Update : 24 December, 2024
Ah, that 1950 season of baseall on the prairies, what a breakout campaign of high level talent and entertainment as fans embraced touring teams, both Black and White, and, on local squads, many former Negro League imports to bolster their teams throughout the region :
Kansas City Monarchs, House of David, California Mohawks, Ligon All-Stars, Brooklyn Cuban Giants, Harlem Globe Trotters, Louisiana Travelers, Nashville Stars, New Orleans Creoles, San Francisco Cubs, St. Louis Black Cardinals, Muskogee Cardinals, Winnipeg Buffaloes, Brandon Greys, Estevan Maple Leafs, Sceptre, Swift Current Indians, Carman Cardinals, Minot Mallards.
One of the teams, the former Jacksonville Eagles, from Florida Negro baseball, came north in their 26-passenger bus, to suit up as the team for Indian Head, Saskatchewan. They were The Rockets.
We've started that day-by-day story of The Rockets of 1950. It's still in draft form as we seek out more information to fill in the missing pieces.
There is a mystery why the Rockets dropped outfielder Lincoln Boyd and why, after very impressive numbers in lower pro ball, he never was given a further opporunity.
Boyd had great numbers in his two partial seasons in Canada (1949 in Brandon & 1950 Regina Caps) and playing for Clovis in the West Texas - New Mexico League, where one year he had 33 doubes and 44 homers to slug .678. The following season he set an incredible individual act with grand slam home runs in consecutive at bats, driving in a total of 11 runs.
Thad Christopher, long time Negro Leaguer, was among the imports to the Brandon Greys in 1948. We clipped a newspaper photo to add into the Manitoba Snapshot page. While we were there, we took the opportunity to re-do the photos of Steve Wylie and Bus Quinn (Armando Vasquez).
In searching for other things, happened to come across an item in The Sporting News showing the number of former players from the pros (Organized Baseball) playing in 1950 for the teams in Ontario's Intercounty League. There were 36 of them. That info posted here.
16 December, 2024
Quite a few photo additions in this update. Thanks to Ed Heather, who has a great interest in the Intercounty League of Ontario and in particular, the Galt Terriers, we have some pictures to add.
One of them is of Jeff Shelton (right), the first Black player to suit up with the club. He's in the 1949 Ontario Gallery and the Negro Gallery. Bobby Schnurr of Kitchener and Waterloo is also in that 1949 photo spread.
n the 1952 Ontario Gallery we've added shots of Sam Claypoole, Lou Columbo, Frank Howlan, Bob McDonald, Neil McDonald, Charlie Moore, Ed Murphy, Mike Pontarelli, Hal Rockburn, Don Miller and Irvin Schupp all of the Galt Terriers.
Then in 1954, the Terriers featured Gentry Jeep Jessup (left), a former Negro League star, along with Mike Pontarelli and Fred Thomas, a Black Canadian star. And in 1955 we've added a photo of Stan Breard who played with Oshawa and the Brantford Red Sox.
Closer to home, and thanks to Lou DeRosa we bolster the BC Photo Galleries with pics of players of Trail and area. They include Garth Clark of Nelson in the 1952 Gallery and in 1957 - Ivan Bell, Andy Bilesky (right), Jimmy Bilesky, Ab Cronie, Gerry Denis and Larry LeFace. The 1959 BC Gallery now includes Dick Mohoruk.
And into the 1960s, we add Wayne Cournoyer of Rossland and Don D'Archangelo and Bentley MacEwen of the Trail Smoke Eaters in the 1965 layout.
All the way back to 1919, there's Art Hauger/Hauser (right) of Moose Jaw of the professional Western Canada League. Also the rosters now reflect Hauger/Hauser as both names were used during his play in Canada.
Of course, thanks to ace researcher Rich Necker for digging out so much interesting material.
The Saskatchewan Gallery of 1919 shows a few players who played both in the Western Canada League and suited up with local teams as well - Hauger/Hauser, Ralph "Lefty" Miller, Elmer Leifer, Merrill Falby, Jack Farquhar, Joe Collins and Jerry Cummings.
