Ah, the good old days of Fastball

Fastball reunion in Alice & Fraser
Posted By JAMIE BRAMBURGER in the Pembroke Daily Observer

It was a fastball game for the ages. A game that lasted four hours, took 20 innings to complete and featured stellar pitching and great defence.

It happened on September 16, 1984 on a cold fall evening at the Alice and Fraser Recreation Centre when Stafford Sports and Red Bargain Barn battled in game seven of their Alice and Fraser Men's Fastball League championship series.

Pembroke Observer sports editor Peter Lapinskie wrote, "It was more than a fastball game. It was an event that will be talked about for a long time."

Indeed it was. The game ended just after midnight when Stafford Sports plated the winning run in a 3-2 decision. Ernie Schroeder pitched all 20 innings for the Barn, while John Biesenthal and Tim O'Meara shared the pitching duties in the winning effort.

It was a game that featured a spectacular catch by Brian O'Connor, who dove to catch a line drive off the bat of Stafford centre fielder Mike McCaughan that would have plated a pair of runs. It was also a game that saw Stafford catcher Jerry Johnston block the plate, preventing the winning run from scoring in the bottom of the 14th inning.

A year later there was another thrilling seven-game series as Red Bargain Barn reclaimed its title with a 2-0 win over Miller's Beverages in the deciding game. Blake Sterling was named the playoff MVP for his clutch hitting and pitch-calling behind the plate. No one knew then that it would be the last game played in the Alice and Fraser Men's Fastball League.

Twenty years after the league folded, a reunion is being planned. Teams like Cassidy's Transfer and Storage, Unique Insulation, Miller's Beverages, H.E. Brumm Construction and Red Bargain Barn are getting together to play a few more games of fastball on Saturday, June 14 at the Alice and Fraser Recreation Centre, the scene of so many great fastball games in the 1980s.

The Alice and Fraser Men's Fastball League was known for outstanding pitching. As the league became more competitive, which always happens when the best pitchers are playing, some players became frustrated. The hitting became more difficult as great pitchers like Len Burger, Dave Burke, Bill Chaisson and Lloyd Stewart put on pitching clinics, mowing down batters with a combination of speed and movement on a ball that was being thrown from only 46 feet away from the batter. Players turned to slowpitch, which was coming into its own as a recreational sport and as teams started to lose players, the league had no choice but to collapse.

Only three teams survived. Red Bargain Barn, Stafford Sports and Miller's joined the Upper Ottawa Valley Men's Fastball League in time for the 1988 season. It was the end of an era, but two decades later the players who played in the Alice and Fraser Men's Fastball League are invited to come back and play one more time.

A one-day tournament is planned with each club playing a pair of games. Anyone who played in the league is invited to participate and more players are needed. The day will end with a competitive men's fastball game featuring two teams from the Upper Ottawa Valley Men's Fastball League.

There's no question the players will have more grey hair, there won't be any base-stealing, it will hurt to throw the ball, and the pitching and bat speed will be considerably slower. On this day, winning won't be as important as getting together with a group of men who shared a game they loved, and will now take the opportunity to talk about some great memories of a league that ended prematurely. Perhaps the games played on June 14 will produce one more magical play to talk about for another 20 years.