and Oceania, and one each for North America and English-speaking Caribbean), two at-large members, two athlete representatives, immediate past president, and executive director. The WBSC has four departments: media, finance, tournaments, and marketing. It also has several commissions. Besides its worldwide institutions, there are five regional governing bodies that oversee

630-437: The 2006 World Baseball Classic was the first international baseball tournament to include active players from the top-level major leagues around the world — namely Major League Baseball and Nippon Professional Baseball — making it a closer equivalent to the world cups of other sports, which commonly include players from the most prestigious professional leagues, than to the mostly-amateur Baseball World Cup. The champions of

693-471: The Olympic Games , and WBSC-associated federations hold the right to organize and select national teams Discussions to merge the two separate world governing bodies for the sports of baseball and softball were sparked by a Memorandum of Understanding that saw baseball and softball leaders agree to form a joint bid to be added to the 2020 Olympic Games sports program. Baseball and softball were dropped from

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756-596: The Summer Olympics in 2005, the IOC reclassified baseball and softball as two disciplines of the same sport. As the IOC's guidance indicated the necessity for baseball and softball to be jointly considered for reinstatement in the Olympic programme, the two independent International Federations set out on a path toward a full and complete merger. In 2012, the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and

819-638: The United States and Japan ; this plan was derailed by the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War that same year. Instead, Mann wrote to John Moores , president of the British National Baseball Association (the precursor to the modern British Baseball Federation ) to organize a tournament between the U.S. and Great Britain teams. The 1938 "John Moores Cup," as it was originally called, would be retroactively recognized as

882-506: The WBSC Premier12 (starting in 2015 ), which involves the twelve best-ranked national teams in the world. The Baseball World Cup was held 38 times; the final one was in 2011 in Panama . The first tournament, held in 1938 , featured only two teams, but the last tournament included 22 participants; the previous two featured 16 and 18 teams (in 2007 and 2005 , respectively). The World Cup

945-525: The first Amateur World Series . Mann, along with Cuban sports administrator Jaime Mariné , helped turn the Amateur World Series into an annual event in 1939 , this time held in Cuba. The first and second tournaments featured only two and three national teams, respectively, but seven participants were invited to the 1940 edition and the pool would only expand from there. For much of its early existence,

1008-556: The 2012 Summer Olympic program and were scheduled to be reinstated for the 2020 Olympics, but the 2020 Olympics were delayed due to the COVID-19 international pandemic. In August 2021, the International Olympic Committee announced that baseball and softball would not be part of the 2024 Paris Olympics . Baseball5 is still set to feature in the 2026 Youth Olympics . Following its exclusion of baseball and softball from

1071-469: The Americas and Europe, as well as having been implemented in some schools in various countries. It is due to feature in the 2026 Youth Olympic Games , and has two World Cups for youth and senior players alternating each year starting in 2022, with both of these international events being played in a mixed-gender format. The WBSC is also planning to, as part of its general push into E-Sports , introduce

1134-602: The Co-operative Society, and the tallyman of the north, which enabled the poorer members of society to buy things they needed. Moores's originality lay in applying a mix of these schemes to a large-scale business enterprise. As usual all the family were involved. They researched and planned catalogues and helped to choose the merchandise, and Moores visited the United States to get information from big American mail-order firms such as Sears Roebuck and also Europe. This

1197-625: The Commercial Cable Company as a junior operator. Moores was in a reserved occupation and did not have to be called up for military service but he volunteered for the Navy in 1917, as a wireless operator. He was posted to a shore station in Aberdeen where he remained until April 1919. After being demobilised from the Navy, Moores carried on working for the Commercial Cable company. In the early Summer of 1920 he

1260-559: The Everton board of directors on 8 July 1977. Moores attended the 1984 , 1985 and 1986 FA Cup finals , all of which featured Everton. At the 1987 Football League Cup Final , sponsored by Littlewoods, Moores was the guest of honour and presented the League Cup to the winning team who were Arsenal. John Moores was a keen baseball fan and created a league for Liverpool-based teams in 1933. He later enticed Everton players such as Dixie Dean to

