The Coulter team almost did not play the year of 1968. Before the season it seemed there were not enough players. But a trio of “recruits” from nearby Elva helped keep Coulter in the South West League. To earn a spot in League play-offs, the Coulter team had to win their final game, which they managed to do. This was the first of a series of dramatic must win games. They had win-or-go-home victories against both Goodlands and Waskada in League play-offs. Provincial play-offs featured sudden death triumphs over Elgin and Sundown. This put Coulter in the five game Provincial Final against the very good Thompson Reds team assembled by Red Sangster. Coulter was beaten handily in the two games in Thompson and then in the first of the games at home. This was the end of the season for the Coulter Red Sox. But what a season!

The Springfield Braves were a rural Junior AA team that played out of Dugald in the Winnipeg Junior Baseball League. During the five years from 2008 through 2012, the Braves made the League final every year. They won the League championship in 2008. 2009, and 2011. In 2008 and 2009, they were awarded the Provincial Junior title by virtue of winning their League. In 2011, they defeated the Westman Diamond Dogs for the Provincial Crown.

The Sultans played home games in Friedensfeld. The players for the most part were local products of the Carillon Junior team and the majority of the players are still very much involved in the Carillon Minor Baseball Association. The Sultans competed in the Winnipeg Senior League which became a very strong League after 1998 when the Red Boine League folded. The Sultans won League championships in 1998, 1999, 2001, and 2002. In 1999, they were silver medalists at the Western Canadian AA Championship tournament.

The Brandon Cloverleafs had a team in the Manitoba Senior Baseball League in every one of its 55 years. Among its strongest teams were the ones the Cloverleafs put on the field from 2006 through 2012. In these seven years the club won two MSBL pennants and five League and Provincial championships. At Nationals they represented Manitoba very well with a silver medal in 2007 and fourth place finishes in both 2010 and 2011. The Cloverleafs were also Baseball Manitoba’s High Performance Team of the Year in 2007.

Members of the Sager family of Morden have been for many years leaders of baseball and fastball in South Central Manitoba. Father Howie was a long time player, coach, and executive best known for chairing for 20 years the Morden Committee that ran the Elks July 1 minor ball tournament. His wife Oddney worked alongside Howie as a coach and administrator in minor baseball. Oldest son Steve had an outstanding career as an all star third baseman and pitcher in Junior and Senior ball. Since 2006, Steve has coached minor, high school, and Senior teams, and won silver medals at Nationals or Westerns. Son Wayne was a talented left-handed pitcher and power hitter in Junior and Senior ball. As a coach he reached the pinnacle of success by winning gold at 1995 Westerns with the Carman Goldeyes Juniors. Daughter Jennifer may have been the most talented ball player in the Sager family. She had limited opportunities to play baseball, so opted for fastball and she excelled. She competed in five Junior Canadian championships. She went to university in Duluth, Minnesota and was named team MVP every year she played. She is now a distinguished coach and clinician.

Paul Edmonds was the voice of the Winnipeg Goldeyes for 19 years. He also spent one season in Alberta and during his 20 year career as a broadcaster he worked over 2000 games. He missed only one game for the birth of his son. During his broadcasts, Edmonds consistently promoted amateur baseball in Manitoba. He encouraged Baseball Manitoba to provide information he could share with his listeners. Edmonds also donated his time and talents to MC baseball events, such as, banquets and press conferences. His dedication and energy were hugely beneficial to baseball in our province. Baseball’s loss has been hockey’s gain as Edmonds is currently the radio voice for the Winnipeg Jets.

Bob Senff was a Winnipegger who moved to Virden in 1971 and in 1980 began to umpire. Over the next thirty years he was a highly respected umpire in Western Manitoba. He worked primarily in the MSBL, but for two years also handled games in the Prairie League of Professional Baseball. He also regularly umpired in other leagues like at Western Canadians, Manitoba Regionals or Provincials, and at National tournaments including the first Women’s National tournament held in St. James. Senff served in administrative positions such as assignor of umpires for Senior leagues, Umpire-in-Chief of the MSBL, and member of the Disciplinary Committee of Baseball Manitoba. He especially remembers umpiring a Senior game in which his two sons played against each other and singing both the Canadian and American National Anthems before umpiring Prairie League games.

Harold “Chuck” Lindsay was unique in that he excelled as a pitcher in both baseball and softball. Prior to the Second World War, he pitched baseball for his hometown Hamiota, as well as for Reston, Virden, and Belleview. During the War, he pitched fastball for an excellent Hamiota team and then, after he enlisted, he threw for baseball and fastball teams in the places he was stationed, such as, Calgary, Alberta, or New Brunswick. In fact, in the Maritimes, Lindsay was the voted best pitcher to ever play both baseball and softball. After the War, he pitched baseball primarily, especially for Hamiota but also for tournament teams or a selected teams such as the one chosen for a Virden game against “Satchel” Paige and his Touring All Stars. His given name Harold was seldom used. Everyone knew him as the two-sport chucker, Chuck Lindsay.

From Hamiota, Randy Robertson was a top minor-age player. He was on teams that won provincial championships at Beaver, Bantam, and Midget levels. His Souris team won a silver medal at Western Canadians in 1979 and Robertson was the all star catcher. As a Midget in 1982, he was selected to attend an elite development camp in Edmonton. In 1984, Robertson was selected to attend a try-out for the Team Canada Youth Team. In the MSBL, his career lasted only from 1984 through to 1989, but his lifetime average was .352 and his 25 stolen bases in one season set a League record never to be matched. He was part of a Hamiota Red Sox team that won three MSBL pennants and one championship. In Hamiota, Robertson coached minor ball from 1985 through 1988 and he also ran a camp for elite young players.

Jon Robbins was from Winnipeg and early in the 21st century he was one of Manitoba’s dominant right-handed hurlers. In Junior ball, in 2001, he helped pitch the Carillon Juniors representing Manitoba to the gold medal at Western Canadians. The next year at Junior Nationals held in Newfoundland, Robbins was named the tournament’s top right-hander and led Manitoba to a bronze medal. In 2003, he moved to Senior ball and was selected Rookie of the Year in the Winnipeg Senior league. Robbins played nine years in this league. He led the St. James Athletics to two league titles. Robbins was also named an all star four times and was selected twice as the league’s top pitcher.