On the Bench Junior Kangaroos at McDonalds Corners. L to Right. Keith Creighton, Chris Chard, Ed Fair, ? , Cindy Duncan, Bill Fair –Thanks Connie! All photos sent by Connie Jackson. Pictures taken by Marilyn Jackson
Bruce McOuatt, Catcher. Lanark team on bench.
Chris Chard, Catcher Bill Harper. In McDonalds Corners
I was Just forwarded a clip about Cindy Duncan and the Watsons Corners Kangaroo baseball team. When I saw lots of posting of baseball teams I meant to forward these pics as not many have seen them. Thanks Connie! All photos sent by Connie Jackson. Pictures taken by Marilyn Jackson
Photo above-Back row L to R Alan Fair, Neale McOuatt, David White, Bruce McOuatt, Chris Chard, Billy Fair Bottom row Tim? Nagle, Cindy Duncan and Connie Jackson ...
Cindy winding up in Lanark. I was 2nd base
First year we didn’t have our shirts. Hannah’s Store and members of the team fundraised for shirts following season. Our home Field games was in Bobby Duncam’s cow pasture on top of Fiddlers Hill. My Dad I believe donated chicken wire and the the lumber to put up a backstop. There was a few cow paddies to manipulate through.
Julia Waugh Guthrie Photo– 1935 Scored this beauty find at a antique store in Perth. Love the grandstands in back. The grandfather of Bruce Guthrie,Naydene Guthrie Gardiner, Angie Hastie, Lynn Hastie-Card and Mike Downie is in the back row…Howard Little
Another winner from Peter Bradley—
Here are some more cheerleaders from about 1958 with a good view of the bleachers in the background. The girls were being distracted by the boys (so whats new?)
Sandra Mailey baseball photo … my dad’s brother Meyer Doyle, standing to the right
Sandy Dobie Great picture showing the old grandstand!
Linda Begin I miss that old grandstand, I remember going to St. Mary’s me and three friends got caught smoking behind the grandstands Mr. McNaulty our principle was not happy with us.
Dale Costello Spent many a day in the stands. And under the stands. Carleton Place’s answer to Yankee Stadium.
The House of David–For baseball fans, playing under the lights was an added draw. It’s hard to believe that night baseball was played in Carleton Place before it was played at Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs! I
Ray Paquette—During the 1950s, the ball park was the site of games featuring teams of “barnstorming” American professional baseball players who played local teams. The purpose was to raise money in support of local baseball. One such team, “The House of David” featured two things: all the players sported full beards and the game was played at night under lights atop of standards that were brought to town by the visitors. For baseball fans, playing under the lights was an added draw. It’s hard to believe that night baseball was played in Carleton Place before it was played at Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs! It was quite an experience for young boys at the time..
he House of David baseball team, in Benton Harbor, Michigan, circa 1918. The group forbade their members to cut their hair or shave their beards. Photograph: Underwood Archives/Getty Images The House of David was an Adventist cult that banned alcohol, sex and shaving. But it also loved baseball – and its teams toured the country to enraptured crowds.
In 1903, Benjamin and Mary Purnell founded the Israelite House of David, a religious society in Benton Harbor, Michigan.
But they also allowed women members to vote and hold office, ran an amusement park, sent traveling bands on the vaudeville circuit — and formed a sensational baseball team.
Babe Ruth joins the House of David for a game with the help of a fake beard. Image: Chris Siriano’s House of David Baseball Museum, 922 Main Street, St. Joe, Michigan
With their long hair and beards, the House of David players drew massive crowds as they barnstormed around the country. Famous professional players occasionally donned fake beards and joined the team for games, including Grover Cleveland Alexander, Satchel Paige, and even Babe Ruth.(They considered signing the Sultan of Swat in 1934, but decided his hedonistic lifestyle would be a poor fit for the ascetic team.)
Playing as far afield as Hawaii and Mexico, the House of David continued to draw crowds until the 1950s, when the splintering of the scandal-wracked commune and rise of Major League Baseball led to a decline in popularity.
While the baseball team is no more, fractions of the religious society, and the communes they built, still exist today.