1323-557: The Far East. The football pools continued during the war years however. In late January 1947, Moores fell ill and contracted meningitis – he spent two weeks in hospital. He recovered and returned to work in March but later said he felt run down for a while after that. The businesses continued to expand, and his two sons were given roles in the chain stores and at director level. The company branched out into manufacturing and testing of garments as

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1386-437: The IBAF and ISF serve as the confederation's baseball and softball divisions, respectively. Each division is governed by an executive committee, while the WBSC is governed by an executive board. The WBSC has 208 National Federation members in 141 countries and territories across Asia, Africa, the Americas, Europe, and Oceania. Professional baseball organizations as well as youth organizations are also included and form an arm of

1449-635: The International Softball Federation (ISF) laid out the essential ground rules for partnership and began working on a constitution that would guide the merger and provide a framework for governance, ethics and operations. At a historic IBAF Congress in Tokyo in April 2013, the Constitution was ratified and since it had already been approved by an ISF working group empowered to do so, the WBSC was officially formalized and empowered. The creation of

1512-638: The United States withdrew from the AWS in 1942 , and the trophy was apparently not awarded after that. When Jaime Mariné succeeded Leslie Mann as president of the IBF during the 1940 Amateur World Series , he renamed the trophy the Copa Presidente Batista , after Fulgencio Batista , the president of Cuba. Mariné had participated in the Cuban Revolution of 1933 that brought Batista to power and had organized

1575-549: The WBSC as associate members. Headquartered in Pully, Switzerland , the WBSC was granted recognition as the sole competent global authority for both the sports of baseball and softball by the International Olympic Committee in 2013 . As the recognised governing body of baseball, softball, and Baseball5, the WBSC is charged with overseeing all international competitions. It holds the exclusive rights of all competitions, tournaments and world championships featuring national teams, including

1638-409: The bleak depression years at the beginning of the 1930s. Also, he could remember only too well the difficulties with which his mother had to cope when feeding, clothing, and bringing up a large family or the problems when his father was too ill to work or following his death as his mother had three children then aged 13, 11 and 9 to bring up. There had for some time been institutions in existence, such as

1701-476: The board) he resumed the chairmanship on 10 October 1980. He resigned for the second and final time on 25 March 1982 and went into semi-retirement again. On 28 May 1982 he was made life president of the organisation. He attended board meetings until 1986. On 23 March 1986, Moores was burgled and tied up in his home. Two shotguns, jewellery, and money were stolen. The case was featured on Crimewatch UK two months later. John Clement succeeded Moores as chairman,

1764-514: The company installed its first computer to help with stock control. Nine years later in 1966 an IBM System/360 computer was installed. In June 1961 Littlewoods took over Sherman's Pools of Cardiff and Moores launched a sixth mail-order company, Peter Craig in 1967 in Preston . In March 1960, Moores gave up his chairmanship of the pools business, and handed over the reins to his brother, Cecil Moores, (10 August 1902 – 29 July 1989), so he could become

1827-452: The competition was limited to strictly amateur players. After 1998 , professional minor league players competed, but Major League Baseball did not allow its players to participate. In the months leading up to the high-profile first World Baseball Classic in 2006 , many commentators heralded it as a "Baseball World Cup", perhaps not realizing that a tournament of that description already existed and had for almost seventy years. However,

1890-516: The competition was limited to the nations of Central America and the Caribbean; the United States withdrew early from the 1942 series , and would not return until 1969 . The next edition, in 1970 , saw two European national teams ( Italy and the Netherlands ) participate for the first time; in 1972, Japan became the first Asian country to participate in the global baseball tournament. Until 1998

1953-504: The dictator's Military Intelligence Service in 1935. World Baseball Softball Confederation The World Baseball Softball Confederation ( WBSC ) is the world governing body for the sports of baseball , softball , and Baseball5 . It was established in 2013 by the merger of the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and International Softball Federation (ISF). Under the WBSC's organizational structure,

