The Binscarth Orioles were perennial champions in the Northwest League, and won the Provincial Senior B Crown in 1969, ’70, and ’71. Following this, in 1972, the Orioles moved to the Manitoba Senior Baseball League (MSBL), where they won the Provincial Senior “A” title during their first year in the league. In 1973, Binscarth won the MSBL pennant pennant. Throughout 1969-74, the Orioles played in many big Western Canada tournaments, including in Regina, Moose Jaw, Saskatoon, and Lacombe. Garth Neville, who also played on Team Canada, was their main pitcher, but the Orioles did not rely only on pitching. They were a versatile team, and had good speed, defense, and power hitting.

The Birtle Blue Jays were a small town team that played in the Manitoba Senior Baseball League (MSBL). They competed at a high caliber and were extremely successful.

In 1999, after advancing all the way to the provincial finals, Birtle lost in a seven game series that went right until the final game. The following year they redeemed themselves by winning the MSBL Championships and taking home the Manitoba Senior AAA Crown. This impressive feat was accomplished again in 2002 and in 2004.

In 2001, the Blue Jays attended the Nationals in Kentville, Nova Scotia. The tournament went very well, and Birtle brought home the President’s Cup. In 2003 they attended Nationals once again, but lost in the semi-finals. After winning their third MSBL Championship and Manitoba AAA Crown in 2004, they attended Nationals again in Kamloops, BC in 2005.

This Brandon Cloverleafs team was one of the greatest amateur baseball teams ever assembled in Manitoba.

The team started in 1948, when Brandon did not have any organized minor baseball team. A bunch of young kids, pumped up from listening to the World Series, got together at a south end softball diamond. They each threw in two dollars for equipment, drew a name from a hat, and the Brandon Cloverleafs Baseball Club was born. Dressed in uniforms that consisted of black sweatpants and white t-shirts. The young team played in pick-up leagues and followed baseball tournaments around the country. They coached and managed themselves. They practiced and played on the Mental Hospital diamond, with practices sometimes lasting seven or eight hours. As the time passed, some of the players left the team, and others took their place. Each year the team became more successful, and eventually the club moved their games to the new Kinsmen Stadium.

In 1951, the Cloverleafs joined the Central Manitoba Baseball Association, which at that time included eight leagues with 40 teams. By 1954, the Cloverleafs had one of the most feared and exciting baseball teams in the history of sport in western Manitoba. From 1954 to 1960, the team won seven Central Manitoba Baseball Association Championships. They had great depth and were a perfect blend of youth and experience, strength and speed, and pitching and fielding. Their playoff record over these years was a phenomenal 36 wins and 5 losses. In 1956 they played 60 games, won 54, lost 4, and tied 2. Three years later, they won 38 of 44 starts.

Throughout the 50s, the Cloverleafs dominated the baseball tournament circuit. They also won various exhibition games with American teams, including one against the Kansas City Monarchs of the American Negro League. They won this game 15-7.

The Brandon Cloverleafs was a team that developed a bunch of rag-tag kids into one of the finest in Manitoba. Their success often hinged on a special magic that went beyond talent. They were good friends, they worked together and stuck together. The group was very close-knit, and that was one of the biggest reasons for their success.

It is only fitting that the Brandon Cloverleafs of this era were the first team inducted into the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame They were an outstanding team, and many members from it contributed immensely to baseball long after their playing days were over.

The Brandon Cloverleafs Baseball Club of 1966-1971 was an exceptional team, and they carried on much of the success of the original Brandon Cloverleafs team of 1954-1960. Over the course of 1966-1971, the Cloverleafs won five Manitoba Senior Baseball League Championships, four Provincial Championships, and one Canadian Senior AAA Championship.

The Brandon Cloverleafs had a team in the Manitoba Senior Baseball League (MSBL) for every one of its 55 years. Among Brandon’s strongest teams was the one it put on the field between 2006 and 2012. In these seven years, the club won two MSBL pennants and five League and Provincial Championships. At Nationals, they represented Manitoba very well by winning a silver medal in 2007, and a fourth place finish in both 2010 and 2011. The Cloverleafs were also Baseball Manitoba’s High Performance Team of the Year in 2007.