This was a post from the Lanark County Genealogical Society Facebook page–Today we have some Lanark County unknowns from the Carleton Place and Beckwith Hertiage Museum we need to identify.. Recognize anyone?
Mary Anne HarrisonCorkery Baseball Team. Len Grace front row left, my Dad Basil O’Keefe front row centre. You can’t really tell from this photo but he is holding a kitten in his baseball glove. Centre second row Mike Egan. Centre third row Pat Egan.
I have the photo here some where with all the names. I’ll post an update later.
Photo- the gals and a gent on the Carleton Place Chamber of Commerce tour of Carleton Place– come along with us today to visit Sam Bat!!
So the BIG Question is….
If you didn’t know Carleton Place has a great baseball past and now a huge future we need to boast about.
First of all it was the McNeely’s baseball team made up of all the McNeely brothers. They were the winningest baseball team around, no team ever beat them. They were the team to beat but no one could. Krista Lee from Apple Cheeks in Carleton Place is holding the picture with her grandfather in it. There were 12 boys and 1 girl so they had enough for a team and spares.”
Then there was James “Lefty” Hill who was a portside hurler with a baffling assortment of slants, and a smoking fast ball on our Carleton Place baseball team in the early 30’s. On June 28, 1930, “Lefty” pitched a brilliant 2 to 1 victory over Perth before a large crowd of enthusiastic fans.
Other stars that have used or are using Sam Bats include Miguel Cabrera during his Triple Crown season in 2012 and Toronto Blue Jay Jose Bautista when he hit 54 home runs in 2010. Currently, more than 300 professional players worldwide use Sam Bats!
This is the badass of Sam Batas I like to call her–Arlene Anderson— I love this woman, and would like to be just like her when I grow up. When you see her say Hi and tell her you shared a story of Sam Bat as she and her company are putting Carleton Place on the map. Let’s help each other!
Now, here are some of those bats used in baseball games and maybe on movie sets in Action Jackson movies:) They need quality for violent films too!
Our tour guide kept us hopping on the tour and you can ask him anything- trust me!
Batting Cages!! Call 613-257-3060 or email krathwell@sambat.com for available times and prices
Men at Work- Who can it be that will be using the bats they are making next?
Sam Bat Baseball bat in action! Watch out JACKIE KAVANAGH from the Carleton Place Chamber of Commerce – he looks a tad shifty..
So what do you think? Should you use Sam Bat’s baseball bats for killing Zombies like in Zombieland?
Or better yet.. Wouldn’t Harlee Quinn from Suicide Squad looked better with a Sam Bat bat? Well, it’s up to the individual I guess- but, let’s share this and support Carleton Place’s very own Sam Bat!!
World Series Parade and Sam Bat Photos by Linda Seccaspina
There is no secret after following baseball in the bay area for years I am a huge San Francisco Giants fan. My favourite player of all time is– wait– are you ready? The now unemployed former Giants and LA Dodgers pitcher Brian Wilson. I still follow his weekly antics because I relate to his craziness, and even have a framed World Series picture and a Brian Wilson bobblehead.
Photos Linda Seccaspina World Series Parade San Francisco 2010
It’s pitcher Brian Wilson.. I got his photo.. I love this guy
I have covered a World Series parade, and even as a Canadian gal, can say there is nothing like rabid baseball fans. Did you know During World War II, the U.S. military designed a grenade to be the size and weight of a baseball, since “any young American man should be able to properly throw it.” Or, did you know bank robber John Dillinger was once a professional second baseman, although he never made it to the major leagues?
Did you know every single MLB baseball is rubbed in Lena Blackburne Baseball Rubbing Mud, a unique “very fine” mud only found in a secret location near Palmyra, New Jersey. Okay, the secret is out, the mud is taken from the Rancocas Creek in Willingboro N.J. Many major league baseball players, including Moises Alou, Jorge Posada, and Kerry Wood, have admitted that they pee on their own hands during baseball season to “toughen” their grip. Pitcher Dock Ellis says he threw his June 12, 1970, no-hitter while under the influence of LSD.