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2016-400: The extent that they are major sports in their respective countries. The table to the right has all leagues along with the country hosted: John Moores (British businessman) Sir John Moores CBE (25 January 1896 – 25 September 1993) was an English businessman, telegraphist, football club owner, politician and philanthropist, most famous for the founding of

2079-535: The first non-family member to do so. Moores had two operations, on his achilles tendon in May 1986, and then for an enlarged prostate in July 1986, but never fully recovered nor regained his health. In 1987 he used a walking stick as a mobility aid but by the following year he was confined to a wheelchair. In May 1988, he attended his final ever AGM, but whilst there he began to struggle to speak and suddenly lost his thread. That

2142-613: The first several Amateur World Series tournaments were presented the John Moores Trophy, named in honor of John Moores , a sponsor of the British Baseball Federation and future Everton F.C. executive. Like the Stanley Cup , it was a single trophy passed from winner to winner, with the names of the world champions engraved; however, only the winners of the 1938, 1939, and 1940 editions are engraved ( England and Cuba );

2205-463: The game in the different continents and regions of the world. In total, WBSC recognizes 198 national associations, with 132 national baseball teams as well as 122 women's national teams. Unlike the ICC , the WBSC identifies associate members as those who particularly endorse international baseball and softball with their own leagues in partnership with the WBSC. These leagues support baseball and softball to

2268-709: The game. In 1938, he donated the John Moores Trophy to the English national team for beating the United States four games to one in a five-game series , in what became known as the first Amateur World Series . The Great Britain team consisted largely of Canadians from the Yorkshire-Lancashire league. In October 2009, Moores was posthumously inducted into the British Baseball Hall of Fame . On 30 April 1970, along with his friend Bessie Braddock , Moores

2331-546: The illness in 1919 aged 47. At the age of 12, John got his first job, helping with a milk round before school started. He left elementary school in 1909, at the age of 13. John became a messenger boy at the Manchester Post Office, but was sacked for talking back to his superior. Shortly afterwards however, he was soon accepted in a course at the Post Office School of Telegraphy. This enabled him, in 1912 to join

2394-414: The manufacturing portfolio. 1942 saw aircraft parts and bridge pieces being manufactured and from 1943 the firm built storm-boats that could cross water and land on beaches. They also became experts at 'boxing' – making compact transportable kits containing dismantled vehicles that could be reassembled at their destination overseas. The boxing division also made Pacific Packs containing rations for soldiers in

2457-464: The name Liverpool John Moores University in his honour upon being granted university status. A statue was later built which stands in the courtyard of the university's Avril Robarts Library . In 1956 he became chairman of the Liverpool Motorists' Outing for Handicapped Children. The John Moores Painting Prize is co-ordinated by National Museums Liverpool . The first John Moores exhibition

2520-539: The now defunct Littlewoods retail and football pools company. Liverpool John Moores University is named in his honour. Moores' football-betting empire and Littlewoods stores made him one of Britain's richest men. John Moores was born at the Church Inn, Eccles , Lancashire, on Saturday, 25 January, 1896. He was the second of eight children and the eldest of four sons born to bricklayer John William Moores (17 September 1871 – 9 February 1919) and Louisa Moores (née Fethney) (9 March 1873 – 13 December 1959). John came from

2583-399: The phrase "taxi for...", particularly for under fire football managers. He would remain as Everton chairman up to 29 July 1965, resigning due to the poor health of his wife, who died of cancer six weeks later. On 3 August 1972, Moores regained the chairmanship and was chairman until 1 August 1973 when he resigned for the second and final time. He then became vice-chairman. Moores retired from

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2646-491: The three partners invested £50 of their own money into the venture, and with the help of a small, discreet and cheap printer they got to work. In 1923, £50 was a huge sum to invest in what – based on Barnard's experience – was a precarious venture, and as Moores himself remembered: "As I signed my own cheque at the bank, my hands were damp. It seemed such a lot of money to be risking". A small office in Church Street, Liverpool,

