Melbourne Baseball Club (Demons) - MCC Baseball Section

125 Year Anniversary Hall of Fame Team

In 2013, the Melbourne Baseball Club celebrated its 125th year and marked the anniversary with a Gala Dinner attended by nearly 200 current and former Melbourne Baseball Club members and the wider baseball community. A Hall of Fame team was inducted as part of this significant milestone. A well-researched committee, consisting of a range of players and administrators from the past 50 years, selected the squad in two groups:

A “Heritage” team consisting of 6 noteworthy players who represented the club before 1950. While statistical information from this period has been difficult to source, the information compiled points to an extraordinary group of players.

A “Modern Era” squad of 20 players who have played for the club since 1950. Members of this elite group will have played for the club for a minimum of 5 seasons and have been selected as a touring team consisting of the best talent available. The squad has a wonderful cross section of players across all decades and has some of Victorian Baseballs most famous names.

The team was announced and presented at the Gala Dinner, current and former Melbourne Baseball Club members and the wider baseball community attended this great event, which was hosted by media personality and baseball aficionado Ed Wyatt. Ed recounted some amazing records from the past 125 years and he announced each player individually, they were presented with a framed copy of an illustration of the playing contingent drawn by renowned illustrator Paul Harvey. The mounted sketch will hang in the MCC Committee rooms at the MCG.

“It was a wonderful occasion and the culmination of months of hard work by very many committed persons,” Melbourne Baseball Section Vice President David Keyhoe said.

“This was an audacious attempt to provide a memorable event to properly commemorate 125 years,” he said.

“The project was carried out perfectly and the reaction since has been overwhelmingly positive.”

“It was a very special evening.”

Hall of Fame - Heritage Team 1888 - 1949

	Player	Career Highlights
	Walter G. Ingleton *Position:* 2nd Base *Playing Years:* 1892 – 1914	Australian Team member 1897, 1908 Represented the MCC Baseball Section for over 20 years Captain MCC Baseball Section 1894-1914, winning 11 Pennants Victoria team Captain 1894-1913
	Vernon S. Ransford O.B.E. *Position:* Outfield *Playing Years:* 1906 - 1925	VBA MCC Baseball Section A Grade 1906-1925 Victorian Baseball team July 1908 – 1921 Australian Team member 1908 9 times MCC Premiership player 1907, 1908, 1910, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1916, 1919, 1920
	Charles W. Simmonds *Position*: Catcher *Playing Years:* 1914 – 1918	New South Wales 1st Grade 1903-06, 1908-13 New South Wales State team member 1904-06, 1908-09, 1911-12 Australian Team member 1908 MCC A Grade player 1914-1918, Baseball Captain 1915-1916 MCC Premiership player VBU A grade 1916
	Stan O. Quin *Position*: Catcher *Playing Years:* 1929 – 1945	MCC Baseball Section A grade player 1929-1945 Victorian Team Member 1931-1940 MCC Premiership Player 1932, 1935, 1942, 1943, 1944 & 1945 MCC Premiership Coach 1942,1943,1944,1945,1946 MCC Baseball Section Coach 1940-1948
	Perry A. Ballmer *Position:* 1st Base / Pitcher *Playing Years:* 1932 - 1936	Inaugural award winner of the Charles Lansdown Medal in 1934 VBA MCC Baseball Section 1932-1936 VBA Victorian team 1932, 1935 MCC Premiership Player 1932, 1936
	Colin C. Miller *Position:* Infield *Playing Years:* 1936 - 1953	Represented MCC Baseball Section from 1936-1953 S.C. Lansdown VBA Best & Fairest Winner 1940 Victorian Baseball Team 1938-1947 Life Member Victorian Baseball Association M.C.C Premiership Player 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946

