Executive members of the 1963 Regina Red Sox welcome the legendary Satchel Paige to Regina prior to the touring Satchel Paige All-Stars' exhibition game against the Red Sox. (Left to right) - Harvey Johnson (player representative), Charlie Leibel (Red Sox team president), Satchel Paige, Regina mayor Henry Baker, Bill Childs (director), Jack Fulton (director). Photo courtesy of Harvey Johnson
Moose Jaw playing-manager Roland Jones greets the legendary Satchel Paige before an exhibition game at Moose Jaw. The Paige All-Stars downed Moose Jaw Regals 11-3 before a crowd of nearly 1,000 spectators at Ross Wells Park. That's umpire Roy Tollefson at the right.
Slow as molasses on the mound and fast as ever when throwing, the oldest active veteran of the major leagues tossed two innings of one-hit baseball before giving way to his 19-year-old son LeRoy . . . Regals collected two hits off three All-Star hurlers. Left-hander Henry Myers was called to the mound in the last inning to retire the last batter with the bases loaded. Regals scored all three runs in the last inning on walks issued by the young "Satchel" Paige. Oddly enough, it was the veteran Paige's hit that broke up what appeared to be a tight contest. Paige sent a single down the right-field line with the bases loaded in the second inning. (Moose Jaw Times-Herald, July 24, 1963)
August 10, 1963, the Moose Jaw Times-Herald captures Moose Jaw playing-manager Roland Jones in a series of images as the Regals downed Notre Dame Hounds to capture the Southern League pennant.
Regina manager Ed Stefureak with Regina mayor Henry Baker and Southern League president Joe Trapp prior to the start of the 1963 All-Star game.
Two of Roy Taylor's prized Saskatchewan recruits are given pointers from former major league pitcher, Truman Clevenger.
Roy Rowley (of the NSBL's North Battleford Beavers) and Erwin Doerksen (of the Unity Cardinals in the NSBL) watch intently as Clevenger, who performed in Saskatchewan in the early fifties with the Regina Caps, demonstrates a pitching grip.
Taylor,the baseball coach at the College of Sequoias at Visalia, California, managed spent nine summers in Saskatchewan playing and managing teams in Kamsack, Saskatoon and Moose Jaw. Left to right are Rowley, Clevenger, Taylor and Doerksen.
Right-hander Gene Graves of the Kindersley Klippers.
Graves, a college star at Fresno State University in California, spent ten summers on the prairies, three of them with the Klippers.
He began his Canadian career in 1957 with the Saskatoon Gems, and followed with two more seasons in Saskatoon when they were the Commodores before suiting up with the Calgary Buffaloes in 1960. He was back with Saskatoon in 1961, then Kindersley 1962-63-64 before winding up with the Biggar Nationals in 1965-66.
In 2007, Graves was inducted into the Fresno State Hall of Fame.
His best season with Fresno was 1961 when he went 10-0 with a 2.44 ERA and four shutouts. He had earlier pitched on the College of Sequoias team which captured the California junior college title.
He died in September 2011, just two weeks after his 79th birthday.
Left - Stu Willison, 1963 Fort Qu’Appelle Sioux