2709-484: The turnover was £100,000. A year later, in 1934, it had risen to £400,000; and by early 1936 mail order was grossing £4 million a year. Moores had made his second million. The idea may have come from the little mail-order firm Moores had started in 1921 in Ireland, and he knew that the enormous mailing list which pools had built up would be very helpful; but it was also inspired by the hardship and poverty prevalent everywhere in

2772-510: The whole thing. Colin Askham agreed. They could see why John Jervis Barnard's idea of a football pool had failed in Birmingham. They expected Moores to concur, but instead he said: "I'll pay each of you the £200 you've invested, if you'll sell me your shares". Moores admitted that he considered giving up on the business himself, but was encouraged by his wife, who told him "I would rather be married to

2835-450: The winning payout. Eventually the pools took off, becoming one of the best-known names in Britain. Moores insisted on being known as "Mr John" to those who worked at Littlewoods, rather than Mr Moores or Boss. In January 1932, Moores, who was by now a millionaire, was able to disengage himself sufficiently from the pools to start up Littlewoods Mail Order Store. At the end of the first year

2898-494: The world. The WBSC introduced it to aid its ultimate goal of having a billion-strong baseball-softball community by 2030. A major difference between B5 and baseball/softball is that the game is played without a pitcher , with the batter starting each play with the ball. It was inspired by various Latin American street games, such as "cuatro esquinas" ( four corners ) in Cuba, and has been played in some international tournaments in

2961-627: Was a Conservative councillor for the Sefton parish for Sefton Rural District and West Lancashire Rural District . In September 1933 he stood as a National Government candidate for Clay Cross and at the November 1935 General Election in Nuneaton but failed to be elected both times. Moores was critical of socialism, but in November 1935 he called for coal miners to be paid more money and for them to have better working conditions. Despite his Conservative views, he

3024-590: Was a friend of the Labour MP Bessie Braddock and the two worked together on several projects involving Liverpool. Moores retired as chairman on 24 October 1977 of Littlewoods and was succeeded by his son Peter . He went into semi-retirement, visiting his office on the 11th floor of the Littlewoods organisation between 10 am and 1 pm every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. However, as profits fell from 49 million to 11 million, (Moores remained on

3087-596: Was allowed. That ruled out calling it, for example, John Moores Football Pool or the Colin Askham football pool. The solution to that particular problem came from Colin. He had been orphaned as a baby and been brought up by an aunt whose surname was Askham, but he had been born Colin Henry Littlewood. And so, on 1 February 1923, the Littlewood Football Pool – as it was called originally – was started. Each of

3150-427: Was convicted. However, as his company never accepted cash, only postal orders that were cashed after the football results and the winning payout had been confirmed, his appeal was upheld. In 1928, Cecil Moores devised a security system to prevent cheating. The breakthrough came when the owner of the coupon printing company Arthur Bottomes suggested that he took his exact expenses out (plus a bit extra) before calculating

3213-474: Was elected to a seven-year term as the first president of WBSC, along with a fully elected Executive Board. In 2017, the WBSC introduced a third discipline to be played at an international level, Baseball5 (B5), which is a five-on-five, five- inning game designed to be played with only a rubber ball on a small field. It is targeted at underserved communities, as well as offering a low-cost and fast-paced entry point to baseball and softball in new places around

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3276-564: Was elected to run the Mess Committee. He established the Waterville Supply Company to order food from a variety of suppliers instead of just one, so was able to reduce costs and raise the quality of meals. Moores noticed that there was no public library around for miles. As a result, in April 1921 he set up a store that sold books and stationery. He bulk imported books from Britain and from Dublin and also sold golf balls as there

3339-525: Was followed on 6 July 1937 by the opening of the first Littlewoods department store in Blackpool . By the time World War II started there were 25 Littlewoods stores across the UK and over 50 by 1952. The company then turned to war work – warehouses were equipped and staff were retrained so that the company could make parachutes. From 1940 they also made barrage balloons and in 1941 dinghies and munitions were added to

