Brantford Red Sox Organization
2001 Honourees, Baseball
The Brantford Red Sox were formed in 1911. They have had a long history in the city of Brantford and still participate in the Intercounty Baseball League (IBL) today. They were originally in the Canadian Baseball League. The league folded in 1915 due to World War 1. After a short hiatus, the team played in the Michigan-Ontario League from 1919 to 1922. After another break, they joined the Ontario league in 1930 which folded due to the Great Depression. The Red Sox then joined the Intercounty Baseball League in 1934. Since then, they have won 15 league championships starting in the 1949/50 season. The Red Sox won five consecutive league championships between 1959 and 1963, and six league championships between 2008 and 2013.
Larry Penner, Mike ‘Kingfish’ King, Art Holman, and Mayor Howard Winter owned the team in the 1950’s when the park would be regularly filled to capacity. The team boasted several players who had played either in the Major or Negro Leagues. A group of players including Robbie Vipond, Jim Jorti, and Gerry Conney owned the team in the 1960’s. Ron Stead, who was a lefthander, pitched for the Red Sox when they went on their championship winning streak that lasted 1959 to 1963. Ron Stead, who is in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, is widely touted as being one of the finest pitchers to ever play in the Intercounty League.
Stead and Spud Bush formed quite the tandem along with Ted Baker (catcher) and Jim Reaves (third base). In the 1970s and 1980s the team had many outstanding local players like Dave Dix, Jamie Corke, Gary Dix, Larry Ellins, and Gary Beal. Dave Cheetham managed the team when they won the 1981 Intercounty Championship.
Other owners of the Red Sox over the years were Jerry Roseman (1977 to 1978), Jay Johnson and Perry Davidson (1979 to 1984), Walter Gretzky, Romeo Shannelly, and John Mount (1985 to 1991), Mike Calbeck (1992 to 2001), Paul Aucoin (2002 to 2014), Jeff Hamilton and Lee Delfino (2015 to 2016). The present owners are Rick and Connie Pomerleau. Under the Ownership of Paul Aucoin, the team won six consecutive Intercounty Championships between 2008 and 2013. Lee Delfino, Wayne Forman, Josh McCurdy, Hyung Cho and Raul Bortas were some of the players on those teams. Rick Johnston and Adam Clarke were the managers. Wayne Forman manages the 2019 addition of the Brantford Red Sox.