What were the sports headlines 50 years ago?

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/07/2019 (2648 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The headline stories in newspapers around the world between July 17 and 21, 1969 were all about the United States attempting to put the first man on the moon.

Neil Armstrong took that first giant leap for mankind on Sun., July 20. On the 50th anniversary of this historical event, your columnist thought it would be interesting to look back and see what was happening in the local sports world around that time.

When the Winnipeg Free Press banner headline on July 21 shouted “Man On The Moon,” the main headline of the sports section read “Fire N Desire Had Enough of Both.” The sub-headline was “Icy Song Beaten By A Nose in Record Low Quinella.” The story was about the 21st running of the Manitoba Derby, our province’s answer to the Kentucky Derby and Queen’s Plate, in front of a crowd of more than 6,600 at Assiniboia Downs on July 19. The quinella payout for Fire n Desire and Icy Song was $3.10. Ice Palace, owned by former Edmonton Eskimos quarterback and future Alberta premier Don Getty, finished third.

The headline writer was really stretching with the baseball headline “Goldeyes Hammer A Few Moon Shots.” The story, by Gord Sinclair Jr., was about the Northern League team splitting a doubleheader on July 19 with the St. Cloud Rox at Winnipeg Stadium and then beating the Duluth-Superior Dukes the next day in Duluth.

In baseball lingo, a moon shot usually refers to a very high home run and the Goldeyes didn’t hit any in the 11 runs they scored in the three games.

Elsewhere in baseball news that day, Carman Goldeyes won the Manitoba junior baseball championship with two wins over the Souris Cardinals. Les Lisowski, a pickup from Warren, and Dale Poppel were the winning pitchers. Doug Harrison, a future provincial men’s curling champion, led Carman at bat with five hits.

Golf was prominent on the sports pages. Jumbo Jimmy Doyle from Elmhurst, the 1968 Canadian amateur champion, topped the qualifiers at the provincial Willingdon Cup Trials, beating the rest of the field by nine strokes.

Also making the Manitoba team were clubmates Dave Krucik and Ted Homeniuk and Rossmere’s Barry McKenzie. It was a busy weekend for McKenzie, as he led Rossmere to the O’Keefe Inter-Club Championship over 19 other clubs and three media teams. Pro Gerry Morrissey, Eric Bray and Ken Kurbis were the other team members. On the pro tour, Winnipeg’s George Knudson won $2,100 at the Philadelphia Golf Classic.

Familiar names led the way in senior men’s fastball action, as retired Blue Bomber centre George Druxman, who was on the pitching rubber for Concord Motor Hotel after time away from fastball, threw a five-hitter win over his former team Kiewel White Seals. Another ex-Seal, Lorne Jasper, hammered two triples and two singles for Concord. Brian Dyck and Al Sharpe had two hits for the losers. Ralph Ens pitched Molson Canadians to a 4-0 shutout over Black Knights. Not known for his hitting, Ens clubbed a home run and single. Centre fielder Ron Taylor, who died on May 29 this year, also had two hits. Art Penner hit a single and double for the Knights.

Ens, Taylor and Penner were later teammates on the Winnipeg Colonels, the 1973 Western Canada Fastball League champions.

Along with Ens and Penner, Jasper and Sharpe have been inducted into the Manitoba Softball Hall of Fame and Druxman was honoured on June 6 at a Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame veterans’ induction ceremony.      

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