Hall of Fame - Modern Era 1950 - 2013, Pitchers & Catchers

	Player	Career Highlights
Pitchers
	Alan Connolly 1959 - 1963	Represented MCC Baseball Section from 1959 – 1963 Victorian Team Representative – Claxton Shield 1959, 1960, 1961
	Eddie Illingworth 1960 - 1972	Victorian Team Representative – Claxton Shield 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965 Australian National Team Representative 1962 Inducted into Victorian Baseball Association Team of the 20th Century MCC Premiership Player 1969, 1971
	Doug Provis 1967 - 1971	Victorian Team Representative – Claxton Shield 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971 MCC Premiership Player 1967, 1969, 1971
	Noel Smith 1962 - 1975	MCC Premiership Player 1971 Victorian Team Representative – Claxton Shield 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974 Australian National Team Representative 1973 Victorian Baseball Association Team Coach 1975, 1976 Victorian Baseball Association MVP 1976 & 1977
	Grant Weir 1974 - 1987	MCC Premiership Player 1987/88 Melbourne Baseball Club MVP 1984 / 1985 Victorian Team Representative – Claxton Shield 1985, 1986, 1987 1988 Australian Olympic Team Multiple Victorian and Australian National Team appearances Victorian and Australian Team Coach Life Member Victorian Baseball Association
	Darren Cassidy 2003 - 2009	Melbourne Baseball Club MVP for 4 consecutive Seasons – 2004/05, 2005/2006, 2006/2007, 2007/2008 2004 Victorian Provincial Team Representative 2004 Australian Provincial Team Representative Australian Baseball Team Representative 2006, 2007, 2009 Victorian Team Representative – Claxton Shield 2008
Catchers
	Max Lord 1944 - 1963	MCC Premiership Player 1947 A1, 1958 B Grade Victorian Team Representative – Claxton Shield 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959 Victorian Claxton Shield Team MVP 1954 & 1956 Inducted into Victorian Baseball Association Team of the 20th Century Australian National Team Representative 1954, 1955, 1956
	Ross Arthur 1974 - 1994	Melbourne Baseball Club MVP 1979/80, 1980/81, 1986/87 MCC Premiership Player 1975/76 & 1987/88 MCC Premiership Player 2002/03 (Masters) Victorian Team Representative – Claxton Shield 1978, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83 Australian National Team Representative 1981, 1982, 1983 Victorian Baseball Association MVP 1979

Hall of Fame - Modern Era 1950 - 2013, Position Players

Outfielders
	Wayne Bishop 1959 - 1975	MCC Premiership Player 1971 Victorian Team Representative – Claxton Shield 1966
	Murray Fielder 1970 - 1977	MCC Premiership Player 1970 2nds, 1971 A Grade Victorian Team Representative – Claxton Shield 1972, 1973 Sporting Globe Baseballer of the Year 1971
	Alan Sieler 1981 - 1992	Victorian Team Representative – Claxton Shield 1979, 1983 Australian National Team Representative 1983/84 MCC Premiership Player 1987/88 MCC Premiership Player 2002/03 (Masters) Melbourne Baseball Club MVP 1982/83 Elected Life Member of Melbourne Baseball Club 2001
	Rod Chapman 1974 - 1987	Melbourne Baseball Club MVP 1982/83 Victorian Team Representative – Claxton Shield 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981
Infielders
	Peter McFarlane 1959 - 1973	Victorian Team Representative – Claxton Shield 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974 Australian National Team Representative 1968, 1969, 1970, 1973 MCC Premiership Player 1967, 1969, 1971
	Roger Miller 1957 - 1974	MCC Premiership Player 1967, 1969, 1971 Victorian Team Representative – Chrysler Cup 1967 Victorian Team Representative – Claxton Shield 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973 Australian National Team Representative 1968, 1971
	Geoff Mathers 1958 - 1979	MCC Premiership Player 1967, 1969, 1970, 1971 Victorian Team Representative – Claxton Shield 1966, 1967, 1971, 1972 Australian National Team Representative 1967
	Tim Mead 1983 - 1988	MCC Premiership Player 1987/88 South Australian Team Representative – Claxton Shield 1989 Australian Baseball League Representative 1990, 1991, 1992
Utilities
	Ken Stephens 1951 - 1972	MCC Premiership Player 1958 B Grade, 1967 A Grade, 1970 2nds Victorian Team Representative – Claxton Shield 1952 - 1967 Claxton Shield Team MVP 1965 Australian National Team Representative 1965, 1966, 1967 Inducted into Victorian Baseball Association Team of the 20th Century
	Glen Gambrell 1986 - 1999	Melbourne Baseball Club MVP for 2 consecutive Seasons – 1990/91, 1991/92 MCC Premiership Player 1987/88 VBA Division 1 MVP 1991/92 Australian Baseball League Representative 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994
	Pam Donald (nee Clark) 1997 - 2003	MCC Baseball Section MVP 1997 / 1998, 1999 / 2000 Victorian State Representative 2002, 2003 Australian National Team Representative 2002, 2003

Hall of Fame - Modern Era 1950 - 2013, Playing Manager

Playing Manager
	David Went 1951 - 1971	MCC Baseball Section Premiership Player 1958 B Grade, 1967, 1969, 1971 MCC Premiership Coach 1967, 1969 & 1971 MCC Baseball Section Coach 1966 - 1984 Victorian Team Representative – Claxton Shield 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968 Australian National Team Representative 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965 Head Coach Victorian Baseball Claxton Shield Team 1970 – 1984 Head Coach Australian National Team 1974 – 1984