Rough Cut Diamonds
A Look at the History of UBC Baseball
Baseball in Vancouver was popular during the late 1940s and even though there was no baseball team at UBC, three former Thunderbird athletes; Ernie Kershaw, Reg Clarkson and Sandy Robertson were at the time, experiencing notable professional careers in this sport. From that post-war “Diamond” enthusiasm began a rather circuitous route to where today, UBC baseball is the pre-eminent university baseball program in the country as well as an emerging success story south of the border in the NAIA. UBC attempted to organize a baseball team during the spring of 1949, however the program officially commenced with the scheduling of its very first games on April 7 and 8, 1950, against the University of Washington Huskies. Historic Athletic Park, located at the south end of the Granville Street bridge, was the scene of UBC’s home games in its first season, playing against US competition in the Evergreen Conference. The inaugural eight home games involved St. Martin’s, Western Washington, Pacific Lutheran and Puget Sound. Hjelmar “Jelly” Anderson was the team’s coach (he also coached the UBC football team and was a former Washington Husky baseball player), and the first UBC line-up featured future UBC Athletic Director Bob Hindmarch catching, Bob Murphy hitting cleanup with Al Byman, Peter Scott, Nick Drossos and Tom Jenkinson leading the pitching staff. 1952-1957 After a year in which the program was disbanded due to budget cuts, it was resurrected for the’52-’53 season and featured experienced allaround athlete Bill Whyte on its roster. Whyte had previously pitched professionally for the Vancouver Capilanos and would later be awarded the 1955 Bobby Gaul Award for his success as a UBC rugby and baseball player. Among his accomplishments in ’53 was pitching a 13-inning six-hit shutout against the Washington Huskies. A highlight in ’53 was an April doubleheader against the Seattle University Chieftains featuring its star athletes Johnny and Eddie O’Brien. UBC split the series, winning game two on Bill Kushnir’s grand slam. It was just days after facing UBC that the O’Brien twins would sign and be up playing with the major league Pittsburgh Pirates. Facing US competition, the ‘Birds were now playing home games at UBC’s Varsity Stadium and featured some big names in UBC sport; Gary Sinclair, soccer star Bill Popowich, rugby’s Donn Spence and Wally Russell, a catcher who later embarked upon a professional career that included a stint with the Vancouver Mounties of the Pacific Coast league. During the ’54 -’55 campaign, Whyte, still playing UBC baseball and rugby, took over the coaching reins, succeeding Anderson. The following season, the legendary Frank Gnup arrived on campus assuming the coaching responsibilities for both football and baseball. Gnup meant so much to his athletes and successfully elevated the profile of UBC sports through his personality and character. During Gnup’s first season, his ball club led by captain Gordie Mundle, was off to a 4 – 0 start in Evergreen Conference play. 1960-1965 UBC continued to compete against both Evergreen Conference and NCAA teams but was not in a league as such, playing most of its games
UBC THUNDERBIRDS BASEBALL 2007
Researched and written by Fred Hume, UBC Athletics Historian
on the road. During the ‘60s, the UBC roster featured such future professionals as Dan Miscisco, John Haar and Don Cowan, along with future local coaching “legend” Stan Stewardson. During these years, UBC proved to be as good or better than its US competition. According to players of that era, they had a lot of fun and found coach Gnup to be a great motivator. He was able to take an unsteady program with good athletes and turn it into a winner. During the ‘60s, John Haar was one of UBC’s outstanding athletes. An excellent UBC soccer, football and baseball player, he earned the prestigious Bobby Gaul Award in ’68. He played professionally in the Yankees and Giants organizations, eventually heading up Canada’s National Baseball Institute. T-Bird Don Cowan later became a scout for the Toronto Blue Jays while Dennis Selder, another name at this time, played both UBC baseball and hockey, eventually becoming a recognized sports psychologist at San Diego State. Again, due to budget cuts, the 16-year UBC baseball program came to an end at the completion of the ’65 - ’66 season but it did leave a legacy. Present Day Thirty years later, there is talk on the UBC campus of resurrecting baseball and within a few short years it becomes a triumphant reality. As early as the fall of 1993 Athletic Director Bob Philip was talking of fielding a UBC varsity baseball team. It was during the summer of ’96, this concept was launched, spearheaded by former professional player (and UBC football player) Jim Murphy, along with Jeff Vaughan, Sonya Lumholst-Smith, and Mark Hiscott, who provided funding. It was Hiscott who recognized that student Terry McKaig, a former collegiate player, should be the one to take over the team’s coaching reins. Since ’97, McKaig has been the force behind the baseball program with periodic help from major leaguer Jeff Zimmerman and the valuable support of the “Friends of Thunderbird Baseball,” headed by local businessman Dick Reid. With continued support from alumni, the Vancouver Canadians, and MLB players Zimmerman and Ryan Dempster, among others, the UBC program has been thriving since ‘99 in the NAIA playing at Vancouver’s popular Nat Bailey Stadium. An interesting “character” in UBC’s modern era is the team’s Trainer of the late ‘90s until 2000, Hal ‘Doc’ Younker. ‘Doc’s career began in the very early ‘50s with the Vancouver Capilanos followed by many years with the Vancouver Mounties of the PCL. His nearly 50 years as team Trainer also took him to the major leagues where in 1984 he won a National League Championship ring with the San Diego Padres. In 2001, the New York Mets made Derran Watts the first ever Thunderbird to be drafted by the majors, when they selected him in the 12th round. In 2003 and 2005 UBC produced baseball highlights that should live forever. Not only did the Thunderbirds win the NAIA Region 1 championship, establishing themselves among the top teams in the NAIA, but eight more T-Bird players were drafted by major league teams including Colorado’s number one pick Jeff Francis. And in less that three seasons Francis, a future UBC Hall of Famer, is not only the 2004 “Minor League Player of the Year,” but to the delight of all his local fans is pitching in the majors with the Rockies.