When softball became an indoor sport

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/08/2017 (3262 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Softball was originally an indoor sport. Its history has been traced back to the 1800s and the first games were played with a broomstick and a balled-up boxing glove. Women participated in its early days even before it moved outside.

In Winnipeg, senior women’s softball received extensive coverage in the newspapers from the 1920s through the 1950s. Large crowds showed up at Sherburn Park and Osborne Stadium to watch the Victorias, Tigerettes, Ramblers, St. Boniface Athletics, Norwood, and CUAC.

The names of Bea Hall, Olive Bend, Mary Cooperband, Mary Goshulak, Evelyn Halshall, Greeta Neal, Freda Goodman and her twin sisters, Babe and Goodie, were as familiar to the sports crowd as the top local hockey players.

In 1939, the St. Boniface Athletics won a battle among eight teams for the opportunity to travel to New York City and play inside Madison Square Garden.

In mid-July, the team embarked on a seven-game road trip that included games in Chicago, Cleveland and Ann Arbor, Mich. The Athletics lost both indoor games in the Garden to the Roverettes and the Americanettes and came home with a record of 1-6. A report suggested that the pitchers forgot how to pitch and hitters forgot how to hit. The Athletics missed sparkplug catcher Hall, who had fractured her right arm in a July 1 game against Norwood.  

It wasn’t planned but Winnipeggers got a look at indoor softball 50 seasons ago. Charlie Krupp Memorial Stadium, which had been built for the 1967 Pan Am Games, was ready for its second major event, the 1968 Canadian senior women’s championship. The sun was out when the competition began on Thurs., Aug. 22, a pleasant change from a week of rain. The good weather didn’t last and by Friday noon Krupp was a quagmire.

Determined to complete the championship, Canadian Amateur Softball Association president Ed Corbett and Manitoba Softball rep Jim Adams decided to move play indoors.

A diamond was set up in the Winnipeg Arena with home plate in the North End. Mattresses were used as a backstop and beyond first base to stop players from running into the cement wall. Adams went to The Man With the Axe store on Main Street and got a deal on running shoes for the visiting players.
“It wasn’t long before the players were sliding on the concrete floor,” said the late Gerry Howard, who umpired in the arena. Special ground rules were set for balls hit into different-coloured seats. CJOB sportscaster Bob Picken, who emceed the opening ceremonies, remembers one fly ball landing in the press box.

Manitoba was represented by the 1965 Canadian champions CUAC Blues and the Tigerettes. A no-hitter by Joan Duprey of the Saskatoon Imperials eliminated Tigerettes from the double-knockout competition on Sunday.

CUAC lasted until Monday before losing 9-6 to Saskatoon. The usual sure-handed Blues made 11 errors in their two losses. Shortstop Joan Ingram still laughs about one. Laurie Bradawaski, who was playing second, overthrew Joyce Tully at first and nailed a hot dog vendor in the stands. Toronto Carpetland won the final over Saskatoon.

Memories of Sport appears every second week in the Canstar Community News weeklies. Kent Morgan can be contacted at 204-489-6641 or email: sportsmemories@canstarnews.com