SPORTS FLASHBACK 2005: Vassar is celebrating 100 years of baseball

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/09/2023 (699 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Vassar has a storied history in baseball dating back to 1905, when the first school built in the community included a baseball diamond. The area was a hotbed of all things baseball for the better part of at least 75 of the next 100 years.

Baseball was king in the southeast corner of the province and Vassar was central to all of it.

In the early years, as baseball evolved in the Vassar area, ball players would hop aboard freight trains and get off at the community that was hosting a ball game that day. During the week, townspeople would enjoy an evening ball game, while waiting for the train to come in.

“It was a big deal in town to go meet the train, everyone had to go see who was getting off or on the trains,” says Larry Prasek, who heads the committee organizing a weekend event celebrating the community’s baseball centennial.

In the 1930’s, everyone would get into a wagon for the trip to South Junction or Woodridge. As the roads improved and the transportation became more reliable, it became much easier to travel from town to town for the weekend tournaments.

Some of the better Vassar ball players were invited to play for American teams in the 1940’s and 1950’s. In the late 1940’s, Vassar played just tournament baseball against the neighbouring towns every weekend. Four teams would play two seven-inning games, with the winner vs. winner and loser vs. loser.

In the 1950’s, Vassar played in the Northeastern and Northwestern Minnesota Leagues, which included Roseau, Warroad, Williams, Baudette, Badger and Greenbush.

In the early 1960’s, Vassar had a very strong team and played mostly tournament baseball, in any tournament they were allowed to enter. During this time, many of the Vassar players moved to Winnipeg to work and played baseball for Precious Blood in Winnipeg during the week and for Vassar in tournaments on weekends. It was just such a team that won the championship at the July 1 tournament in 1961 in Steinbach.

In the mid-60’s, Vassar again played in the Northern Minnesota League, with Kennedy, Gadske, Middle River, Thief River Falls and Greenbush, and also continued to play tournament ball on the weekends.

The Vassar baseball team played a number of tournaments for a few years in the 1970’s, but found it hard to compete with the shortage of local players. The last game the Vassar baseball played was at a Woodridge tournament in the late 1970’s, where they defeated their long-time rivals from Sundown.

By 1976, the fastball bug hit some of the Vassar players. The Vassar Fastball Club went on to enjoy many years of ball and are still competing in the Southeast Men’s Fastball League, although they play their home games in Friedensfeld.

The current Vassar Ball Park was built in the early 1960’s on land donated by the Cote family, which at one time had its own starting nine of Cote brothers. The late Dave Boileau, a star in the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s, was inducted into the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999.

Today, kids’ baseball is still played at Vassar Park on Tuesdays, as boys and girls from the communities of Middlebro, Sprague, Piney and Vassar get together and form teams on an informal basis.

The eight-person Vassar baseball reunion committee has been working since last fall, organizing the 100-year reunion. In addition to Prasek, committee members include Richard Cayer, Cub Cayer, Judy Preteau, Marvin and Doris Hovorka, and Lou and Grace Lamy.

A full weekend of events is being planned, including a Saturday night banquet and dance. The event will be capped off with closing ceremonies at home plate Sunday evening.