EBBA Minor

PeeWee E - Ilderton Champions

written by Bruce Huff, in the London Free Press on Sunday, April 29th Everyone's a pitcher at heart, even at 63 Ever watch a baseball team warm up? Usually things begin with the guys doing soft toss but it doesn't take long for the slider, the knuckle balls and the hooks to appear. Everybody's a pitcher at heart, it seems. No matter what the players say, there is an inborn obsession that drives a force that almost breathes the magic words, "Hey, coach, I'm ready!" Take Bob Pearson, for instance. Here's a man with an outstanding athletic pedigree. He's a former London Majors outfielder-catcher, a Montreal Alouettes fifth-round draft choice, a member of the 1959 Western Mustangs, who won the first national football title; a university wrestling champion . . . and that's just for starters. Now, you should add "senior men's baseball pitcher" to his portfolio. At 63, Pearson plays in the London Senior Men's League. You'll usually find him behind the mask at his customary catching post. "And now, I'm learning to pitch," he says. "The seniors' rules allow a pitcher to throw no more than two innings. Somebody noticed that I was throwing the ball back to the pitcher harder than it was coming in, so it was suggested that I try pitching. It's a change, but it's been a lot of fun." Pearson a Strathroy product who continues to live and work in that town, is also the umpire assigner for London & District Baseball Association (LDBA). Mike Mitchell is supervisor of officials and Bill Sevier is treasurer. Baseball has been in Pearson's blood since he was a youngster and he comes by it naturally. His late father Winston was a longtime baseball administrator in both Western Counties and Ontario circles and was a familiar face at games and meetings. "Baseball's remained my favourite sport," says Pearson. "And while I enjoy playing, I also like working with kids and with the umpires." Yesterday, he conducted a Level 1 umpiring clinic for about 60 people for Baseball Ontario. One area where Pearson would like to see development is at the senior men's level. "There's a big gap between the ages of 21 and 30," he says, echoing the words of Dan Pulham, LDBA convenor (President) and London's Sportsman of 2000. "There are plenty of players coming up from minor ball," he says. "They just need somebody to organize some teams for them. After they reach 30 years, they can more to the seniors league." Helping to fill the void is Southwestern Counties League which includes the London Lakeside Lizards, London Stingrays and Byron Seniors, along with the Tillsonburg Red Sox and Exeter Mohawks. Opening day is at LDBA Field (Adelaide and Windermere) when the Red Sox play the Stingrays at 7 p.m. on Sunday, May 13. The eight-team London seniors (30 plus) league starts next Sunday. There are still openings for players. Vern Eldridge (681-8502) has details.

by Morris Dalla Costa, in the London Free Press on Thursday, February 15, 2001 This is the way it is with people like Dan Pulham. "Please, when you write this, focus on minor sports," he said. "I don't like to stick my nose into the limelight." It's a definition of volunteerism. Many individuals work behind the scenes for the benefit of others while they rarely gain the recognition they richly deserve. Pulham would probably recoil at the part about "recognition they richly deserve." "Lots of people are doing it," said Pulham. "They are putting in lots of hours." Maybe there are a lot of people doing it but Pulham has been doing it for many years and he's been an extraordinarily busy individual. He's done such a good job that last month he was honoured at the London Sports Celebrity Dinner and Auction as London's sportsperson of the year. He's president of the Forest City Hockey League and the London District Baseball Association as well as being assistant sport's leader for baseball for the upcoming Canada Summer Games. He is on the ball diamond task force and was a driving force in obtaining the Minor Hockey Alliance of Ontario minor development tournament for London in April. There's much more. While Pulham shrugs off any notion that what he's doing is exceptional, he recognizes that without volunteers there would be no minor sports. "I do it because when I was a kid, someone did it for me," he said. "It's not really a hard path to follow. You go from parent to coach to administration pretty quickly. I'm asking volunteers for the MD tournament not to bring my greybeards. Bring your younger people. A lot of us are getting older and you need younger people with lots of energy." At 52, Pulham has seen minor sports from every angle - the good, the bad, the hopeful and not so hopeful. He likes what he's finally seeing. "Being the London Minor Hockey Association tournament director for years and years, we've had to use Carling and Argyle for our tournaments. It's almost embarrassing when poeple come to town and wound up playing at Carling," Pulham said. "After many, many years of nothing happening in arenas in London, all of a sudden we have a new front end at Carling and the city is doing work on other arenas. This is a very positive direction. Finally the money's there. I'm one of a bunch of baseball people sitting on the (ball diamond) task force. We're seeing some positive thoughts from the city that something is going to get done. They're recommending some improvements, some new facilities. Something positive is coming from this as well. The city is growing. We're trying to attract new people here. Somewhere along the line it has to be important when someone says, 'My kid's a minor hockey player? What kind of program do you have?'" Pulham may crave anonymity but as sportsperson of the year, that's no longer possible. He is a technical office for the department of psychology at Western and a big New York Rangers fan. He has a huge music collection. His hobby is collecting and repairing pinball machines. He's also organizer of the annual Dan Pulham Pickerel Fishing Trip, currently a non-fishing event. As for winning the award? "I was tricked into going (to the dinner) and quite surprised when I won," Pulham said. "There I was sitting back and enjoying myself when all of a sudden, ‘Up you go.' I had no idea. It was quite a thrill. I didn't make much of an acceptance speech. Maybe if I had time to think about it." Chances are though, it would have started something like this. "This award really belongs to every volunteer . . ."

L.D.B.A. is thrilled to announce that our President Dan Pulham was awarded as Sportsperson of the Year for the City of London for his outstanding contribution to the athletic community and in recognition of his achievements as a member of our community. In addition to serving on the LDBA Board since 1991, Dan is in his fourth year as President of the London & District Baseball Association, his third term as Chairman of the Forest City Hockey League, has been on the London Minor Hockey Association Board since 1988 as Ice Convenor and has been scheduler-extraordinaire for baseball and hockey throughout the sports community and for the City of London for over a decade. There is no one more deserving of this prestigious award and we couldn't be prouder. Click here to read the London Free Press story by Morris Dalla Costa, posted on the Articles Page.

Just for fun, here are some major events that have occurred since the Chicago Cubs last won the World Series:

• Radio was invented; Cubs fans got to hear their team lose.
• TV was invented; Cubs fans got to see their team lose.
• Baseball added 14 teams; Cubs fans get to see and hear their team lose to more clubs.
• George Burns celebrated his 10th, 20th, 30th, 40th, 50th, 60th, 70th, 80th, 90th, and 100th birthdays.
• Haley's comet passed the earth twice.
• The NBA, NHL and NFL were formed, and Chicago teams won championships in each league.
• Man landed on the moon, as have several home runs given up by Cubs pitchers.
• The Titanic was built, set sail, sank, was discovered and became the subject of major motion pictures, the latest giving Cubs fans hope that something that finishes on the bottom can come out on top.
• Wrigley Field was built and becomes the oldest park in the National League.
• Flag poles were erected on Wrigley Field roof to hold all of the team's future World Series pennants. Those flag poles have since rusted and been taken down.
• A combination of 40 Summer and Winter Olympics have been held.
• Thirteen baseball players have won the Triple Crown; several thanked Cubs pitchers.
• The Cubs played 14,153 regular-season games; they lost the majority of them.

With apologies to all Cub Fans!