WHEN THE FOUNDING fathers of the GAA came together in Hayes’ Hotel on 1 November 1884 to foster and protect Ireland’s national sports, they probably never imagined that hurling would grow, through the Super-11s, into an international sport.

Likewise, when Alexander Cartwright, the so-called founding father of baseball, finally got around to compiling the official rules of the sport, he could hardly have guessed that Ireland would have an established league, with 12 adult teams and more than 400 players.

But, ahead of this year’s All-Ireland final, we finally brought the two sports together when we took five of the biggest names in hurling and paired them with five of the biggest hitters in Irish baseball, to see who could knock it out of the park.

Team 1
Brendan Cummins (Tipperary) – Nine times All-Ireland Poc Fada champion
Adrian Kelly (Ulster)

Team 2
Shane Dooley (Offaly) – Leading scorer in this year’s National Hurling League
Daniel Woodburne (Greystones Mariners)

Team 3
Matt O’Hanlon (Wexford)- Wexford Hurling captain
Roberto Marquez (Dublin City Hurricanes)

Team 4
Patrick O’Connor (Clare) – 2013 All-Ireland hurling championship winner
Matt Steerman (Dublin Black Sox)

Team 5
Seamus Hickey (Limerick) – 2007 Young Hurler of the Year
Liam Shier (Ashbourne Giants)

The rules were simple, there were scoring zones of one, two and three points all over the outfield and five points for a home run. Each player had five swings under baseball rules, and five under hurling.

And here’s who won:

Fancy a bet on the All-Ireland SHC final? Ireland’s biggest bookmaker Paddy Power have the odds on every market. Check out our All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship odds here, or simply download the Paddy Power app for iOS or Android. For more tips, insight and the odd star columnist, head over to Paddy Power News.