We have made the inclusion of Miller's amazing feat in 1919 - consecutive no-hitters on the same day!
In a remarkable pitching performance, Miller (left) blanked Imperial 4-0 in a preliminary contest then shutout a powerful Dundurn nine 5-0 in the final, allowing not a single hit. It was Dundurn's first loss since Lefty Buckles and four others left the Moose Jaw team of the Western Canada League to play with Dundurn.
Miller allowed just one man to reach second base in the Imperial game and no one got beyond first in the second.
The 1920 Saskatchewan Gallery benefits with the additions of Lawson Atcheson/Atchison, Cummings, Falby and Frank Lyle.
Luther "Doc" Hughes, the long-time manager of the Regina Red Sox, inductee into the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame, is added to the 1950 SK snapshots.
Former Negro Leaguer Jack Bruton, with the Estevan Maple Leafs and Minot Mallards in 1951, is add to that Western Canada Photo Gallery as well as 1953 when he played with Regina Caps.
Also, in 1951, we show a revised photo of semi-pro star and former major leaguer Dick Stone.
We also came across a photo of Mike Dzingelowski (better known Mike Dayne during his career in Canada) (right) when pitching in pro ball, in AA likely in 1953 or 1954 before deciding to return home for good. Not sure where to put that as yet.
Added to the 1951 rosters are portions of an article in the Swift Current paper on the Indians roster for that summer with a few details on each player. The team, which merged with Sceptre during the season, fielded at least 61 different plays in the short Canadian summer season.
We've made a retraction regarding the '51 roster of the Indian Head Rockets, the all Black team from Jacksonville, Florida, which came north to play as the home team for Indian Head, Saskatchewan. At some point we noted two white players, Dick Stone and Andy Swota had suited up with the Rockets, but a search of our files has failed to find confirming evidence.
And, while the newspapers had Jose "Hippy" Hernandez as the manager of the Rockets, it was catcher Yzquierdo Gilberto (right) at the helm in 1953 and 1954 and I think we have made all the necessary changes. Interesting what you turn up nearly 75 years later!
Further research has brought us to some name changes as well. Jesse Blackman becomes Blackman/Blackmon after finding numeous articles in American papers with the "mon" spelling. The same for Lindsay, now Lindsey Carswell. In a tragic accident both men died in a fishing accident.
And, just before the entries above, we had updated all the roster lists from 1900 to 1979. A few of those will now require a little extra work. Coming up soon.
02 December, 2024
"Big Jim" Williams.
Nearly 75 years after he brought his Jacksonville, Florida, Eagles to suit up in Saskatchewan as the Indian Head Rockets, he's still in the headlines.
Baseball history colleagues Robyn Jensen and Rich Necker on a life story of Big Jim, the highs and a tragic end of a one-time Negro League star who made an indelible impression on the Canadian prairies.
The Elusive James “Big Jim” Williams – His Battles On & Off the Diamond – Home Runs & Dirt Roads
Eagle-eyed Robyn Jensen noticed an interesting little item in the 1989 edition of the Saskatchewan Historical Baseball Review, a publication of the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame.
Former Saskatoon Star Phoenix columnist Pat O'Dwyer had a piece on a 22-inning ball game in 1919! At the time it was thought to be the longest baseball game in Canadian history. Might still be.
However, while O'Dwyer has put together a lovely story, there remains no concrete evidence yet that it actually was 22 innings and that it ended in a 1-1 tie.
Apparently, O'Dwyer, tracked down the scorebook, or a copy of the scorebook of the game, but the scorekeeper, according to his report, failed to include a few facts, such as the date, the innings in which the runs were scored and other details. There is no boxscore or even line score to help solidify the claim.
One of the people he relied upon for information had seen the game as a 15 year old. Then again, in 1989 the game witness would have been about 85 years old. Was he crystal clear on game details in an age in which memory problems are not uncommon.
