Thieves target Elmwood Giants

By: Joshua Frey-Sam Posted: 5:25 PM CDT Tuesday, May. 30, 2023

The Elmwood Giants gave up some steals before the 2023 Manitoba Junior Baseball League season had begun.

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The Elmwood Giants gave up some steals before the 2023 Manitoba Junior Baseball League season had begun.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 30/05/2023 (889 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Elmwood Giants gave up some steals before the 2023 Manitoba Junior Baseball League season had begun.

The perennial league champions fell victim to thieves in the spring, losing costly ballpark equipment and tools in a couple of break-ins at Koskie Field on Chalmers Avenue.

The Giants, however, keep battling, on and off the field.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES
Manitoba Junior Baseball League’s Elmwood Giants, who play their home games at Koskie Field on Chalmers Avenue, were targeted by theives this spring losing costly ballpark equipment and tools. — JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES

Manitoba Junior Baseball League’s Elmwood Giants, who play their home games at Koskie Field on Chalmers Avenue, were targeted by theives this spring losing costly ballpark equipment and tools.

“We’re actually surviving pretty good,” said manager Ed Kulyk, whose squad is off to a 3-3 start. The Giants have captured six consecutive MJBL crowns.

“We’re going to be OK. It’s just a downer,” he added.

In late March, culprits cut through the chain-link fence that borders the team’s facility and tin shed — without triggering the alarm system — before taking lawnmowers, wheelbarrows, hoses, weed trimmers and other tools used to maintain the field,

Two weeks later, thieves broke through the locks to the shed and got away with some hand tools before the alarm scared them off. Arrests were made in that overnight incident.

The April theft marked the fourth time in the last five years the club has been victimized by thieves. On past occasions, the Giants have lost thousands of dollars worth of baseball equipment, including pitching machines and bases.

The Giants have coped well since the latest theft, however, and bounced back just in time for the new MJBL season, which began May 14.

The team started a Go Fund Me campaign this spring with a goal of $5,000 to replace the maintenance equipment. More than $3,000 was raised, with one generous but anonymous Giants donating enough to replace a lawnmower and weed trimmer.

Mazergroup, a local construction equipment supplier, donated a new trailer.

The club has installed more motion detectors and is in the process of buying more cameras for the facility.

jfreysam@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jfreysam

Joshua Frey-Sam
Reporter

Josh Frey-Sam reports on sports and business at the Free Press. Josh got his start at the paper in 2022, just weeks after graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College. He reports primarily on amateur teams and athletes in sports. Read more about Josh.

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