By Bruce Holland
The Nova Scotia Monarchs (Oldtimers) Baseball Club is organizing the Canadian National Oldtimers Baseball Championships over a four-day period from July 29th to August 1st, 2022, on fields right here in HRM. The event will bring in 36 Teams from across Canada with over 650 players, coaches and family members attending what is sure to be an exciting tournament. There will be four divisions, 33 and over, 43 and over, 50 and over, and 57 and over.
The Monarchs organization started in 2010 with a team of 12 players from around HRM who wanted to play baseball again, “as we get older, gracefully!”, said Manager/Coach Gary Foran. “Some 12 years later, we have well over 100 players who are all over 45, and some are over 70, we now have a summer baseball league with 10 teams”, said Coach Foran.
The Monarchs have had the pleasure of playing in The Roy Hobbs World Series of Baseball, which is played every year in November on the Major League spring training fields of the Boston Red Sox and Minnesota Twins. More than 240 teams and 3000 players compete in 8 age divisions using wooden bats and major league rules.
On Saturday November 14, 2015, the Nova Scotia Monarchs competing in the over age 65 division played the New England Red Sox for the AAA Championship. Nova Scotia defeated the Baltimore Baseball Club and Houston Colt 65’s to make it to the final. In the final the Red Sox brought in former Boston Red Sox and Montreal Expo pitcher “Spaceman” Bill Lee to pitch in the second inning after the Monarchs took a 3-1 lead. Bill held the Monarchs hitless for 6 innings using a variety of fastballs, curves and sliders and his knuckle changeup he learned from Woody Fryman until they scored 2 in the 7th to take a 5-4 lead. In the bottom of the 9th with one out the Red Sox scored 2 to defeat the Monarchs 6-5. The Monarchs who were the first Canadian Team to win a championship in the 25-year history of the tournament in 2013 had to settle for the silver medal. What was so much fun was to watch Bill Lee and the other major leaguers on the Sox jumping up and down like little leaguers when the winning run scored. The Most Valuable Player Award for the Monarchs went to Third Baseman Eric “Needles” Calnen.
You can see this exciting baseball at on these fields throughout Metro: Weir Field – Upper Sackville, Lenihan Field – Bedford Legion, Mainland Commons Fields, Beazley Field – Dartmouth, Conrad Field – Mount Edward Road, B.J. Higgins Field – behind Cole Harbour High School.
For tournament scheduling information, please go to the Parkview News Facebook page @parkviewnewspaper or our web site, parkviewnews.ca as we get closer to the tournament.