In 1999, New York Mets manager Bobby Valentine was ejected from the game. In the clubhouse, he put on regular clothes and a fake mustache and returned to the dugout. The commissioner’s office fined him $5,000 for returning after an ejection.
So what does this have to do with Carleton Place? A lot! Tucked away on Industrial Avenue, in Carleton Place lies Sam Bat, The Original Maple Bat Corporation. Have you heard the crack from a baseball bat from your house?
Walking into Sam Bat made me miss the Bay area and the constant drone of the television during baseball season. It made me miss sitting in the stands at a Giants game, and trying to figure out baseball– although I was super impressed with the Pablo Sandoval Panda hats.
We have something very important in Carleton Place. Even if you never watched a baseball game you have to be proud of Sam Bat, Arlene Anderson, and the people that work there. They have given Carleton Place an International presence!
I guess I will never understand the slow pace of the game, but today, as I write this tears are rolling down my face. Is there ever really crying in baseball? Maybe Tom Hanks was wrong when he uttered the famous movie line. But, It does exist–we’re all human. When you’ve got feelings, you cry.
There’s clearly emotion in baseball and I have seen it first hand. Behind every nameplate, behind every uniform, there’s a person, a life, and likely a family. The key to winning baseball games is pitching, fundamentals, and three run homers–
and the people that produce the bats at Sam Bat in Carleton Place.
If you’ve been watching any of the Blue Jays playoff games, you’ve likely noticed that the regulars you’re used to seeing bring baseball into your homes have been replaced by Fox Sports and their respective commentators. Well, with Fox comes Harold Reynolds, a former MLB second baseman who apparently hasn’t spent much time north of the border.
“We talked about foul balls into the stands… they don’t play a lot of baseball in Canada, a lot of people aren’t used to catching them”
Did he actually say this? Wait, so we aren’t supposed to hit the ball back with a hockey stick?!? We are supposed to catch them? Since there are only 3 Canadians on the Toronto Blue Jays and 26 Americans, it’s understandable. Eh?
I remember the day the Blue Jays won the pennant years ago. I was sitting in a taxi cab at the JFK airport and when the driver found out the Blue Jays won he threw me out of his cab because I was going to the Air Canada terminal.
“Canada has no business winning the pennant”, he said
Right now I assume they are terrified of the Blue Jays playing in the world series as ratings will be really poor for Fox sports, and they paid a lot of money for the rights to MLB. But what a dumb thing to say when catcher Russel Martin is Canadian, eh? I guess Reynolds knows where Canada is since he used to live here. Did Harold Renyolds forget about his time in Triple A with the Calgary Cannons before he was called up to the Mariners? Maybe I am wrong, but was Calgary part of Canada back then?
It may be America’s pastime, but its origins lie in Beachville, Ontario, which makes it Canada’s game. Something few Americans are willing to admit.Beachville, about 40 kilometres east of London, Ontario, boasts of itself as the home of baseball in Canada because it was here on June 4, 1838 that a game of baseball, or at least a form of the game as we now know it, took place in front of several spectators.
The first documented evidence of a base ball game in Canada comes from a letter published in Sporting Life magazine in 1886, a letter by Dr. Adam E. Ford of Denver, Colorado, formerly of St. Marys, Ontario and Beechville, Ontario, about a game 48 years earlier in Beechville on June 4, 1838 — Militia Muster Day. Many Canadians, including the staff of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in St. Marys, Ontario, claim that this was the first documented game of modern baseball, although there appears to be no evidence that the rules used in this game were codified and adopted in other regions.
I say we cover Reynolds in maple syrup and throw Timbits at him! As Steve Yaver commented on Facebook: “Harold should see how well he does catching hockey pucks”.
“Hey look, it’s the Mc Neely’s baseball team made up of all the McNeely brothers. They were the winningest baseball team around, no team ever beat them. They were the team to beat but no one could. Krista Lee from Apple Cheeks in Carleton Place is holding the picture with her grandfather in it. There was 12 boys and 1 girl so they had enough for a team and spares.”
Knock it out of the park McNeely’s!
