This weekend the Manitoba Softball Hall of Fame and Museum will hold its induction ceremony and banquet. The event had been postponed for the past two years due to COVID health restrictions.
Six individuals and 2 teams will be inducted this Saturday, May 7th. The group of inductees includes four Athletes: Rick DeGagne, Rick Denney, John Kalinowski and Gary Magwood – one All Around: James (Jim) Lehman, one official: Charlie Kurtz, and two teams: 1999 – 2004 Sportstraders Men’s Slo-Pitch Team and the 1976 – 1980 Winnipeg Colonels Fastball Team.
An independent committee, facilitated by Gord Wooley, reviewed nomination information on candidates for the Hall of Fame and selected the 2022 inductees. Daryl Beamish, Don Campbell, Jill Mathez, Jim Nay, Nelson Phillips, Dave Shyiak and Smitty Smith served on the committee.
The 19th induction banquet will be held at the Victoria Inn, 3550 Victoria Avenue in Brandon on May 7th. Tickets cost of $75.00 are available from Les Newman phone number 204-235-1674 – or email: lnewman@live.ca.
The Manitoba Softball Hall of Fame Inductees for 2022:
JAMES (JIM) LEHMAN – ALL AROUND
Jim Lehman was involved in Manitoba Softball as a player, coach, administrator and umpire. His involvement at so many levels of fastpitch softball serves as evidence of his love for the game. Starting out in Pine Falls as a player, moving on to Portage la Prairie and then on to Winnipeg, Jim received several team and league awards for his consistent hitting which led to a high batting average. Jim was named All-Star 3rd Baseman for the Winnipeg Senior Men’s League in 1980 and was a member of teams that represented Manitoba at the Senior A National competition on two occasions in 1978 and 1979. When Jim turned his passion from playing to becoming an umpire, his talents were recognized and in 1999 he was selected as one of the umpires for the Pan Am Games that were held in Winnipeg. Jim was keen to participate in softball clinics and in the 2003-2005 years he chaired the “Progress for Portage” softball tournament which he expanded to included girls’ fastpitch and then Slo-Pitch, as well.
RICK DEGAGNE – ATHLETE
Rick DeGagne was a threat as hitter on the offensive side of the game and when he was on the mound as the pitcher, he was stingy with allowing hits or runs against any team that he played for. His playing time was primarily as a pitcher for the successful Minto Mustangs Fastball Club, but Rick also played with other teams in the Kenora/Keewatin Fastball League from 1975-1982 before making his debut in the Southwest Fastball League and then the Brandon Men’s Centennial Fastball League. Rick received several All-Star awards in the different leagues that he played and attended 6 Western Canadian Championships where he represented Manitoba at the Intermediate A level. In 1988 his team won the Intermediate A Western Canadian Gold Medal and in 1992 he was a part of the team that achieved a Bronze Medal finish at the Intermediate A Championships.
RICK M. DENNEY – ATHLETE
Rick Denney was born in Boissevain, Manitoba and raised in the small town of Alsask, Saskatchewan. It was in Alsask as a young boy that Rick found his love for sports, especially baseball and hockey. In 1970 his junior hockey career brought him to Winnipeg where he began to play fastpitch softball in the summers. Rick was known as a slick fielding infielder and a hitter with exceptional speed. He was always a threat to get on base and then to steal a base or two. Over the years he was awarded several league and team all-star awards. In 1975 Rick attended his first of 12 Senior A National Championships representing Manitoba and later in his career, added 9 Master Men’s Provincial Championships to the list.
JOHN KALINOWSKI – ATHLETE
John Kalinowski was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba on October 12, 1931. He began his softball career however, in Ontario where he played for several city teams before returning to Winnipeg in 1965 to play with the Concord Hotel in the Winnipeg Senior Fastpitch Softball League. In 1967 John was an integral part of the Molsons Fastball Club that went on to win the Canadian National Senior Men’s Championships in Saskatoon. John pitched two wins over Quebec to help his team win the National Championship and earn the Gold Medal. In 1968 he was part of the Molson team that competed in the International Softball Federation World Championships representing Canada at Oklahoma City. With John’s pitching help, the team finished as runners-up and were awarded the Silver Medal. John Kalinowski is an inductee to the Manitoba Softball Hall of Fame for 2020 in the Athlete category.
