It was a scene that Canadian author W.P. Kinsella could have written. But, in this case, there was no cornfield and this wasn’t Iowa (Yes, that famed film “Field of Dreams” about the ghosts of America’s pastime was written by a Canadian).
Taking the field at the Terry Fox Sports Complex (a name that just entered into Canadian lore when these men last took the field together) were 24 middle-aged men representing two teams whose names were well-known on the local baseball scene for the past 50 years, the Coniston Red Sox and the Sudbury Shamrocks.
Twelve men dressed in white with jerseys emblazoned with the name “RED SOX” came out to relive their glory days for one day on the green field of battle. But this was 1992 and those days are now safely ensconced in a past that is now over a decade in the rear view.
After the game had ended, these men (and their two batboys) posed for the ceremonial photo to ensure the immortality of the moment. But as the camera shutters clicked, these men were briefly transported back to the day 11 years prior when they posed in a similar formation, triumphant, after winning the League Championship.
Now this isn’t the beginning of our story (far from it). These players, formerly young men, are just continuing to play the game that their fathers (also their uncles and even grandfathers, too) had played before them on fields across the Sudbury region over the previous 100 years.
Even as Sudbury was in its infancy, a short two years prior to becoming a town, baseball was already in ascendence.
The Sudbury Journal of May 21, 1891, reported that the “captain of the Sudbury Baseball Team … has received a challenge from the Copper Cliff Team on … the birthday of Her Majesty (now Victoria Day) … the game will take place at Copper Cliff … a scratch team is being got together which it is hoped will make a good showing for Sudbury.”
In the end, the fans in attendance were treated to a wild and decidedly lopsided affair that ended in Sudbury's favour, 35-14.
Throughout the next decade Dominion Day, Victoria Day, various civic holidays and even picnics were all occasions that saw the men of the town demonstrate their skills on the baseball diamond. The “sandlot” style of the game suited the recreational needs of the townsfolk.
Eventually, in April 1902, a formal town team was created to represent Sudbury against teams from all corners of Northern Ontario. Mayor Frank Cochrane chaired the meeting and stated the object of the gathering was to ensure that "good ball" would be played. As would become tradition in the region, local merchants and industry stepped forward to offer their services in establishing and maintaining the baseball team.
At this time, baseball in Sudbury was played at Victoria Park and spectators averaged just below 1,000 at most games. A game between the Sudbury and Copper Cliff teams was reported to have attracted more than 800 spectators on Victoria Day. The local newspaper wrote that “the admission was 50 cents, and we have not heard of anyone who wanted his or her money back. In fact those present got good value for their money … A large contingent came from Copper Cliff to cheer their team on to victory"
Though, the final score ended up 3-2 for Sudbury.
Unfortunately, by 1913, Victoria Park would be vacated in order to become the campus for College Sacré Coeur, leaving Sudbury without a ballpark. The following year, Copper Cliff began building what was reported at the time as the “Best Ball Park in New Ontario” that will “make the other teams sit up and take notice.”
In May 1909, a town league consisting of teams named High School, Keenanites, Cochranes, Northern Star and Crescents was inaugurated by a group of local men. Naturally, the quality was not quite up to the standard set by the “all-star” Sudbury baseball team.
The Sudbury Daily Star went so far as to call one display on the diamond by the Keenanites and the Northern Stars “very agricultural."
By the early 1910s, interested parties in Copper Cliff and other areas throughout the region believed the time was right for the formation of a district-wide league. Delegates from the Sudbury, Copper Cliff and Creighton clubs met in the spring of 1913 and not long after, the local newspaper reported: “SNAPPY BALL FOR FANS, NEW NICKEL BELT LEAGUE.” Each of the three clubs put up a $50 bond to ensure that no players would be imported to play in any games (remember this point for later).
Offering a higher calibre of baseball than fans were used to watching in town league play, the New Nickel Belt League (or NBBL) drew very well. Baseball-mania swept the area, creating a rabid and appreciative fan-base that would swell the stands of stadiums from Creighton to Coniston for another 45 years.
In 1914, Ambrose Monell donated, for the princely sum of $500, the Monell Cup to be presented to the NBBL champions each season. The Sudbury Star even bragged at the time that “it will quite exceed in value any trophy in any league known to The Star.”
The Monell Cup still exists in the possession of Greater Sudbury Museums and can be seen at the Anderson Farm Museum.
Unfortunately, intense competition in the scramble for the NBBL title saw some of the ideals espoused by the founders (remember that $50 bond?) become slightly diluted. Sudbury found that it had to resort to importation to get pitchers. And eventually Creighton, Copper Cliff and the new Coniston team followed suit. As the league evolved, out-of-town players were offered jobs in mining operations (at both Mond & INCO).
This era of baseball, during and after the First World War, with its variety of professional, semi-professional and excellent locally spawned ballplayers, is considered the golden age of baseball in Sudbury, a time when fans witnessed the best baseball that would ever be played in the area.