The Brandon Greys, who played as a part of the Manitoba Senior League and the Mandak League from 1948 to 1951, were symbolic of the colourful and pulsating excitement of Baseball in Manitoba following World War 2.

Even though Jackie Robinson broke the Major League colour barrier in 1947, there were hundreds of players still playing in the Negro Leagues in the United States – some came to Canada and to Brandon. 1948 marked Brandon’s return to the Manitoba Senior League. The backers of the Greys hired Ian Lowe of Bradwardine as player/manager of the team. They also secured some of the best players in Western Manitoba – like Gerry MacKay, Steve Clark, Frank Watkins, Jack Sinclair and also added Tony Tascona from Winnipeg. Most importantly, the Executive of the Greys turned a good club into a potential Championship Team by the signing of players from USA and Cuba, like Armando “Bus” Vasquez, Dirk Gibbons, Coney Williams, Rafe Cabrera, Ramon Rodriquez. A dream team may only be on paper but it was the leadership of Ian Lowe who “cast the mould” to turn the Brandon Greys into a League and Tournament threat for the next four years.

The Brandon Greys entertained and thrilled large crowds, which ranged from 4000 to 6000 and they raised their fans level of excitement and passion for the game. Young players began to emulate their heroes and the enthusiasm for baseball was contagious throughout Manitoba.

The team won three of four Provincial Championship from 1948 to 1951. In 1950, they were runners-up to the Winnipeg Buffaloes. The most impressive year of their four-year run was in 1949 where the Greys played 108 games in 113 days and had a record of 87 wins, 18 losses and 3 ties. They won the Provincial Championship in 15 innings (2 – 1) over the Elmwood Giants before a crowd of 5200 at Kinsmen Stadium. Frank Watkins of the Greys and the Giants Lefty Hal Price hooked up in a fantastic pitching dual. To add to the hysteria of the game, pitcher Watkins won the game with a single down the 3rd base line to score Rafe Cabrera for the winning run.

In 1949, the Greys won six Tournament Championships out of nine entered, winning the Prestigious Indian Head, Saskatchewan Tournament which attracted 27,000 over 3 days of competition. The Brandon Greys were truly a “dream team” from 1949 to 1951.

The Brandon Marlins entered the MSBL in 1995 under the coaching of the late Neil Andrews to keep the league viable as it was down to three senior teams. After some growing pains the Marlins won their first league championship and provincial title in 1999. The Marlins repeated as champions in 2001 with a powerful team that set a record for runs scored with 171 in an MSBL 18 game schedule while racking up a .344 team batting average. The Marlins continued their success with league and provincial titles highlighted by playing in front of their home fans in 2006. From 1998-2004 the Marlins hosted a three day Canada Day tournament for senior teams from Manitoba, Sask., and the USA with the Marlins winning in 2004.

The Carillon Sultans played their home games in Friedensfeld. For the most part, the players were local products of the Carillon junior team, and the majority of the players continued their involvement in Carillon baseball long after their playing days. The Sultans competed in the Winnipeg Senior League, which became very strong after the Redboine League folded in 1998. The Sultans won the league championships in 1998, 1999, 2001, and 2002. In 1999, they also won silver at the Western Canadian AA Championships.

The Carman Goldeyes won six consecutive Red-Boine League crowns, 1983-88 inclusive. In five of those years they beat out Western Manitoba teams for the Frank Richardson Trophy, emblematic of Manitoba’s senior chamionship. The Goldeyes won the silver medal at Western Canadian championship tourney in Red Deer, 1984.

The Dauphin Redbirds of 1958-1963 had a core of great players who all figured into the team’s success. They had solid pitching, fielding, and hitting.

The Redbirds were outstanding when it counted. In the golden days of tournament baseball they were difficult to beat. They won in Elphinstone, Birtle, Gilbert Plains, and Ste. Rose in 1958. Also in 1958, the Dauphin Redbirds defeated Binscarth in 4 games in a best of 5 series to advance to the Northern Manitoba Finals. They then beat Erickson 8-2 and 11-3 to advance to the Manitoba finals where they were defeated by the Brandon Cloverleafs.

