19890621_Cariboo Observer-3.pdf - the Quesnel & District Museum ...

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1. Each participating'''
merchant will display
one letter needed to
spell out the phrase
"BILLY BARKER DAYS".
2. Contest entrants (16 yrs.
of age and older) will fill
. out entry forms listing
which store the letter was
found at.
List a DIFFERENT store
for each letter.
3. Entry form will appear in
the Observer June 21 -
July 12.
4. Bring in or mail the entry
form to the Quesnel
Cariboo Observer at
4-462 Reid Street,
Quesnel, B.C. V2J 2M6.
TREASURE ON DISPLAY
JUNE 21 - JULY 16
Consists of "Billy Barker
Days" Souvenirs. (T-shirts,
pins, mugs, etc. provided by
the Billy Barker Days Society)
as well as a gift from each
partipating store.
WINNERS PAGE WILL
APPEAR IN THE
BILLY BARKER DAYS
SUPPLEMENT JULY 19th
NAME:
ADDRESS:
PH: (home) (work)
BRING m OR MAIL ENTRY FORM TO
QUESNEL CARIBOO OBSERVER, 4-462 REID STREET, QUESNEL, B.C. V2J 2M6 i
*Regal
*Royal
'•'Contest will not be open to
any members of the Billy Barker Days
Society, The Quesnel Cariboo Observer
staff or their families.
'Candleljte Inn
'-'Eagle Building Supplies
'''Rempel Sales
*Sight & Sound
City Gift N Gold Shop
In Norse mythology, Mjolnir,
the hammer of Thor,
returned to his hand after he
threw it. Thor Johannesen of
the Super Valu Babe Ruth
team doesn't have that trick
perfected, but the effect of his
pitches is about the same.
Johannesen struck out 26
batters in 13 innings on the
weekend, leading Super Valu
to ihe title at the Babe Ruth
tournament, held at Alex
Fraser Park. Super Valu went
undefeated through the
modified double-knockout
event, finishing with an 19 - 1
thrashing of Safeway Sunday
afternoon.
Safeway scored first in the
game, with a run in the top of
the first, but Super Valu
batted through the lineup in
the bottom ofthe inning, and
never looked back. The score
was 18 - 1 by the end of the
fourth inning, and Super Valu
cruised to the win.
The tournament outcome
was not completely unexpected,
as Super Valu had
Quesnel's Ryan McTavish
is heading to Japan for the
World Scries. No, the Babe
Ruth player hasn't signed a
pro contract with the Yomiuri
Giants just yet, but ho will be
representing Canada al the
Babe Ruth World Series.
The Babe Ruth Series,
seen as a counterpart lo the
Little League World Scries
held in Williamsport, Pennsylvania
annually, is getting off
the ground in July. The Japanese
organizers delayed too
long in getting in touch with
Canada though, and it looked
like there wouldn't be Canadian
representation.
McTavish's local coach, Kyle
Lewis, says il turned inlo a
provincial matter.
"A private group came forward
and said they would
sponsor the team. They held
tryout camps around the province,
with the idea of making
it a B.C. provincial team lhal
would represent Canada."
Six local players went with
Lewis lo the first tryout camp
in Prince George. Of those si.\,
McTavish and Jeremiah
D'Lugos were selected to attend
the final tryout camp in
Victoria a couple of weeks
ago.
also finished first in league
play.
With the end of the tournament
came the end of the
Babe Ruth season, and that
meant the awards were handed
out. The majority of the
avi/ards were determined by
play during the tournament,
with only two exceptions. The
Mr. Hustle award was
determined during the tournament,
but each coach was
asked beforehand to submit a
name for consideration. Kirt
Low of Safeway was the winner.
The only trophy that had
already been decided before
the tournament was the Royce
Lynch Memorial Trophy for
the Rookie of the Year.
Named in honor of Royce
Lynch, a former baseball
player who was killed in an
automobile accident earlier
this year, the first recipient
was Lance Townsend of Overwaitea.
Tournament awards went
to James Doucette (Super­
Ryan McTavish ... heading to
Japan
And now McTavish is one
of the 18 selected to represent
Canada at the inaugural 13-15
year old Babe Ruth World
Series. The fourteen-year-old
McTavish says he was surprised
to get the call Thursday.
