It is never too late to correct anomalies. Thursday evening, the Tracadie Eagles will immortalize two intermediate championships in the Maritimes which greatly marked baseball fans on the Acadian Peninsula in the second half of the 1960s. Two banners will therefore be added to the four others already visible on the fences of the Raoul-Losier park.
Over 50 years ago, the Eagles became the first Peninsula baseball team to be crowned Maritime champions in the midfield.
The first coronation, in class B, dates back to 1965 in Tignish, Prince Edward Island.
Then in 1969, a few weeks after Neil Armstrong took the first steps of Man on the Moon, the Alpines this time savored in front of their supporters in Tracadie the Intermediate A championship against the Ironclads of Londonderry, a Nova Scotian community that was once known as Acadia Mines.
Obviously, as time has done its work, only five players who took part in the two conquests are still alive. They are Jean-Guy Robichaud, Keith Coughlan, Alexis Saulnier, Raymond Losier and Éloi Haché.
Due to the pandemic (and other impediments), only Jean-Guy Robichaud will be present for this ceremony which will be hosted by Philippe Ferguson. The latter published in 2014 a book recounting the history of baseball in Tracadie.
He is also of the opinion that this tribute should have been paid a long time ago.
“These two championships are why Tracadie can be part of a baseball conversation right across the province today. It was the last nail on the shingle that ensured the recognition of Tracadie as a baseball city, ”the author clearly believes.
Thursday evening, Philippe Ferguson intends to particularly highlight the work of the coaches and managers of these two champion teams, Armand Lavoie and Herb Breau in 1965, then Doug Young and Camille Ferguson four years later.
“At that time, Acadian Peninsula baseball clubs didn’t really have leaders. He was a player who had the task of taking care of the team. The Eagles were the first to have a real coach and a manager, ”says Philippe Ferguson.
“What I remember most of Armand Lavoie is that he was the first to draw from all over the Acadian Peninsula to set up a team. It was innovative at the time. It was a new way of doing things at a time when the parochial spirit was still strong, ”he says.
“Doug Young, he was a unifier. In a higher level of baseball than in 1965, Doug was able to convince the guys that a team from the Acadian Peninsula could not only get out of here and go and show the rest of the province and elsewhere in the Maritimes that we could play. great baseball, but that they were also capable of winning. Doug had a lot of character. He wasn’t the type to let himself be intimidated. He exercised great leadership, ”reveals Philippe Ferguson.
Note that the Eagles will battle for victory at the Chatham Ironmen on Thursday night. It is not a coincidence that the ceremony takes place during the visit of the Ironmen since the general manager of this team, Greg Morris, was during his young years a great opponent of the Eagles during these glorious times.
In short…
Four other banners are already found on the strips of Raoul-Losier Park, namely the conquests of 1996 (intermediate A, Atlantic), 1999 (intermediate A, Atlantic), 2007 (intermediate B, provincial) and 2016 (intermediate B, provincial)…
The Eagles of 1965 were composed of Keith Coughlan, Éloi Haché, Raymond Losier, Jean-Guy Robichaud, Alexis Saulnier, Dale Wishart, Raymond Benoit, Rodrigue Boudreau, Armand Chiasson, Hilarion Coughlan, Denis Laplante, Jack Robichaud and Jean-Claude Mourant, as well as manager Herb Breau, his assistant Donald Poirier and trainer Armand Lavoie …
In the 1969 edition, we found Roger Arseneau, Keith Coughlan, Maurice Ferguson, Denis Goupil, Éloi Haché, Jean-Charles Haché, Bernard Hébert, Raymond Losier, Levi Muise, Jean-Guy Robichaud, Aldéric Basque, Alexis Saulnier, Raymond Benoit, Rodrigue Boudreau, Hilarion Coughlan, Léopold Johnson, Denis Laplante, Jacques-Michel Mailhot, Jean-Claude Mourant and Lou Ouellette, as well as manager Camille Ferguson, his assistant Raoul Losier and coach Doug Young…