3402-573: Was held in 1957, six years after the Walker Art Gallery re-opened after World War II. It was intended as a one-off, but its success led to it becoming a biennial event. By the early 1960s, the exhibition was regarded as the UK's leading showcase for avant-garde painting. Winning works have included classic paintings by Jack Smith ( Creation and Crucifixion ), William Scott , Roger Hilton ( March 1963 ) and David Hockney ( Peter Getting Out of Nick's Pool ). Between 1933 and August 1940 Moores

3465-704: Was his final ever involvement with Littlewoods. He was unable to talk at all in the final years of his life. Sir John Moores died at his home, "Fairways", at Shireburn Road, Freshfield , Formby , on Saturday, 25 September, 1993, where he had lived since 1930. He was cremated six days later in Southport in a funeral attended by family members only. A memorial service was held for him on 30 November 1993 in Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral attended by 2,000 people, 1,500 of them Littlewoods employees. His son John Jnr paid tribute to his late father in an address. The following month it

3528-627: Was made a Freeman of the City of Liverpool. In 1972, he was made a CBE , going to Buckingham Palace to receive it on 14 November that year for his youth work and services to the arts on Merseyside. In 1978 he was awarded the first Gold Medal for achievement, and in June 1980 he was knighted . He received his knighthood from Prince Charles on 29 October 1980. Moores married Ruby Knowles (27 October 1894 – 8 September 1965) in Liverpool on 19 September 1923. They had four children: In 1992, Liverpool Polytechnic took

3591-482: Was no sports shop or golf course. Between his telegraphist salary and the profits he made from the Waterville Supply Company (helped by his status of Mess President which meant that he did not have to pay for his own meals) he made £1,000 in 18 months. In May 1922, Moores was posted back to Liverpool. John, Colin Askham and Bill Hughes were friends who had worked together as Post Office messenger boys in Manchester . It

3654-453: Was originally called the Amateur World Series, until the tournament in 1988 . The idea of a baseball competition for national teams was championed by International Baseball Federation (IBF) president Leslie Mann . After managing to include baseball as a demonstration sport at the 1936 Berlin Olympics , Mann sought to organize an international tournament in 1937 between the national teams of

3717-678: Was posted to their training school in Bixteth Street, Liverpool but after being taught to touch type, seventy to eighty words per minute and how to read cable slip, in November 1920, Moores was posted to Waterville in County Kerry, Ireland. He complained about the food that was served at the Waterville Cable Company Station, whose function was to receive messages from the US and Canada and re-transmit them to London and Liverpool. Moores

3780-505: Was rented and the first 4,000 coupons were distributed outside Manchester United's Old Trafford ground before one Saturday match that winter. Moores handed the coupons out himself, helped by some young boys eager to earn a few pennies. It was not an instant success as just 35 coupons were returned. With bets totalling £4 7s 6d (£4.37½), the 10 per cent deducted did not cover the three men's expenses. They decided to print 10,000 coupons, and took them to Hull , where they were handed out before

3843-600: Was revealed he left an estate valued at £10 million gross in his will that he made on 11 March 1988. and that he left most of his fortune to his four children. Littlewoods revealed he relinquished nearly all his shares in Littlewoods in 1979. His shares in Everton FC were left to his two sons and his shareholdings and investments in Bermuda to his two daughters. The Sunday Times Rich List 1989 estimated his estate to be worth £1.7 billion. The Littlewoods businesses were sold to

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3906-517: Was struggling to make a profit. Hughes obtained one of Barnard's pools coupon, and the three friends one night, in September 1922, when the cable machines were quiet, sat discussing what Barnard would have to do to make money on it. Then they decided they could do it better and they could make money out of it themselves. They could not let their employers, the Commercial Cable Company, know what they were doing, or they would be sacked. No outside employment

3969-472: Was whilst looking for a new money-making idea that Moores heard about John Jervis Barnard, a Birmingham man who had latched onto the public's growing passion for two things: football and betting. Barnard had devised a ' football pool ', where punters would bet on the outcome of football matches. The payouts to winners came from the 'pool' of money that was bet, less 10 per cent to cover "management costs". It had not been particularly successful. Clearly, Barnard

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