Western Canada Baseball 1965

1965 Stats  
1965 Rosters
1965 Tournaments 

     
SASKATCHEWAN
NORTHERN SASKATCHEWAN LEAGUE
North Battleford Beavers 20 10  
Saskatoon Commodores * 18 12 2.0
Unity Cardinals 18 12 2.0
Kindersley Klippers 16 14 4.0
Neilburg Monarchs 10 20 10.0
Biggar Nationals 8 22 12.0
* Saskatoon awarded 2nd place as a
 result of winning the tie-breaker game
1965 Game Reports  
1965 Photo Gallery  
1965 Snapshots  
1965 Biggar Nationals  

SOUTHERN LEAGUE      
Swift Current Indians 17 7 .708
Regina Red Sox 13 10 .565
Moose Jaw Regals 10 13 .435
Melville Millionaires 7 17 .292
1965 Game Reports  
1965 Photo Gallery  
1965 Snapshots   
1965 Regina Red Sox 
       
NORTHEASTERN SK LEAGUE
NESBL History
       
ALBERTA
EDMONTON METROPOLITAN LEAGUE

Army & Navy Cardinals, Blue Willow Angels, Safeway Seals, Weiller & Williams Colts
       
WHEAT BELT BASEBALL LEAGUE
NORTH DIVISION Fairview Outlaws, Falher Pirates, Peace River Stampeders SOUTH DIVISION Beaverlodge Royals, Grande Prairie Eskimos, Sexsmith Rainiers 
       
BIG FOUR BASEBALL LEAGUE
Brooks Lions, Calgary Royals, Drumheller Miners, Medicine Hat Royals
       
ROSEBUD BASEBALL LEAGUE
Bowden, Innisfail
       
OILFIELD BASEBALL LEAGUE
Breton Eagles, Calmar Angels, Calmar Cubs, Devon Safeway Kings, Glen Park Aces, Leduc Oilers, Warburg Buffaloes
 
SUNBURST BASEBALL LEAGUE
Black Sivalls & Bryson Tankers, Edmonton City Police Athletics, Safeway Skylarks, Winterburn Tomahawks
 
SOUTHERN IRRIGATION LEAGUE
Bow Island Combines, Foremost Junior Braves, Irvine Mercurys, Medicine Hat Juniors, Medicine Hat Junior Tigers, Redcliffe Red Sox
 
SOUTHERN ALBERTA JUNIOR LEAGUE
Calgary Dodgers, Calgary Indians, Calgary White Sox, Coaldale Colts, Lethbridge Cardinals, Pincher Creek Chinooks
1965 Alberta Game Reports         
1965 Alberta Photo Gallery   
1965 Alberta Snapshots   
       
MANITOBA
MANITOBA SENIOR LEAGUE
     
Hamiota Red Sox 18 6  
St. Lazare Athletics 17 7 1.0
Brandon Cloverleafs 15 9 3.0
Riverside Blues 12 12 6.0
Souris Cardinals 11 13 7.0
Dauphin Red Birds 5 17 12.0
Virden Oilers 4 18 13.0
St. Lazare captured it's first league title with a victory in the playoffs.
1965 Game Reports  
1965 Photo Gallery  
1965 Snapshots 
1965 Angusville Cardinals   
 
WINNIPEG METRO SENIOR LEAGUE 
Balmoral Orioles, CUAC Blues, St. Boniface Maple Leafs, Transcona Atomics, Warren, Winnipeg Orioles
 
SOUTH-CENTRAL BASEBALL LEAGUE
Boissevain Border Kings, Brandon Junior Greys, Elgin Cubs, Glenboro, Oak River, Rivers Comets, Treesbank
 
PIPESTONE-ALBERT BASEBALL LEAGUE
Bellegarde, Cromer, Elkhorn, Grand Clariere, Restn, Sinclair
 
BRANDON & DISTRICT COMMERCIAL BASEBALL LEAGUE
Brandon Metal Industries, Brandon Saito Construction, Cornwallis, Douglas, Kemnay, Roseland
 
NEEPAWA & DISTRICT LEAGUE
Arden, Carberry Royals, Eden, Neepawa Cubs, Neepawa Farmers
 
BRITISH COLUMBIA
VANCOUVER INDUSTRIAL LEAGUE
 
Astorias, Athletics, Boilermakers, CYO, Longshoremen, North Vancouver
       
PACIFIC INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE 
Bellingham, Columbia, Coquitlam, Haney-Hammond, New Westminster, South Burnaby, Vancouver
 
VICTORIA SENIOR LEAGUE
Chemainus, Greaves, Independents, Rawlings, Transports
 
CAN-AM BASEBALL LEAGUE
Cranbrook Canucks, Nelson Braves, Rossland Capilanos, Trail Smoke Eaters
 
WEST KOOTENAY JUNIOR LEAGUE   
Fruitvale A’s, Grand Forks, Nelson Texans, Rossland Junior Capilanos, Trail Conacher News, Trail Junior Smoke Eaters
 
SLOCAN-ARROW LAKES SENIOR LEAGUE   
New Denver-Silverton, Kaslo, Slocan Park, Winlaw
1965 BC Snapshots    
1965 BC Photo Gallery    
1965 Vancouver Game Reports 
1965 BC Interior Game Reports   
1965 VCR Island Game Reports   
       
ONTARIO      
INTERCOUNTY LEAGUE      
London Pontiacs 23 6  
Stratford Chiefs 20 10 3.5
Brantford Red Sox  16 14 7.5
Guelph C-Joys 14 16 9.5
Galt Terriers 12 18 11.5
Kitchener-Waterloo Panthers 12 18 11.5
Listowel Legionnaires 7 22 16.0
1965 Game Reports  
1965 Photo Gallery
       