"There were 43 guys at the
camp in Victoria, and they
picked 16 of them there. They
told us they were taking 18,
and they'd make the other two
picks later. I didn't know if I'd
be picked or not.
"I gave it my best at the
The time has come for another trip into those regions which
are probably best left unexplored. Time for another foray into the
reasons for my becoming a sports reporter. Time for another look
at my athletic career, and why I realized the chances of a milliondollar
contract as a professional athlete were slim.
I got several nasty letters from hockey coaches last winter after
I wrote about my career in minor hockey. It seems some of their
players decided to quit after realizing they could never hope to assume
the same level of play I described myself as possessing. Of
course I also got some letters from pla3'ers who said they'd always
thought of themselves as hopeless until they read my column.
Then they realized they were miles above me.
So for this column, I decided to wait until the minor baseball
season was all but over. Yes, I played baseball in my younger days.
Before any wise guy asks me if I knew Babe Ruth, the answer is
no. (Digression: Do you realize that with the shape Babe Ruth
was in, no baseball team today would have drafted him. Makes
you wonder whether all this science is good for the sport or not.)
Anyway, after playing hockey for a while I decided to take up a
summer sport as well. I chose baseball on the theory that with
nine positions, the odds were good that I could find somewhere to
play where I wouldn't hurt the team too much.
I was a very versatile player. One of my coaches told me
"Allan, we now know of six positions you can't play. But we'll
keep trying." I think the main reason for this perseverance was
the rule that said every player had to bat at least once and play at
least one inning in the field each game. They couldn't just stick me
Valu), who took the Top Hitter
award for his .700 average;
Blake Lawlor (Overwaitea),
Top Infielder; Chris Verigan
(Overwaitea), Top Outfielder;
and Thor Johannesen (Super­
Valu), Top Pitcher and MVP.
As well, each coach had his
own awards to hand out to his
team. Each coach selected a
Most Valuable Player, a Most
Improved Player, and a Most
Sportsmanlike Player. For SuperValu,
the winners were
Thor Johannesen (MVP),
Daryl Greenwood (MIP), and
Danny Eriksson (MSP).
Safeway winners were Lee
Naeth (MVP), Curtis Collins
(MIP), and Virgil Lowe
(MSP).
Overwaitea winners were
Jeremiah D'Lugos (MVP),
Terry Bordeleau (MIP), and
Lance Townsend (MSP). Winners
from Amboy Logging
were Chris Wright (MVP),
Trevor Stovell (MIP), and
Jason Severson (MSP).
tryouts, and that's all I could
do."
The team will be playing
in a tournament in the United
States on the July long
weekend, then will leave for
Japan July 21.
Their first game in the
tournament will be against
Japan on July 25. Other teams
represented at the event will
be Taiwan, Cuba, Korea, Australia,
Italy, China, Peru, and
the United States.
McTavish played just about
every position this past season,
but is being slotted in as a
middle infielder for the Canadian
team. Lewis says he
doesn't expect McTavish to
sec much action on the
mound.
"Of the 18 kids they
picked, I think about half of
them are pitchers. I think the
big reason they want to play in
this tournament in the States is
to get a look at the different
combinations."
McTavish agrees that he
won't be seeing much mound
action, but doesn't care where
he plays.
"I think I'll be playing third
or second. It doesn't really
matter to me, as long as I
play."
ALLAN WISHART - SPORTS EDITOR
They don't get any closer
than they did at the Qucsnelto-Barkerville
Bike Race on
Sunday. Darcy Magdalinski
and Ian Tanner were riding
wheel-to-wheel to the finish,
and just as they reached the
line, Magdalinski nosed ahead
to take the title.
The time of 2:24:35 by
Magdalinski and Tanner compares
well with the race record
of just over 2:15. It was a perfect
day for riding, with the
storm clouds always threatening,
but never raining on the
parade of riders. A total of 41
riders took part in the licensed
race, with another 15 recreational
riders joining them.
' Just three seconds behind
Magdalinski and Tanner were
Duane Swan and Allan Norquay.
Once again the judges'
eyes were called into the dispute,
and they gave the nod to
Swan for third place.
