Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame announces 2013 inductees
- Details
- Published on Monday, October 29, 2012
By: Lanny Stewart
myWestman.ca
The Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame announced its 2013 inductees on Monday.
Among those that will be enshrined next summer include Walter Hilhorst of Killarney, Ron Toews of Plum Coulee and Binscarth's Bob Paradine
Hilhorst -- who played, coached and managed baseball for more than half a century in the Killarney/Glenboro region -- was the chairman of the Western Canadian Senior AA committee in 1998 and was also a big proponent in helping his hometown build two new baseball diamonds in 1994-1995.
He was elected into the Baseball Manitoba honour society in 2001 and in 2005, he was named the Manitoba Senior Baseball League's manager of the year, all the while, receiving the the Ab Richardson award for dedication to baseball and sportsmanship.
"To be inducted into the hall of fame is a huge honour," said Hilhorst.
Hilhorst, who will be inducted into the builders category, is known simply as 'Mr. Baseball' in the Killarney area mainly due to the many hats he wears as a member of the baseball community in the area.
"My whole objective was to keep people playing the game and I think I did that to some extent," he continued.
Toews was inducted into the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006 as part of the Toews family, but this time, he'll go in as an individual. He began playing organized baseball in 1957 and in 1963, he was a pitcher/shortstop for the Plum Coulee senior team that claimed the the South Eastern League championship.
Toews would later go on to play in the MSBL and in the 80s, 90s and 2000s, he was a coach of several youth teams and was a player on a number of old-timer squads as well.
Paradine meanwhile, was selected for induction in 2012, but his wife became seriously ill prior to last year's banquet. He will, however, receive the honour at this year's event. Paradine was a long-time member of the Binscarth Orioles of the MSBL and was named a first or second team league all-star eight times during his playing career.
Winnipeg's Jack Callum, Bev Fisher, Mike Foster, Terry Kirklan, Brian Hodgson and Glen Hunter will also be inducted. Callum and Fisher will be enshrined in the builders category. Kirklan, Hodgson and Hunter will go in as player/builders, while Foster will be honoured for his time as a player.
There are five teams that will be going into the hall as well.
The town of Miami from 1956-1961 will be inducted into the small community team category.
In the late 50s and 60s, the town's baseball teams won several pennants during that time in a league that has had several different names over the years -- such as the South Central, South Central Border and South Eastern League. Several members of the Miami teams have been inducted as individuals into the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame as well, including Pat Angers of Neepawa.
"It's a very special thing," said Angers. "When you think back where it all started -- it was in Miami. Lots of lifelong friends. It's a very special occasion."
The 1991-1996 Boissevain Centennials will also be honoured in the small community category.
During the mid-90s, Boissevain clubs dominated the South West League, which had teams from Lyleton, Pierson, Melita, Waskada, Deloraine, Souris and Reston.
The Centennials also won the league championship five times in six years during that time.
Meanwhile, the Birtle Blue Jays of the MSBL will be honoured in the major team category. The Jays, which included the likes of Jeff Robertson, Mark Wakely, Sam Jamieson and Shane Moffatt, were a dominant club in the 1990s and 2000s. The Jays won MSBL titles in 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2004.
Other teams that will be enshrined are the 1961 Oakland Braves and the 1957 Oil Dome All-Stars. Both teams will be inducted into the special team category.
The Braves, which consisted of players from Wawanesa and Nesbitt, had their best year in 1961, defeating the Brandon Canucks to win the South Central Baseball League championship. The club would later go on to become the Manitoba Baseball Association north/south champs.
The Oil Dome team, which had players from Virden, Kenton, Crandall and Decker, was a hand-picked team that went on to take part in a provincial championship. The team would qualify for the Canadian national championship and would end up winning the event, defeating Regina in the championship final.
The entire Oil Dome team would later be inducted into Manitoba's Order of the Buffalo Hunt, the province's highest honour at the time.
The 17th annual Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame induction banquet and ceremony will take place on Saturday, June 1, 2013 at the Morden Event Access Centre.
In photo: Neepawa's Pat Angers (left) and Mark Wakely were in attendance at the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame press conference in Brandon on Monday. Angers spent time with the 1956-61 Miami team that will be inducted, while Wakely was a member of the Birtle Blue Jays squad that won several MSBL titles in the late 90s, early 2000s.
