Western Canada Baseball 1971
1971 Stats  
1971 Rosters
1971 Tournaments 
1971 Team Canada Pan Am Games 

SASKATCHEWAN
SOUTHERN LEAGUE 
     
Moose Jaw Regals
24
6
48
Yorkton Cardinals
17
11
36
Swift Current Indians
17
13
34
Saskatoon Commodores
13
16
27
Regina Red Sox
10
17
23
Melville Millionaires
6
24
12
Again the league used a points sytems (two pts for the win, one for a tie). Yorkton had two ties, Saskatoon one, and Regina three.
1971 Game Reports 
1971 Photo Gallery
   
1971 Snapshots 

NORTHERN SASKATCHEWAN LEAGUE
North Battleford Beavers
16
10
Unity Cardinals
15
10
0.5
Neilburg Monarchs
12
14
4.0
Kindersley Klippers
10
16
6.0
North Battleford claimed the title defeating Neilburg in the playoff final
1971 Game Reports
1971 Photo Gallery
1971 North Battleford Beavers 
1971 North Battleford Old Timers   
1971 Neilburg Monarchs             
 
ALBERTA
ALBERTA MAJOR LEAGUE
Edmonton Tigers
18
11
Calgary Cubs
16
14
2.5
Red Deer Elks
15
15
3.5
Foothills Giants
15
15
3.5
Edmonton Angels
9
21
9.5
Foothills Giants downed Calgary Cubs in the playoff final for the league title
     
SUNBURST SENIOR LEAGUE NORTH
Blue Willow Angels, Burns Shamrocks, St. Albert, Weiller-William Colts

SUNBURST SENIOR LEAGUE SOUTH
Devon Kings, Knights of Columbus, Leduc Oilers, Northgate Shell
 
SOUTHERN ALBERTA LEAGUE    
 Brooks Lions, Foremost Braves,k Lethbridge Cubs, Lethbridge Junior Miners, Medicine Hat Chinooks, Milk River, Pincher Creek, Taber-Enchant Combines
 
WHEAT BELT BASEBALL LEAGUE
Beaverlodge Royals, Dawson Creek Cardinals, Fairview Outlaws, Grande Prairie Eskimos, Nampa Leths,  Peace River Stampeders,l Sexsmith Rainiers
1971 Game Reports  
1971 Photo Gallery  
1971 Snapshots
 
MANITOBA
MANITOBA SENIOR LEAGUE  WEST
NORTH DIVISION    
Hamiota Red Sox
12
8
Virden Oilers
11
9
1
Brandon Cloverleafs
9
11
3
Dauphin Redbirds
5
15
7
SOUTH DIVISION
Minot Merchants
13
7
Riverside Canucks
13
8
.5
Souris Cardinals
12
9
1.5
Rolla NoDaks
6
14
7
Minot won the pennant, Brandon took the playoffs for the 5th time in six years.
 
MANITOBA SENIOR LEAGUE EAST
Carman GoldeyeS, Sanford/R. M. of MacDonald Mets, South End Sioux, Ste. Agathe Bisons, Steinbach Millers

SOUTH-CENTRAL BASEBALL LEAGUE
Carberry Royals, Cypress River, Glenboro Canucks,Holland Athletics
 
NEEPAWA & DISTRICT BASEBALL LEAGUE Arden, Neepawa Cubs
 
BORDER BASEBALL LEAGUE
Pilot Mound Pilots, Boissevain Border Kings
 
MANITOBA JUNIOR BASEBALL LEAGUE
Anota Kings, Assiniboia-Westwood Buffaloes, Carman Goldeyes, Legion #141, Portage la Prairie Forresters, South End Sioux, St. Boniface-Norwood, St. James Cardinals, Transcona Mallards
1971 Game Reports     
1971 Virden Oilers
1971 Photo Gallery    
1971 Snapshots   
 
BRITISH COLUMBIA
VANCOUVER INDUSTRIAL LEAGUE
CYO, Merchants, NorVan, Stylers
 
WESTERN INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE   
Bellevue WA, Bellingham Bells, Burnaby Villas, Cheney WA, Everett WA, Seattle Central Area Youth Association, Seattle Door, Seattle University
 
VICTORIA SENIOR LEAGUE
Al's Home Service, Farmer Construction, Gorge Hotel, Greaves Movers
 
PACIFIC COAST JUNIOR BASEBALL LEAGUE
Bellingham, New Westminster,North Shore, Vancouver
 
UPPER ISLAND SENIOR LEAGUE 
Campbell River, Ladysmith Travellers, Lake Cowichan, Nanaimo Villas
 
OKANAGAN MAINLINE LEAGUE   
Kamloops Okonots, Kelowna Orioles,Penticton Molsons, Vernon Labatts
 