Magdalinski's win also gave
him the title in Class 3, while
Tanner took Class 5 honors.
Swan won Class 4 honors, with
Norquay coming in second in
Class 5.
Fifth overall went to Louis
Bernhardt, who was also the
first of the Veteran Mens
competitors to reach the finish.
Mike Christensen (Class
4), Brad Thorlason (Class 4),
Peter Culligan (Class 5), Bill
Sanders (Class 4) and Dwayne
Sales (Class 4) rounded out
the top ten.
Maryann Thorlason took
the Womens side of the race,
with her time of 2:55:38 giving
her a seven-minute cushion
over Shirley Gray. Bonnie
Hooge, Janis Hooge and Tisha
on the end of the bench and tell me to keep score.
My career as a pitcher was short. As were most of my pitches.
The coach decided enough was enough when he noticed the
catcher was throwing the ball back to me faster than I was throwing
it to him. So he made us change positions.
The catcher's equipment is commonly called the tools of ignorance.
I don't know why it got this name. To my mind it took a
college degree to figure out how to put half the stuff on. But I
finally got it all on, took my position behind the plate and realized
two things. First, I couldn't move. If the ball hit me right in the
glove I was okay. If I had to try to move at all, I had a tendency to
fall over on .my back. Like a turtle, without help this position
would become fatal.
The second problem I had was much more serious. I lacked
one of the critical elements of a catcher's game. I had a good idea
of my pitcher's strengths and weaknesses. I knew how to call a
good game. I wasn't afraid to move the infield around for different
batters. I had a good arm for throwing baserunncrs out. I
had almost the complete package.
But I couldn't whistle.
A catcher who can't whistle is an outcast. Like a first baseman
who can't catch or a centerfielder who can't throw, he is missing
an essential part of the game. I tried whistling, but I couldn't. It
was a physical problem. For a while, I tried carrying a referee's
whistle with me and faking it. Then one day a foul ball hit mc
right in the mask halfway through a whistle. For a while the doc­
The riders head out on the road to Barkerville Sunday morning.
Observer photo
McGregor rounded out the
top five.
Jan Olsen placed first in
the Cadets race, and was the
only licensed rider in the
event. Among unlicensed
riders, Ryan Cook was first.
Bob Ireland second, and Jim
Dinsdale third.
The Junior Mens title went
to. Ron Miller, whose time of
2:§3:34 placed him 11th overall.
Neal Wood was second in
a time of 2:37:30,17th overall.
Tops in the recreational
rider event was David
Allwood, who clinched the
Senior Division with a time of
2:38:39. Second place overall,
and first in the Masters, went
to Bill Kerr, who was nipped
at the finish by Allwood. The
first Veteran to cross the line
was Ken Cox, who finished
third overall, about 11 minutes
behind the leaders.
The monster trucks will be highlighting this weekend's action at the Quesnel Auto Racing track.
Hme trials start at 6 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday, with the monster trucks doing their carcrunching
number before the races each day. Photo conirii^uied.
tors thought 1 would have to communicate by whistling for the
rest of my life.
So I moved to first base. I had a good stretch, and a good
glove. My only problem was a tendency to try to catch the ball before
it got to the bag. This usually resulted in my foot coming off
the bag, with the runner then being safe.
Second base and shortstop proved to be good spots for me.
The number of times we got a chance to turn a double play were
minimal, so I never had to worry about the runner bowling me
over as I made my pivot. But the coaches decided to keep trying
other positions.
Third base is called the hot corner. I found out why early. The
firsl three batters whistled balls past me. I called time, and trotted
into the dugout. The coach handed me some sunglasses, thinking I
couldn't see the ball because of the glare off cars parked behind
the fence. I shook him off, and picked up a batting helmet. I
needed safety out there.
That gave the coach the idea of putting me in the outfield. The
idea worked to perfection. 1 proved to have a good arm, and knew
how to position myself for the different hitters. It was as an outfielder
that I made my finest play. With a runner on second in a
lie game, I was playing left field. The batter hit a long fly ball. I
backed up near the fence, timed my leap perfectly and pulled the
ball in. Seeing that the runner had left second base, I fired a strike
lo the bag. As the ball left my hand, I remembered there had already
been two out.
The less said about my batting, the better.