GARY MAGWOOD – ATHLETE
Gary Magwood was born in 1952 and spent much of his softball career playing for his hometown of Killarney and his team Sanders. He was often selected as an additional player for travelling teams because of his ability to play any position including pitcher and because of his hitting prowess. He learned to play softball on the school grounds that were only a mile away from the family farm and it was not long before he began tagging along with his two brothers to play organized ball. Gary was part of the team that won many South West Manitoba Fastball League Championships, Provincial C and B Championships and was a part of teams that competed in the Intermediate A and Senior B Western Canadian Championships, on four separate occasions. During his softball career, Gary was recognized as All-Star several times and was awarded the MVP for his team and for his league several years.
CHARLIE KURTZ – OFFICIAL
Charlie Kurtz grew up in the community of Elmwood in the city of Winnipeg. At an early age Charlie realized that being involved in sport was where he wanted to be. He played baseball, softball, basketball and was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in the National Hockey League when he was 16 years of age. Charlie decided to forego the temptation of trying to make it in the NHL and decided to go to university instead. He continued to play hockey at the Junior level and completed his university degree. He played Fastpitch Softball as a young adult but soon turned to officiating the sports of softball and basketball. Officiating would be his passion for over 40 years. Charlie Kurtz officiated games from the highest level of National competition to local city leagues and through it all was known for being approachable, fair and an excellent official.
SPORTSTRADERS SENIORS SLO-PITCH SOFTBALL TEAM
In 1998 the Sportstraders Seniors Slo-Pitch Softball Team was formed to compete in high level senior’s slo-pitch competitions. They were sponsored by Gord Sando, Sportstraders owner. Throughout their years as a team, Sportstraders was known across Western Canada as a formidable opponent at the Senior Slo-Pitch tournaments whenever they represented Manitoba. The team had many successes from 1998 through to 2008, winning and then representing Manitoba at many Western Championships as well as two National and five International competitions. They finished as high as 4th place in the 2005 World 55+ Tournament held in Phoenix, Arizona and were able to win the 60+ Gold Medal at the 2007 Slo-Pitch National (SPN) held in Surrey, British Columbia.
WINNIPEG COLONELS FASTBALL TEAM
In a time when fastpitch softball (fastball) was the top of the baseball and softball world in Manitoba and Canada, the Winnipeg Colonels organization was the pinnacle for ball players to strive for. They did pre-season training in Arizona in the spring, had a nucleus of the best ball players in the province, competed in cities across Western Canada in the Western Major Fastball League that was heralded as the top fastball league in Canada and perhaps the world and had a world-class group of business people running the organization. Games were broadcast on the radio and newspapers sent staff to every home game to interview the coaches and players. The Winnipeg Colonels organization was not content with simply having the best players from Manitoba, as they scouted the nation and the globe to bring top players from across Canada, the United States and even New Zealand to Winnipeg.
Before the present version of the Winnipeg Goldeyes came to be, the Winnipeg Colonels home games in the 1970s and into the early 1980s were the place to be to watch the best ball that Canada had to offer. Charlie Krupp stadium, which was located across from today’s McPhillips Street Station, was home to the best softball that Canada had to offer.
It is indeed unfortunate that this team was designated “professional” by the Canadian Amateur Softball Association (C.A.S.A.) and therefore ineligible to compete at the Senior National Championships until 1980. It was in 1980 that the Colonels won the province without losing a game and went on to the National Championships where they had a perfect 4-0 record in the round-robin portion of the tournament only to lose out on the medals when they lost their final game by one run and a controversial umpiring call.