In 1959 the Redbirds were strong again in Tournament play, winning in Dauphin and Bowsman and losing in the final at Grandview. In the Provincials they lost to Brandon 6-2 in the first game. The second game was a nail-biter, but in the end the Redbirds lost 6-5 in the 10th inning.

In 1960 the Redbirds won the tournament in Elphinstone, and also won in Roblin and Yorkton. They went on to defeat Binscarth 2-1 and 5-4 in the Provincials to win the North (no further games were played). Dauphin then joined the Manitoba Senior Baseball League (MSBL) in 1961, and they played mediocre baseball all summer until the playoffs. They beat Binscarth in the semi finals and beat the Hamiota Red Sox in the final. The Series went 7 games. Dauphin won 3 at home and Hamiota won 3 at home. The series featured great pitching by both sides, as well as great running in the series. Bob Kabel stole 2nd, 3rd, and home to score the winning run in the bottom of the 8th inning to edge-out Hamiota 4-3 in game 6 of the Series. The seventh game in Hamiota was attended by the biggest crowd seen in the area. In a well played game the Redbirds beat Hamiota 6-3. Bob Kabel and Jerry Shumanski hit homers off Glennis Scott. Bill Murray made a great double play, Al Evason made a game saving running-shoe-string catch in left field, and Dick LaFramboise caught a huge blast off the bat of Don Smith. Dauphin went on to win the Manitoba Stark Trophy Championship by defeating the Oakland Braves 13-1 and 13-3 in the Manitoba Finals.

The Elmwood Giants were a highly competitive team in the Redboine Senior League from 1979 to 1997. They finished second in the Redboine League for five straight seasons from 1989 to 1993, losing to the previously inducted St. Boniface Native Sons each time.

The Elmwood Giants won the silver medal at the 1989 Western Canadian Senior Championships in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.

In 1994, the Giants finally captured the Redboine League Championship and competed at the Western Canadian Championships in Kelowna, British Columbia. Between 1989 and 1994, the Elmwood Giants compiled a record of 174 wins and 69 losses.

The Elmwood Giants excelled in the Winnipeg Senior Baseball League, Manitoba playoffs, and the Western Canada Senior Championships from 2000-2005. The Giants were Winnipeg Senior League champions in 2000 and 2005, and Manitoba Senior AA champions in 2000, 2001, and 2003. The Giants represented Manitoba at Western Canada Championships in 2001 (silver), 2002 (gold), and 2004 (gold).

Elmwood Giants Senior AA Baseball Club

2002, 2004 Western Canada Senior AA Champions

2001, 2003 Manitoba Senior AA All-Stars Champions

2000, 2005 Winnipeg Senior Baseball League Champions

(pictured: 2002 Western Canada Champions)

The Fort Whyte Tournament Team from 1954-1960 consisted of players from the Winnipeg Senior Baseball League, some of the best Winnipeg Junior League players, and occasionally players from rural Manitoba. They competed in tournaments from western Manitoba to eastern Ontario. The team played in an average of 16 to 18 open and invitational tournaments every year, and over the course of this six-year stint they played many top-notch teams. Despite this, they never lost more than two tournaments in any year.

The 1959-1964 Hamiota Red Sox were Central Manitoba Baseball Association champions once, co-champions another time with the Brandon Cloverleafs (1959), and finalists in 1960. The Red Sox were Manitoba Senior Baseball League (MSBL) pennant winners in 1961, 1962, and 1964. They were also MSBL champions in 1962, 1963, and 1964. The team won the prestigious Birtle July 1st tournament for eight consecutive years form 1955-1962. The Hamiota Red Sox of this time were an excellent young team managed by Gladwyn Scott and Lorne Caldwell. Unlike most teams of the time, they had no out-of-province imports.