Buy Linda Secaspina’s Books— Flashbacks of Little Miss Flash Cadilac– Tilting the Kilt-Vintage Whispers of Carleton Place and 4 others on Amazon or Amazon Canada or Wisteria at 62 Bridge Street in Carleton Place
This photo from 1935 of The Carleton Place Junior Baseball team also shows the covered bleachers that used to be at the baseball diamond beside CPHS.–Carleton Place and Beckwith Heritage Museum photo
July 26, 1906 Carleton Place
Members of the Maple Leaf Baseball Club are deeply incensed at the miserable action of someone or persons unknown. Who threw eggs at the Lanark Baseball Club when driving out of Carleton Place after having won a game here by 11 to 2? The baseball players of Carleton Place wish the public to know that no one from their team launched the eggs at the corner of Moffat and High Street Saturday night. A reward has been offered to find the guilty party or parties. A resident siting in his doorstep at a distance from the corner said he thought he saw some boys throw something at the passing load that was speeding away towards Lanark but did not know what they were.
A young man of Carleton Place went to Lanark on a visit afterwards and he brings back word there is no doubt the eggs were thrown and some of the players struck. The Lanark Era now comes to hand and confirms this unpleasant news. The baseball players on both teams are good sportsmanlike fellows and utterly despise such rowdyam. To this day no one has spilled the beans to who scrambled away after throwing the eggs.
This from the Carleton Place Herald 1906
We regret to learn through the Lanark Era that some of our small Carleton Place boys
so far forgot their manners as to throw eggs at the Lanark baseball players as they were driving out of town after the last match here. The local club and all the citizens deplore
the misconduct of the ‘ guilty ones,’ and only wish there was some way
of punishing the culprits. The Lanark and Carleton Place sports have
always played their games without a hitch, and we trust no feeling w ill arise over this lamentable incident
John Armour added:
J.S. Stark – maybe related to a Horace Stark who was one of the first Carleton Place people killed in World War II. (Navy). Large write ups in the Carleton Place newspaper of the time.
James “Lefty” Hill was a portside hurler with a baffling assortment of slants, and a smoking fast ball on our Carleton Place baseball team in the early 30’s. On June 28, 1930, “Lefty” pitched a brilliant 2 for 1 victory over Perth before a large crowd of enthusiastic fans. Only in the opening inning when he walked the first batter up and the next two were safe on an error and an infield hit, filling the bases was he in any kind of trouble. Game after game he was the star of our town’s team. In April of 1935 Lefty asked for, and was granted, his release from the Carleton Place team. Rumour said he would likely don an Ottawa Crains uniform. Sure enough, the ace began tossing his southpaw slants at Landsdowne Park in Ottawa after he received his Carleton Place release. Ottawa said he was the logical choice to take the mound for the Crains along with another Carleton Place pitcher, Peck Donald.
In 1935 “Lefty” had several injuries that finally forced him out of the game. Once he returned, he was never the same, and everyone watched his streaks shatter. The year of 1935 was the last he was ever heard of, and all I found in my research was that he and his wife Doris Margaret had a daughter at the Ottawa Civic Hospital in 1947. His wife died in Ottawa in 1972, but there was no mention of James “Lefty” Hill anywhere. The only item that the Carleton Place and Beckwith Heritage Museum has is a team picture. There is always more than what goes on between the lines, and it’s shame not more is known about James “Lefty” Hill, and his glory days in Carleton Place.
We’ve had a request for old photos of the ball diamonds near Riverside Park… This photo by Howard Edwards of a lacrosse match (date unknown) shows Lake Avenue West to the right and St. Mary’s Church on Hawthorne Street in the distance. Just look at the crowd watching the game!
On the Bench Junior Kangaroos at McDonalds Corners. L to Right. Keith Creighton, Chris Chard, Ed Fair, ? , Cindy Duncan, Bill Fair –Thanks Connie! All photos sent by Connie Jackson. Pictures taken by Marilyn Jackson
Bruce McOuatt, Catcher. Lanark team on bench.
I have more But the article was about Cindy
Harold Reynolds Says
lindaseccaspina 