MARITIME BASEBALL      
       
SOUTH DAKOTA      
BASIN LEAGUE      
Rapid City Chiefs 30 19  
Pierre Cowboys 29 21 1.5
Winner Pheasants 26 24 4.5
Sturgis Titans 24 26 6.5
Valentine Hearts 23 27 7.5
Sioux Falls Packers 17 32 13.0
Pierre downed Sturgis in the playoff final to
capture the Basin championship.
1965 Game/Playoff Reports
1965 Photo Gallery  
1965 Snapshots 
1965 Rapid City Chiefs 
       
MINNESOTA      
SOUTHERN MINNY LEAGUE
Rochester Travelers
15
5
Winona Athletics
14
6
1.0
Austin Packers
13
7
2.0
Owatonna Aces
8
12
7.0
Albert Lea Colonels *
0
20
15.0
* dropped out of league
1965 So. Minny Game Reports    
1965 Minnesota Photo Gallery
       
       
       
       

 

 

Jackie McLeodRon McKechneyPlaying-manager Jackie McLeod (left) led the Swift Current Indians to the Southern League championship. 

The 35-year-old veteran, winner of just two games during the regular season, compiled four victories in the playoffs as the Indians downed Melville and then Regina to claim the title. McLeod tossed an eight-hitter in the deciding game of the best-of-seven final.

Second baseman Ron McKechney (above right) of Swift Current was a major reason for the Indian's first place Ed Stefureakfinish during regular Gary Modrellplay with a .403 average to win the batting crown. He was named the league's Most Valuable Player.

Regina's Ed Stefureak (left) was the runner-up at .358.

Gary Modrell (right) of Melville Millionaires was named the top pitcher, finishing with a 7-2 won/lost record. Fred Cardwell of Regina was selected as the Rookie of the Year.

Reggie Cleveland17-year-old Reggie Cleveland was a star in senior ball action with Swift Current.

He went 3-1 in the regular schedule and made four starts in the playoffs before embarking on a pro career in 1966.  He advanced to the major leagues for 13 seasons, winning 105 games.

Neilburg Monarchs' import pitcher Roger Freed turned pro in 1966 with the American League Baltimore Orioles organization. A better hitter than a pitcher, he was converted to an outfielder and moved up to the parent club in 1970. Seven of his eight years in the show were spent in the National League, primarily with the Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals.


(August 26)  Former Western Canada players were prominent in action at the National Baseball Congress Tournament at Wichita. Lefty Pat Gillick fired a three-hitter and fanned 13 as the Wichita Dreamliners shaded Eureka, California 3-2 in the fifth round of the NBC tourney. 

Gillick, batting practice pitcher for the Houston Astros and an executive with the club, did not allow an earned run.  Bill Scherich Bobby Doigsingled in two runs for the winners in the 2nd.  Ed Gagle knotted the score in the 6th with a triple. Rod Kanehl scored the winner in the bottom of the 6th as he doubled and then scored on Jim Pendleton's single.  Bobby Doig (right), who relieved in the 5th, took the loss. 

Jerry Brown, Bob Doig (L) (5) and Jim Garrett
Pat Gillick (W) and Jay Drake


In the Manitoba Senior League, Oscar Walker, one of three imports on the St. Lazare roster, easily captured the batting title with a .452 mark, 50 points ahead of Mel Smith of Hamiota. Maurice Oakes of Dauphin was third, at .370. Bob Wilson of Brandon led in home runs, with 7. Walker was tops in runs with 35.

Dave PearsonJack Denbow of Hamiota had the most wins, 8 while Bryan Smith and Hamiota had the best won-lost mark, 7-0, just ahead of Dave Pearson (right) of St. Lazare, at 6-0.  Dick Limke was tops in strikeouts, with 84.

Pearson also finished 12th in the batting race with a .312 mark, a season after he was the runnerup for the batting title hitting .440.


May 8, 1965, in a Double-A Eastern League contest, the Elmira Pioneers and Springfield Giants went 27 innings to set a record for the longest game every played in organized baseball.  The game was scoreless through 25 innings with both teams scoring in the 26th frame.  Pioneers managed a run in the bottom of the 27th to pull out a 2-1 victory.  Pioneers used four pitchers and the Giants just  three.  The game took six hours and 24 minutes to complete. 

In August, in the Basin League, Scott Morton fanned 26 batters in a 24-inning, route-going performance as Pierre topped the Packers 5-3 at Sioux Falls. Morton, who lost a 19-inning contest to Sioux Falls last season, struck out four in one inning as his catcher dropped a third strike. One Packers' batter was up 11 times during the 6 1/4 hour game.

The next year, in the International League, the Miami Marlins and St. Petersburg Cardinals went 29 innings and six hours and 59 minutes. Marlins won 4-3.

Then, in 1981, Pawtucket Red Sox and Rochester Red Wings set the current mark with a 33-inning affair that started on April 28th and ended June 23rd.  The two teams fought to a 2-2 draw in 32-innings over eight hours and seven minutes on the 18th and 19th of April.  When they resumed in June, the game ended quickly as the Sox scored in the bottom of the 33rd to capture a 3-2 triumph.  Among the future big leaguers in the lineups were Cal Ripken Jr. and Wade Boggs.  Talk about a bad day at the office - Rochester centre fielder Dallas Williams went 0-13 for perhaps the worst single game performance on record.