July 4th was chosen for the annual Gray Sports Day. A baseball team in Gray, SK was a given until the late 1980s, an era of some success for in baseball for Gray.
One July, they played 36 games in 31 days. In 1957 as it never rained, there was no summer-fallow to work. The team played in as many tournaments as possible that year. In 1959 the team was invited to play a game in Plentywood, Montana. Players were thrilled to play under lights. This was a big deal! They lost by one run but had a magnificent time with many stories to tell of their adventure.
As time passed, the younger players made up the team, and by the mid-1960s, they changed the name of the team to the Gophers. A Gopher highlight in the mid-1960s was beating Lang in the first game of the Lang Sports Day, the result being that the home team would not be in the final that night. Lang had historically always been in the final, and usually won. The Gophers were quite competitive in the late 1960s and 1970s. Their Sports Days were anticipated for days in advance. Along with competitive baseball, the food booths had the best food in the land!
The end of the Gophers era included players that then became the Bucs in the mid-1970s. Coached by Larry Shostal in these final years, 1970-1984, the team may not have been as successful as the Gophers, but did compete in the Soo Line League and attended the myriad of Sports Days around the area.
All citizens of the Gray community were ‘all hands on deck’ to host the baseball teams coming to town. Everyone became involved with the grounds, scheduling the games, the umpires, staffing the food booth, the clean-up, baking pies, ordering concession food and more.
This support over the past 80 years of Senior baseball in the Village of Gray, a community with a population of less than 100, has recognized and preserved some memorabilia of this baseball history displayed in the 306 Sports Hall of Fame. This is the Gray Museum located in the Gray rink. The number 306 is the highway number that goes through Estlin, Gray, Bechard and Ricetin, the area included in the Gray Museum.
- Provided by Jane Shury, President/CEO, Sask. Baseball Museum