WEST KOOTENAY SENIOR LEAGUE   
Creston Maroons, Grand Forks Mets, Nelson Indians, Rossland Capilanos, Trail Silver Kings
 
SLOCAN-ARROW LAKES SENIOR LEAGUE   
Nakusp, New Denver-Silverton, Winlaw
 
QUESNEL SENIOR LEAGUE   
Billy Barker Inn, Jen’s Hobos, Merchants, Selects
1971 Vancoiuver, Lower Mainland Reports    
1971 BC Interior Game Reports   
1971 VCR Island Game Reports
1971 BC Photo Gallery     
1971 BC Snapshots 
1971 New Denver-Silverton     
1971 Team BC   
1971 Trail Babe Ruth  
     
ONTARIO    
INTERCOUNTY LEAGUE 
Brantford Red Sox, Galt Legionnaires, Guelph C-Joys, Hamilton Marlins, Kitchener-Waterloo Panthers, London Avcos, Stratford Kraven Knits, Toronto Maple Leafs
1971 Ontario Photo Gallery    
 
MARITIME BASEBALL
     
SOUTH DAKOTA    
BASIN LEAGUE    
Chamberlain Mallards
32
16
Sturgis Titans
28
20
4.0
Mobridge Lakers
27
20
4.5
Pierre Cowboys
16
31
15.5
Rapid City Chiefs
16
32
16.0
1971 Game Reports  
1971 Photo Gallery   
1971 Snapshots
No Playoffs.
       
       

 

 

Terry Buck1971 Regals programIt was quite a summer in the Southern League.  The player selected as the SBL's most valuable was dumped by his initial team after going 1-4. Picked up by the Swift Current Indians in late June, Terry Buck (right) went on a tear winning six straight games and finishing second in the batting race with a .405 average.  He was selected as the lefty starter on the All-Star team in addition to his MVP award.

Fred CardwellThe Moose Jaw Regals, riding the strong arm of Fred Cardwell (left), ran away with the league pennant then defeated Swift Current in the playoff final to capture the championship for the second consecutive season. Cardwell, 5-2, 2.09 during the regular season, won five straight games in the playoffs. He pitched 32 consecutive scoreless innings at one point and finished the playoff run allowing just three runs in the five games. 

Sunday, June 13, 1971, the Melville Millionaires played a Southern League doubleheader against the Regals at Moose Jaw's Ross Wells Park.  It was pretty ordinary in many ways, but years later the significance would be clear for two of the players involved that day.

Clark GilliesCatching for the Regals in the second game of the doubleheader was 17-year old Clark Gillies (right), who a year previous had signed a professional baseball contract with the Houston Astros, but had decided to spurn the life of rookie league baseball in the boondocks to return to Saskatchewan and pursue a career in hockey, a wise choice considering his ultimate attainment of four Stanley Cup rings as a member of the New York Islanders plus his election to the Terry PuhlHockey Hall of Fame in 2002. In the other dugout was Terry Puhl, a soon-to-be 15-year old standout with the midget Melville Elks, who had been called up to perform temporarily for the pitching-strapped Millionaires. Primarily a pitcher in those days, Puhl appeared in a relief role in both games, chalking up seven innings of mound work in total. He, too, was destined to sign a pro contract with the Astros in the fall of 1973, a move which culminated in a fifteen year career in the major leagues and induction into both the Saskatchewan and Canadian Baseball Halls of Fame.


Prairie left-handers were making quite an impression in college ball in the United States. Les Lisowski of Winnipeg (below right) , recruited by the University of Arizona at Tucson, fired a no-hitter on March 22nd as the Wildcats blanked Northern Colorado 5-0. Lisowski, who had pitched just six innings before getting the start, struck out 16 and walked three in facing just 30 batters.

Southpaw Les Ohrn of Dapp, Alberta (below left) won a scholarship to California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo) and quickly moved right into the starting rotation as a freshman. On May 9, 1971, he fired a no-hitter against Cal Poly Pomona, winning 1-0 with a run in the top of the ninth. Ohrn walked five, but three of the base runners where thrown out by catcher Robin Bagget.With a 2.24 ERA, Ohrn still holds the second best ERA mark in Mustang history.

Ohrn & Lisowski

Alberta program

Semi-pro ball continued in Alberta with the Alberta Major League, a five-team circuit with two Edmonton teams (Tigers, Angels), two Calgary teams (Giants, Cubs) and the Red Deer Elks.

Edmonton Tigers captured the league pennant, topping the league by 2 1/5 games, but the fourth place Calgary Foothills Giants prevailed in the playoffs downing their city rivals, the Cubs, in the final series.