Names such as “Red”, “Boxcar”, “Peewee” “the Mighty Molecule” and “Dope” playing alongside the no less flashy (though non-nicknamed) Sam Rothschild, graced local rosters and thrilled spectators. Rothschild, one of the speediest, most accurate hitters ever to step on to a local diamond, even undertook long weekend train rides to Montreal where he played professional baseball.
By the early 1920s, the Copper Cliff baseball team had become so strong that not only did they dominate the NBBL, but also took on the best of the province, winning the Toronto News Cup as the best amateur baseball team in the province.
Copper Cliff continued to dominate the NBBL for the next few years, even managing to secure another Ontario championship in 1928. So handily did the smelter town dominate the other clubs that a typical headline on the sports page read "Cliff Wins As Usual!"
Both of Copper Cliff's provincial titles were due in no small measure (you might say molecular-level measure) to the presence of 5-4 Bert Flynn. From the time he arrived in Copper Cliff, Flynn played a giant role in the local baseball scene as a player, manager and developer of young talent. Flynn also carried a caustic tongue onto the diamond that earned him a reputation for baiting opponents, umpires and hostile fans alike.
With the build up to and later onset of the Second World War, most players (following in the footsteps of their major league brethren) attempted to join the armed forces. Unfortunately, they were not accepted since they were working in an industry (mining and smelting) deemed essential to the war effort. Consequently, they remained in the district and baseball continued without interruption.
Player importations also continued unabated during this era. A job at any one of the INCO plants across the region always awaited a talented player upon their arrival in the Nickel Belt.
By the 1950s, the Coniston Red Sox team boasted no less than six players imported from the East Coast, all of whom remained in Coniston for the rest of their lives. This willingness to give players work kept the league’s rosters filled with excellent individuals.
The sport received a major boost when, in 1944, at a cost of $18,000, lights were installed at Queen's Athletic Field making night time baseball a reality. Shortly thereafter, Sunday baseball was also introduced (not without a fight from the Lord's Day Alliance) and proved to be immensely popular among fans.
During this era, a good deal of betting went on among the throngs sitting in the stands. On Sundays, the clubs were forbidden from charging an entry fee so instead "passing the hat" was the only means of collecting the gate.
Unfortunately, patrons were more generous when it came to placing a bet than making a “donation” to the team. The term "Nickel City" definitely took on a different meaning when team officials counted the proceeds from the hundreds, and sometimes, thousands of people who attended the game.
Some of the stars of the diamond during this time period included Norm Hann, Keith Boyd, Herb Perigoe, and Gerry Wallace (who played in the NBBL for 18 years and batted over .300 every season with the exception of 1942 when he slipped to .295).
Several of these players were even offered opportunities to join professional clubs beginning somewhere in the farm leagues. However, working one's way through the ranks often did not pay and the security of a good job in Sudbury won over any desire to play professional ball.
Unfortunately, by 1959, the NBBL was defunct. A number of factors may have contributed to the demise of this venerable sporting organization.
Some maintained that financial woes lay at the root of baseball's downfall in Sudbury. There was certainly one factor common to every explanation offered towards the end of senior baseball in Sudbury and that was "the changing of the times." Beginning in the early 1950’s, people who once relied entirely on sporting events to supply entertainment found their attentions diverted by television and drive-in theatres, as well as other summertime pursuits like camping.
With Sudburians turning elsewhere for their recreation, baseball was doomed to fall by the wayside.
This all changed nearly 20 years later, when interest in baseball was revived on the same region-wide basis as former years, by Danny Gallagher with the help of Berk Keaney Sr. and Gerry Wallace (both heavily involved in the previous iteration of local Senior baseball). The Nickel Region Senior Baseball League was established in 1976, beginning with just three entries: Copper Cliff Redmen, Sudbury Shamrocks and Coniston Red Sox.
It thrived for a short time in the early 1980s with other entries from Garson, Walden and Valley East joining the mix as well. With the opening of the Terry Fox Sports Complex still three years away, the grounds of Sudbury Stadium (the current location of the taxation center) served as the main field for the league.
Strict import regulations made sure that this league avoided some of the pitfalls of the past. Still, local talent, many of whom were following in their fathers footsteps, made the league as competitive as its predecessor.
All-stars of this new league included Barry Salo and Al Longlade of the Shamrocks, Steve Smith of the Garson Tigers, Rick Kirkwood and Jack Camilucci of the Redmen, and John Pidutti and the Fox clan (Mike, Steve, Jimmy and Kevin), who led the Red Sox to multiple titles into the 1980s.
However, the return of inter-town baseball was short-lived. With interest dwindling, by the 1990s, the Nickel Region Senior Baseball League followed its predecessor into the dustbin of history.
Well dear readers, it’s your turn up to bat. Were you a player or a spectator of either the old NBBL or NRSBL? Do you have any interesting anecdotes, stories or photos? I’ve served up some fastball facts about baseball in the Sudbury region, now let’s see some memory home runs.
Jason Marcon is a writer and history enthusiast in Greater Sudbury. He runs the Coniston Historical Group and the Sudbury Then and Now Facebook page. Memory Lane is made possible by our Community Leaders Program.
