SPORTS FLASHBACK 1962: Bomber star benched at July 1 tournament

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/07/2024 (355 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The times Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ Ernie Pitts has been benched are few and far between, but the one time Steinbach fans will remember is July 1, 1962, when the all-star receiver showed up with baseball glove and cleats to play for a St Boniface church team in the annual Dominion Day tournament.

Pitts suited up for Precious Blood, but fans never got to see him in action after the first game of the day, when Vassar protested that professional athletes should not be eligible to play in annual Steinbach tournament.

In spite of that minor disappointment, the community celebrated Dominion Day in grand style as at least 5,000 people, young and old alike, gathered at the Steinbach Sports Grounds for the annual July 1 picnic, which has become something of a tradition in Southeastern Manitoba.

Everything turned out just perfectly and although rain threatened throughout the day, as it did every year, the crowd came in a steady stream, and by the time the last ticket was counted attendance was 10 per cent higher than the year before.

Baseball was the major attraction of the day, but the crowd also enjoyed the midway, were thrilled by parachute jumpers and overflowed the grandstands for the evening’s wrestling matches.

The Vita Mallards copped first prize in the baseball tournament which had attracted 16 teams. Precious Blood of St Boniface came second, Grunthal was third and Sundown fourth.

The Steinbach Millers proved to be the perfect host, dropping the first game of the day by a 2-1 count to Precious Blood, allowing the visitors to use all of the players they brought. The Vassar team was not as strong as last year but still had the Cote brothers in their lineup, blanking Sundown 3-0 in their opening game of the day.

In the second draw, Grunthal doubled the score on Ste Anne and Precious Blood edged Vassar 2-1.

Vassar just didn’t quite have it this day, although they made Precious Blood bench the three Winnipeg Blue Bomber players on their roster.

The Vita Mallards had a much easier time reaching the tournament final, scoring seven runs in each of their first two games for victories over RCAF and Niverville.

Precious Blood appeared to run out of pitching in the final, when Vita struck for five runs in the bottom of the second inning on the way to a 7-3 win.

Parachutists put on a thrilling display during the late afternoon and evening with at least 16 perfectly executed jumps. Some were practice jumps of a parachute club, which included one young woman, who made her third jump here in Steinbach.

Grandstand facilities again proved to be much too small for the big crowd that stayed around for the wrestling card presented by Frenchy Champagne, who capped off his day in the ring after spending most of the afternoon umpiring the baseball games.

A high school band from Middle River Minnesota drew a lot of interest when it marched up and down Main Street in the morning at the start of the festivities. They were helping celebrate Dominion Day, while getting in a little practise for Fourth of July celebrations closer to home.

All in all, organizers believe this was one of the most successful July 1 celebrations on record.