About Us

Milton Keynes Bucks Baseball Club

About Us

The MK Bucks have been established in Milton Keynes for 25 years, playing in the British Baseball Federation, a part of Baseball Softball UK. We were instrumental in establishing the Midlands League, a division of the BBF.

The Bucks are the oldest and most league experienced team in this league. We have attended the BBF final four playoffs several years running, winning the AA Championship in 2006 & A Championship in 2010

Club History

Founded in 1986 by Dennis Noades, the Milton Keynes Baseball Club entered the BBF league in 1987 into the 2nd division.

MKBC won the 2nd division title not long after, gaining promotion into the 1st division.

MKBC won the 1st division championship in 1993.

Known as The Truckers from 1993—1996

In 1994 the club played in the Premier League South, at that time, the highest league in the country. Winning the first 8 games, The Truckers were basically the best team in the country, receiving a full page article in The Times. The next 8 games were lost and the Truckers found themselves back in Division 1 in 1995, where it remained until 1997 when it was voluntarily relegated into Division 2.

Known as The Indians from 1997-1998

In 1999 the club was known as the Bucks, the name it still carries. Ed Meade joined the club at the end of 1998 and was coach for 1999. Ernie Ayala joined the club in 1999.

Ed returned to the USA and the Bucks finished 2^nd in the league behind Bushey Falcons and got promoted back to the 1^st division at the end of 1999 by beating Bournemouth Sharks 2 in the play offs (they didn’t show up!)

Jacco Kramer took over as coach in 2000 & the Bucks finished 3^rd from bottom, ahead of Bushey and Tonbridge just avoiding relegation.

The 10^th of July 2000 was a memorable day in the club’s history. It was about 9:00am on a slightly misty but dry morning in Croydon. People woke up to the sound of Bryan Clarke throwing up outside his tent and when you looked over to the diamond you could see a green blur. These were the hands and feet of the Irish national baseball team who were getting ready to play the MK Bucks at 10:00. Obviously after a Saturday night at the London tournament, it was not time for the Bucks yet to be at the diamond. By about 10:00 there were 8 players at the diamond, some of them refusing to play because they were still too sick. Luckily a few more arrived and we could play. With Ernie on the mound the Irish had no chance at all, the score was 4-3 in Bucks favour. Then we had to play London Warriors and lead for 4 innings using our Major League Envoy Coach, until they started bunting and Ernie and Rob Norris started shouting at each other. The time limit was up before the inning ended, and as we now all know, the score of the previous inning counts. For this occasion however the organisation of the London tournament made a special arrangement for the London Warriors and the rule was changed to ensure they were in the final. What a shame! At the end of the 2000 the split happened. Some players left to form the MK Rebels.

In 2001 the National League was formed leaving the Bucks in the 1^st division which was more like a 2^nd division. The club struggled a lot this season to have enough players. Luckily everybody in club pulled together and we got through the season, finishing 4^th out of 8 just ahead of the Rebels who finished 5^th (although they beat the Bucks every game played against them) This is the year when Ian “Macca” MacGowen and John Tyas joined. We shouldn’t forget the influx of ex-Alconbury players, such as George Halley and Stewy, a star pitcher. This was also the year of the first Holland tour.

In 2002 the club had a solid team of committed players and played in the 1^st division. Winning the league, losing only 1 game to the Rebels. It was the best season we had. The defence was solid and the batting average was awesome. A 45-0 score in 5 innings against Medway proves this. Another Holland tour followed this season.

2003 was the start of the clubs growth plan. The seniors were split up into 2 teams and started with a Bronco youth team. The first team had a lot of new players with good qualities, but no commitment, so after good results in the first few games (including a double header trashing of Richmond Flames) the club struggled the rest of the season to get enough players and get results. The season ended with a fight against relegation in the last double header of the season in Oxford. After narrowly losing the first game the club had to win the 2^nd game to survive. Leading the first 3 innings and some bad calls from the umpire lead to a tense game. Robbie Slough did however a great job and followed by Ernie in the 6^th and 7^th inning we won the game.

2004 was a year to forget. The club was back to one team, but still continued with the Bronco youth team. Losing some more players and winning only one game this season against Brighton Buccaneers 2.

2005 was the start of the Midlands League. A good year with no double headers and travel only to MK or Birmingham. The club did however stop with the youth team as there were not enough players. The club met the Solihull and it was the season where Ben Alexander hit 4 homeruns in one game against Bulldogs. Current Bucks Chairman Jon Reynolds was pitching that day for the Bulldogs. Missing out on the championship by one win difference with the Maple Leafs. At the end of the season Jacco resigned as coach.

2006 was the start of Ernie’s coaching career. Again playing in the Midlands League and again finishing 2^nd behind the Maple leafs.

Star pitcher Jarrod Pretorius arrived from South Africa this year and with his help the club went on to win the division one title at the final four championships in Croydon. Click here for link to match reports from 2006 final four championship semi final & final.

Last Season

In the 2010 season, the MK Bucks were crowned National Single A Champions at the NBL finals weekend in Hemel Hempstead.

Our route to the 2010 Postseason playoffs: Saturday 21st August saw the Manchester Torrent head south to Milton Keynes. A good 22-3 victory then bought the Humber Pilots south on Saturday 28th August in our 2nd postseason playoff game. A 7-0 victory took us to the final vs the Guildford Mavericks. A 10-3 victory saw us crowned Single A Champions for 2010. Click here NBC for report. Click here for Citizen newspaper report.

The MK Bucks finished 3rd in the BBF Midland League.

Hall of Fame

Click here for link to MK Bucks Hall of Fame, celebrating important players from the clubs past.

Jarrod Pretorius pitching in final four championship game

3rd September 2006

2009 Season

In the 2009 season, the MK Bucks finished 3rd in the BBF Midland League, only behind the Mildenhall Bulldogs & the Alconbury Braves, both of which are American Air Force teams, based in the Anglia region.

The Bucks finished 5th in the annual summer London Tournament in Croydon, putting on a good performance on day 2 against the National League’s Northern Knights, leading for the most part, only to lose by 1 run in the final inning.