So, it is hard at the moment to put the stamp of authenticy on the information BUT - we've discovered that the Provinical Archies in Regina has a reel of the 1919 Melfort paper and this just might present the opporunity to gather enough information to "put it in the books". We hope to check that out early in the new year.
* Update - We tracked down partial details of the game in the Prince Albert Herald. It does appear to have been a
22-inning contest that ended in a 1-1 tie. Both pitchers went the distance. We will add more if we can track down
the Melfort version of the game.
The story of that 1919 game prompted us to fill in a little more information on 1919 Saskatchewan baseball.
And so, we now have some significant Game Reports (not sure they ever figured out who won in the Northern Saskatchewan League) plus updated Photo Galleries for 1918 and 1919 along with an updated Roster page. The 1919 Tournament page also has additions. High fives to Rich Necker for digging out a ton of material.
Speaking of Tournaments, the 1953 Tournament page has an update (Lacombe) and the 1939 page (Penticton),
In 1960 three former members of the Edmonton Eskimos of Western Canada Baseball came back to the city but in the jerseys of the Drain, Oregon, Black Sox for some exhibition games against local amateur teams. Pitcher Jim Withers, shortstop Tom Satriano and catcher Steve Bach helped the visitors to run roughshod over the local talent, 15-0, 8-7 and 12-1. A photo of the trio is on the 1960 Snapshot page.
Lots of little minor alterations, for example, a few misspellings - one I thought we had in hand long ago, but we missed a few - Bentley MacEwen (his picture below in the Trail group) had a few MacEwans slip through.
Thanks to the digging by Sweet Lou DeRosa, we have some individual photos of Trail, Rossland and Fruitvale players from the 1950s and 1960s. We'll now do a little more research to figure out in which Photo Galleries they best fit.
Albert Cronie Andy Bilesky Don D'Archangelo Garth Clark Gerry Denis
Jim Debruyn Jimmy Bilesky Bentley MacEwen Wayne Cournoyer Ivan Bell
On the Ontario Snapshot page of 1954 a newspaper photo of three stars of the Galt Terriers of the InterCounty League.
Gentry "Jeep" Jessup (right) a former Negro League star along with teammates Fred Thomas, Canadian Negro star (left), and Mike Pontarelli. (Thanks to Ed Heather for the photo.)
12 October, 2024
So, these are among the reasons why this might go on for another 25 years.
In attempting to update the roster sheet for 1930, I came across an entry for Teddy Colgate who was shown as playing for the Victoria Elks in 1930 and 1932 but with no entry for 1931.
That leads us to a newspaper search to try and determine if he indeed played in 1931. Yes, both in the Victoria Senior League with the Elks and in the Victoria Twilight League.
Then, In going to enter Colgate on the 1931 roster page discovered we had just one lonely team entry for all of Victoria.
Why don't we just see which teams played in the league that season.
Oh, isn't this interesting, the batting statistics for 1931 ! Might as well entry them while we're here - typing each name, their teams, then the data from each of 14 columns. Once finished, double-check.
The check showed up a couple of minor errors, but they did show one player with 21 hits in 16 at bats (should have been 2 hits).
Geez, hardly any first names. Let's check our current players' lists and the Victoria papers to see if we can find a few first names. Not bad, 45 first names out of 63 players.
OK, let's update the stats and rosters with first names.
Now we'll format the data and enter onto the 1931 stats page. There goes Wednesday.
And, now on Thursday, we find a second Victoria League - rosters, names, first names.
In the on-line search of newspapers for first names we come across a photo of the 1932 Penticton team. OK, let's add those too to the rosters, and the photo for sure.
Oh, but is that Emeri or Emery? Back to the newspapers.
All right, finally on to the "F's". Yikes, Forcee/Forcese with seven listings in total. Who's who?
