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Little League Baseball
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Organized baseball in Victoria expanded in 1953
to open a door for Oak Bay pre-teen boys |
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courtesy Brian Wilson
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Oak Bay Kiwanis Team
(1953, 1st year) |
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Can you help fill in the blanks?
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| BACK ROW: Manager_____, Walt Slocomb(?), _____, Hugh Morrison, Ron Spence, Ritchie Kern, Coach Bob Mossey |
| MIDDLE ROW: Brian Wilson, _____, Marwyn Thomas, Larry Kern, _____ |
| FRONT ROW: Maury Turner, Bruce Graham, Dave Pollock, Dave Stewart, Bob Thornber |
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Player names in bold are from Oak Bay
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| In 1953, Little League baseball in Victoria was expanded by four teams with the creation of a second league — the American League — to play alongside the existing four teams of the National League at Little League Park at Hillside Avenue and Cook Street. |
| This event was huge for Oak Bay kids as the American League's four new teams opened the door to pre-teen boys living outside City limits. |
| These four new teams, sponsored by and named after service organizations, were the Kinsmen, Lions, Elks and Oak Bay Kiwanis. |
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PHOTOGRAPHS
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click on photos to view enlargements
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Season Opening Ceremonies — 1953
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Cheerleaders and band
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All eight teams dressed
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The anthem
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Do you have any photos of the formative years of Little League Baseball?
If yes, please specify in the form below
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ARTIFACTS
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click on clippings to view enlargements
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Newspaper Clippings — 1953/54
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Do you have any Little League Baseball artifacts?
If yes, please specify in the form below
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RECOLLECTIONS
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| I have a challenge for you. Attached is a photo of the first Oak Bay Kiwanis team [see above]. I've identified members as best I can. Can you help fill in the blanks? |
| I recall that our uniforms were white with red lettering, the Lions were white with blue, the Elks were grey (I think) with black. The Kinsmen blew us all away and had green lettering. In any case, it was a special time, the second year of organised baseball for kids in Victoria. |
| I rode my bike from Eastdowne to the National League Park — no SUV's in those days!! |
| — Brian Wilson, OBHS class of 1960 |
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| I first became aware of Little League baseball on the day of tryouts. I noticed neighbourhood kids grabbing their mitts and heading off into the city on their bikes. Not one to be left behind, I grabbed my mitt, jumped on my bike and headed off with them. I wasn't exactly sure what was happening but I could feel the excitement in the air. |
| I had never played hardball before, just softball. A coach sized me up and told me to play first base, on account of the fact that I had an oversized mitt. Automatically I was in the inner circle, involved in every play. What a great game. |
| Little League Park at Hillside and Cook was quite a bicycle ride for little leaguers living in Oak Bay. A group of us living on the fringe of the old Willows exhibition grounds decided to build a practice diamond* on one corner of the fairgrounds. We had a lot of fun here — for about a year — until houses started going up in the new Carnarvon Park subdivision. |
| — Gary Wilcox, OBHS class of 1960 |
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*Just for the record, the little leaguers in this wonderful photo are, from left to right: Hugh Morrison, Doug Gilmour, Dave Bowering, Bruce Graham, Grant Hughs and Ken Gregory. |
Do you have any recollections of Little League Baseball?
If yes, please share them by using the form below
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SUBMISSIONS
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Do you have any
photos, artifacts or recollections of Little League Baseball? |
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PLEASE CONTACT US Your contribution may become part of Oak Bay history! |
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You can email us, with attachments if available |
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OR
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You can use the Online Submission Form, below
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Thank You!
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A CENTENNIAL LEGACY PROJECT