Over the five years from 1986 through 1990, the Hamiota Red Sox excelled in the Manitoba Senior Baseball League (MSBL). They won the league regular season pennant three times, they were league finalists four times, and they won two championships. Eleven players were named to a first all-star team during the five years. On four occasion the league’s top pitcher was from the Red Sox, on three occasions the play-off MVP, on one occasion the top hitter, and on one occasion the top rookie. In 1987 two players set all-time MSBL records. One was set by Randy Robertson for most stolen bases in a season (25), and the other was set by Donato Salinas, who had 13 consecutive wins. In 1989 the Red Sox also had the highest winning percentage of any MSBL pennant winner (.925).

Led by Hall of Farmers Roy Cuthill (Manager), Dale Lowes (Catcher), Wayne Poole (First Base) and Sam Jamieson (Shortstop), McAuley had a .599 winning percentage in 21 years (1973-1993) in the Manitoba Senior Baseball League. Records held by the team included: 1975 least runs allowed in 21 game season (56), 1976 most games won by pennant winner (23), and most consecutive innings not scored on (42). The team finished first in their division in 1974, 1975, and 1976. The team won silver at the Canadian Baseball Championships in 1976. In 1977, the players hosted three games in the Canadian Championships as well as the Korean touring team. The Blazers excelled in tournament baseball, and they won tournaments in Birtle (2), Belmont International (2), Kenosee (5) and St. Lazare (several).

The Morden Mohawks entered the Border League in 1970. The league consisted of teams from Pilot Mound, Crystal City , Clearwater, Mather, Cartwright, Snowflake, Manitou, Kaleida, and Winkler.

The team found its stride under Doug Hamm, Darrell McElroy, and Joe Wiwchar around 1987. From 1987-1992, they were league champions 5 out of 6 seasons, and finalists in 1989. The team went on to represent the Border League in Provincials after each of these championships.

Beginning in 1987, the Morden Mohawks became dominant in their league. They not only won 11 consecutive Border League Championships, but over the next 14 years they would go on to win this championship 13 times. In 1994 they had a perfect 24-0 win/loss record in regular schedule and league playoffs, which earned them the Manitoba Baseball Team of the Year. The Mohawks competed in the majority of Provincial Senior “B” Championships and were a dominant supplier of players to the roster for Provincial “A” teams during this era. Morden players competed with the “A” team at the Western Canadian Championships in 1993, 1994, and 1997.

The Neepawa Cubs of 1955-1960 were coached by Merv Buchanan and Doug Birch. They started out as juveniles in the early 1950s before winning the Neepawa and District League Championships in 1955, 1956, 1959, and 1960. The Cubs won six more crowns in the next decade, and were a dominate team in this golden era of Manitoba baseball. Their league consisted of Eden, Wellwood, Springhill, Plumas, and the Neepawa Farmers.

\The Neepawa Farmers achieved their greatest success as a member of the Manitoba Senior Baseball League (MSBL) during the five years from 1993-1997. They went to the MSBL finals every year for all five years. In 1993 and 1997, they won league titles, and in the latter year, they capped off the their dynasty by going on to win the Provincial AAA Championships. Their 1993-1997 regular season stats were 59 wins and 43 losses, but they were particularly good in the playoffs, with only 16 losses to 31 wins. Many members of this team were previously inducted into the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame as individuals.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, good evening, my name is Dave Bennett I have been one of the on field announcers for the Farmers for 25 years, I am very pleased and honored to be asked to introduce the team members to you tonight. The Neepawa Farmers have always encouraged and given an opportunity to allow young lads to play on their team to develop their baseball skills. From 1986-2000, those 15 years the Late Workie Award has gone to a member of the Neepawa Farmers 7 times, out of the 15. In fact in looking over the list of team members being inducted tonight I see, that over half of them attended Neepawa school, well I was part of the staff there for ovr 40 years, so I saw first hand what commitment they had to the sports development, if I didn’t have them in one of my classes, perhaps they listened to me as my Vice Principal side but they always saw me for a good reason. I am pleased to introduce the Neepawa Farmers 1993-1997 the MSBL Champions of 93 and in 97. “