However, by luck in searching for other things we come across of a newspaper photo of Ed Holden of Vancouver Diethers, 1939, and Julian Sawchuk, 1943, Victoria Army. And, there's a little story on Diethers of Vancouver winning the 1939 Labor Day Tournament.
On Facebook, Max Weder, the irrepressible collector, has posted a photo of the team crest for the 1948 Camrose Cubs. I can't find anything about the Cubs that year, but love the crest.
And, about time I did this - a page for the North Saskatchewan River Baseball League, in which my ol' hometown Lloydminster Twins have dominated (11 wins in their 27 seasons and a spot in the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame). Photos on the page of the North Battleford Beavers 2023 and 2024, champions both years.
There are photos of the Lloydminster Twins, on their own page, for 2004, 2011 and 2014, three of the championship seasons.
And, we've managed to update all the roster lists, in decades, from the 1900s to the 1970s.
Not sure we'll ever sort out the Chris Riddell's :
Riddell Chris RHP
Riddell Chris P
Riddell Chris(Sr.) OF
Riddell(Jr) Chris SS
Although I think we have, in the main, sorted out the LaFace players. Above (L-R) - Arthur(Pie) Laface, Jack, Jim, Joe, Donald(Babe), Ricky(Mascot), Rudy and Larry. There also was a Cy Laface and an Al Laface, but we've not yet located photos.
We still need to ID four for whom we have just initials - C, F, H and R. Cy/Si Laface (He might well be the "C" and Rudy might be the "R". Our Southern BC correspondent Lou DeRosa is on it.
11 October, 2024
Sadly, we have lost another good one. George Mahaffy, a stalwart of the talented Sceptre, Saskatchewan teams of the late 1940s and 1950s.
We received word on Thursday that he had passed away. He was 94.
Big (6'4") Mahaffy was the team's first baseman and occasional pitcher. He suited up for Sceptre, Eatonia and Delisle from 1948 through the early 1960s. In interviews, long after his playing days, Mahaffy downplayed his abilities, saying, while one of the imported pitchers might have been paid $450 a month, he played for "meal money, for that's what I was worth".
He was the basis for a play Lords of Sceptre, about the exploits of the town's ball team. It was written by his cousin, Maureen Ulrich.
29 September, 2024
Kaye Kaminishi, the last survivor of the legendary Asahi of Vancouver passed away September 28th.
The Asahi Baseball Association shared the news :
"With great sadness we share the news of our mentor and inspirational leader Kaye Kaminishi's passing this morning. He quietly passed in his home with his son, daughter, and other family members by his side.
The Asahi Baseball Association and our members would like to send our heartfelt condolences to Kaye's entire family and friends.
We have been blessed to have had Kaye near us for the past 10 years from our first Tribute Game to our recent 10th Anniversary Legacy Games. His inspirational advice and motivational speeches will remain in the hearts of all our players and coaches.
Despite harsh the discriminatory treatment by society and the government of 1940s, Kaye carried himself with dignity, poise, and restraint. From the age of 18 to today, he represented and continued the legacy of the orginal Asahi. Kaye always believed in playing with honor, respect, loyalty, and sportsmanship. Virtues that we should all live by.
Thank you Kaye San"
21 September, 2024
Now that the awards and stats are in the books for the Western Canadian Baseball League, we offer a summary of the 2024 season.
It includes the selection, by league coaches, of Cooper Ciesielski of Sylvan Lake as the WCBL's Most Valuable Player.
The Gulls outfielder compiled a .382 average, leading the league in slugging with a .758 mark and was second in on-base percentage at .495. He tied for the lead in homers, 13, and tied for the most doubles, with 21.
The Okotoks Dawgs three-peated as champions for the second time!
Going through issues of the National Baseball Congress Annuals, we found league standings for some Canadian teams in 1951, 1956 and 1959 and those are now displayed.
And, in updating the above, we noticed the NBC books had consistently had an incorrect spelling for Redcliff, Alberta. They had the Australian spelling, Redcliffe. So, that's now changed throughout the site.
