George Merlevede was born in St. Boniface, Manitoba on April 22, 1921. Merlevede was an excellent pitcher, shortstop, and hitter. He played in a Winnipeg school league when he was 14, and then soon after joined the Fort Rouge Cubs to play juvenile ball. Merlevede played with the Cubs in 1936 and ’38 before joining the West End Maroons. In 1940 and he was offered contracts with U.S teams, but he instead joined the Canadian Army and pitched in the Pacific Coast Service League. After the war, he returned to Winnipeg and played with the St. Boniface Native Sons in 1946, the Reo Rods in 1947-48, the Native Sons in 1949, Transcona in 1950, and the league champion Native Sons in 1951. Merlevede played tournaments through the years with St. Anne, St. Claude, and Fannystelle. He also did a stint of coaching, and held many different administration positions in senior and minor baseball from the late ’50s to mid ’60s, including an 11 year term as president of the Winnipeg Senior League from 1963-64.
