Baseball fans got to see the start of something special at Jets Stadium on Tuesday.
Not only did spectators get to see the first ever Vauxhall Spurs alumni baseball game, but the birth of the Spurs Alumni Association as well.
Players from all decades the Vauxhall Spurs have been in existence (since the late 1970s) were in the dugout playing for the alumni side who were able to pull out a laid-back-but-still-thrilling 6-5 victory over the 2010 version of the Vauxhall Spurs in 2010.
“There was a real buzz in the dugout (Tuesday) night. Guys were excited to be there,” said Stacy Hagen, a representative on the newly formed Vauxhall Spurs Alumni Association and participant in the alumni game. “We talked about making it an annual thing. Everybody talked about how they played with two or three guys that were still in the area that weren’t there. The numbers can only get greater.”
The older guys proved they could still rake, pitch and catch with the youngsters in the narrow victory, with Hagen noting some were able to find the fountain of youth thanks to some of the more recent graduates from the Spurs program.
“We weren’t there for smack talking, we were there for a good time. We were lucky to have guys like Brendan Miller and Mitch (Schaafsma) playing who just finished up with the (Lethbridge) Bulls,” said Hagen with a chuckle. “They sure helped our club.”
The alumni game was finally helped by Mother Nature. Having to postpone the game twice due to the record amounts of moisture southern Alberta was pelted with earlier this year, the game was going to go on rain or shine this time around.
“In the afternoon when it got kind of muggy, I was looking up at the clouds and I thought to myself ‘even if lightning bolts start coming down we aren’t canceling’,” said Hagen. “We weren’t going to put it off anymore. We had a couple of guys that were down from Okotoks and Calgary.”
Whether young or old on the alumni bench, the fond memories stayed the same for the players who want to give back to the program.
“We foresee not only an annual baseball game, but as the association gets formed, we’d like to do more fundraising events like maybe a golf tournament. Everybody in the dugout agreed playing Spurs were some of the best summers of your life as a young man,” said Hagen. “We just want to be able to afford that opportunity to everybody in the future to keep the club going.”
Hagen confirmed the newly formed alumni association will be constructing a Web site in the near future as well to help connect with former players from near and far.