Orville Renwick was born in Melita, Manitoba on July 25, 1945. Renwick was an outstanding baseball promoter in Southwest Manitoba for many years. He started out as a player with the Coulter Red Sox, who were an intermediate team that lost in the provincial finals of 1968 to the Thompson Reds. Renwick then coached the Hamiota Red Sox for a few years before becoming an umpire in 1978. As an umpire, he oversaw minor and intermediate games, and he did not retire until 2010. On top of this, Renwick also served as Southwest League President from 1980-97. He later served as an area director for the Manitoba Baseball Association for six years, and was inducted into the Manitoba Baseball Association 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