And, in digging out more information on the Indian Head Rockets, our Robyn Jensen also included a newspaper photo of the Kamsack Cyclones upon winning the 1954 Indian Head Tournament. It is now added to the two other 1954 photos of Roy Taylor's Cyclones.
16 September, 2024
As a joke I thought I ought to write the editors of the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix newspaper and ask them to make a correction on an item they posted 70 years ago.
Based on that article in the 1954 paper, we had posted that Jose "Hippy" Hernandez (left) was returning as the playing manager of the Indian Head Rockets for 1954.
Turns out we now know that was incorrect. Not only wasn't Hippy the 1954 manager, he wasn't the manager in 1953 either. The manager was catcher Gilberto Yzquierdo (right) and we have made corrections to the Rockets roster.
In the process we also figured out what the former Rockets' manager, Jim Williams, was doing in an Indian Head uniform late that season.
Williams had brought up another team, the Florida Eagles, to play some tournaments and exhibitions in Saskatchewan and late in the season, when the Rockets ran into some financial difficulties and released several players, they called upon the Eagles for replacements.
In that light we have added some tournaments into the 1954 Tournament page for the Shaunavon and Kamsack events and more detail on the Indian Head tourney.
The Rockets' story led us to the Texas Jasper Steers who had trekked up to Saskatchewan from East Texas to compete in the Indian Head Tournament. Unfortunately, they were knocked out of further play when beaten 1-0 by Saskatoon in their only game in the event. Southpaw Alvin Jackson, (right) just 17 and a star high school athlete, who would later pitch in the major leagues, lost a heart-breaker.
They ended up playing a couple more games, one standing in for the Rockets when Indian Head could not field enough players. The team intrigued us, and we searched for some more information. Turns out a half-dozen of the Steers played in Saskatchewan and the club was the Negro champions in Texas in 1953 and 1955 (not competing in '54 because of the trip to Canada) and then won the Negro All-Dixie championship of the National Baseball Congress in 1956 and 1957 before challenging in the NBC tournament at Wichita both those years.
Part of the intrigue was a single while player on the "coloured" team. Our Rich Necker talked to him years ago. More on the Steers, including photos of the 1956 and 1957 teams & C.C. Risenhoover through that link above.
Searching the old National Baseball Congress (the organization for semi-pro ball) annuals for information on the Jasper Steers led us to some old photos of Canadian teams. Not the best quality, but as we've said before, at least they are placeholders for when we track down better ones. In those photos at least a couple of guys who we had been in contact with over the years, Dusty Rhodes and Ernie Porkka.
1954 Picture Butte Indians, Champions of the Alberta Big Six League
1956 Vauxhall Jets, Champions of the Alberta Big Six League
1956 Bow Island Combines, Champions of the Southern Irrigation League
1959 Bow Island Combines, Champions of the Southern Irrigation League
Tony Robello was a major league baseball scout who signed, among others, Hall of Famer Johnny Bench! In 1949, while a scout for the St. Louis Browns, he held a try out camp at Butler Park. in Trail, BC. Lou DeRosa has sent along a couple of photos from the Trail Museum & Archives.
03 September, 2024
Look at those crests !
The Lloydminster Meridians ! So pleased to have Robyn & Kris Jensen visit from Indian head, Saskatchewan.
Robyn brought along these special t-shirts with the Meridians crest she had made from the original from 1954. What a neat surprise.
She's working on another surprise; the revelation though will have to wait for another day.
We are pleased to present Robyn's delightful story on the famous Lacombe Tournament, 1950-1988. At the time, it was THE tournament in Canada.
And, we've also finally put together a list of the tournament winners from the key events from 1945 to 2024. They include Indian Head, Lloydminster, Saskatoon Optimist, Camrose, Lethbridge Rotary, Lacombe, Kamloops Labour Day, Kamloops International, Saskatoon Exhibition and the lone tournament to continue to this day, the Grand Forks Invitational.
Previous entries on this page moved to News Archive 28