Orville Renwick has been an outstanding baseball promoter in South West Manitoba for many years. Orville started out as a player with the Coulter Red Sox, an Intermediate team that lost the provincial finals in 1968 to the Thompson Reds. Orville then coached the Red Sox for a few years before putting his talents to work for the betterment of all the South West baseball region. He started umpiring for minor and Intermediate ball in 1978 and didn’t retire until 2010. Not content to merely contribute on the field Orville also served as the South West League President from 1980-97. He also served as an area director for the Manitoba Baseball Association for six years and was made of the Manitoba Baseball Honour Society.
“Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen: For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Bill Kirkup from Souris and on behalf of the Board of Directors of the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame, it is my pleasure to introduce to you our next inductee to the Hall, Mr. Orville Renwick of Melita, Manitoba. Having grown up in this area myself, I am quite familiar with Orville’s ‘stomping grounds’ This corner of the province has been home to a number of teams for as long as I can remember covering some 60 square miles along the USA and Saskatchewan borders. We are not sure of t times to stay viable the date of inception for the league but it appears to have been after WW2 with 4 to 6 teams involved. Like any other league the SWBL struggled at times to stay viable. The league was temporarily shut down in 2012 and reactivated 2 years later due in large part to Orville’s dedication, commitment, and communication with all teams in the region. With the reinstatement of previous member teams, plus two teams from the defunct MSBL, Orville’s efforts have paid big dividends for AA Senior baseball in South West Manitoba. The SWBL now operates with two divisions consisting of 11 teams. You will notice his bio covers his any baseball activities centered around the SWBL so I suggest you visit this in your program. In summary, you might use the slogan “I’ve been everywhere Man” In reference to his umpiring days, Orville was noted for being an umpire who consistently gave the low pitch which was very popular with most pitchers, but not all hitters. From this, I gathered a little story which may be fabricated but pertained to a called third strike in a crucial game where he called a batter out on a low pitch about an ankle high, to which the batter retorted “Mr. Umpire, that pitch was right at my ankles” to which Orville replied “that could very well be but its still strike three” With that, for induction to the builder’s category of the Hall, please welcome Mr. Orville Renwick as a new inductee to the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame.”
Orville Renwick Newspaper Article 1968
This article was gathered from the University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections, Winnipeg Tribune Collection