The annual Jimmy (Fiddler) MacDonald baseball tournament for mosquito AAA players (age 10-11) continues today and Sunday at Victoria Park in Charlottetown.
The tournament, which honors the memory of the late Island and Maritime baseball great, has attracted 10 teams from all across the region — Dartmouth, Halifax, Cole Harbour, Riverview, Moncton, Chatham, Lancaster, as well as teams from Kensington, Summerside and host Charlottetown.
Scott MacDonald, Fiddler’s youngest son, handles the coaching duties for the Summerside club and one of his best players is his son, Brodie, a top left-handed pitcher and one of the team’s best hitters. Summerside plays today at 9 a.m. at Kiwanis diamond, and I expect Brodie will start.
In Major League Baseball play, the Toronto Blue Jays completed their sweep of Baltimore Orioles this past week and the series proved the Blue Jays have the nucleus of a very good, young team while the Orioles are just plain brutal. The other night, the Orioles trailed 8-2 and had a runner tossed out at third base trying move up a base while behind six runs. Watching the awful base running throughout the series, I can understand why the club is something like 30-70.
The same can be said of Kansas City, which also played the Blue Jays recently, another terribly coached club.
It’s no wonder those teams are at the bottom looking up the standings, they just don’t know what they are doing offensively or defensively.
As for the trade deadline, the Blue Jays have a number of great young pitchers and that makes a short, quality relief man like Scott Downs of great interest to many contending clubs. I think the Jays would love to move first baseman Lyle Overbay and third baseman Edwin Encarnacion but with the high salary, there will be any takers.
In senior baseball play, the Gaudet’s Auto Body Islanders are on the road today but entertain the Saint John Alpines Sunday at 1 p.m. at Memorial Field.
The Island club is in a tight race for second place in the tough New Brunswick Senior League and a win Sunday will help their playoff and second-place chances.
On the links
On the local golf scene, the Down East Classic goes today at Avondale and it features a large number of “wannabe” good golfers sprinkled among guys like Don MacRae, George McGuigan and Tony MacKenzie. Roger Duffy has been taking lessons lately in the hopes of improving his game and today we will see if he regained his once good form.
At Crowbush this past Tuesday, Neil MacFadyen and Rabs MacDonald trounced Al Stewart and Terry Hamilton, and they loved every minute of it. MacFadyen is the former course record holder at Summerside with a sizzling 64. How come I can’t get a partner like that.
CBC’s Compass host Bruce Rainnie is allegedly ducking a rematch at Wendell MacEachern’s Avondale course. Say it ain’t so, Bruce.
Englishman Steven Tiley, who fired an opening round 66 in the British Open recently and played on the final day, has Island connections. His roommate at Louisana State for two years was Charlottetown’s Michael Fortier, who was also at the school on a golf scholarship. Tiley transferred to Georgia State for his final two years.
Ex-Morell baseball standout Walter Bradley fired a sharp 79 this past week at Crowbush, five strokes better than playing partner Len Doucette
Ex-Holland College bossman Alex MacAulay has been in the low 80s at Fox Meadow but will not budge from his home course. Looks like he’s avoiding Bradley.
At the track
Live harness racing continues today at the Charlottetown Driving Park with a 12- dash card. Post time is 7 p.m. The $2,400 feature goes in Race 11 and it includes Mighty and Strong, Blue Star Outlaw, Riccaras Son, Pans O Silver, B J Cruiser and C L Eighty.
Summerside track conditioner Dwight MacLeod is the individual responsible for the lightning-fast racing surface at SRW. The whole Lobster Carnival week of racing was entertaining — very competitive, in fact top notch, great crowds and track record performances in the stake events. It was refreshing to see the new ALC manager Tom Mullally very visible, talking to customers and getting feedback. This guy makes things happen.
With newcomer Brett Revington now on board and looking after harness racing at the CDP and SRW, I feel more confident about the operation of both Island tracks than anytime in recent memory.
Reliable sources tell me Mullally has lined up a new starting gate available in Montreal, and it will likely be here by Old Home Week. If Old Home Week is anything like Lobster Carnival, then Maritime race fans are in for a great week of harness racing.
In racing up-country, Dr. Ian Moore’s Eighteen (Luc Ouelette) was second in 1:53:1 in a $20,000 two-year-old pace last Tuesday at Mohawk. At Hanover in a $5,000 pace for freshman pacers, Dutchtreat Hanover was third in 1:59:2
The Battle of Waterloo elimination races went last Monday at Grand River’s half-mile track. Although the heavy favourite Mystician (Jody Jamieson) finished second in his elimination, he might be betting favourite in the $300,000 final which goes Monday night.
Ironically, Mark MacDonald won his elimination with Mach It Big (1:57) for trainer and part owner Carl Jamieson. Mark will drive Carl’s colt against Jody.
In the $150,000 Battle of the Belles at the same track, MacDonald has elimination winner Village Janus while Jody is aboard another rival Jeff Gillis trainee.
At Grand River this past Wednesday, Delcrest Julian (Anthony MacDonald) was parked every step of the way and finished fourth, beaten by a length in a five-horse photo, in an Ontario Sires Stakes $40,000 elimination race mile in 2:01
At Truro Raceway tonight, three divisions of Atlantic Sires Stakes are in action each at $7,220 as well as the Exhibition Week Invitational at $7,500, featuring the likes of Outlawpositivcharge (PP2), Proven Lover (PP5), P H Bestman (PP6), Carnivore (PP7) and four others.
A number of ex-Islanders are home for a holiday. I had a chat Tuesday night at the track with Hamilton’s Billy Fisher, an outstanding running back at Colonel Gray in the early 1980s and a member of the school’s Potato Bowl championship team. Billy is home visiting relatives Vince Fisher and twins Ron and Don Fisher.
Race fans are reminded of the great Hambletonian card of harness racing which goes tonight at the Big M. The three Hambo eliminations have attracted the top sophomore trot colts in North America, including favourite Muscle Hill and Canadian hopeful He’s A Demon with Jamieson driving for trainer Jeff Gillis. The race can be seen via simulcast at the city track.
Fred MacDonald’s column appears each Saturday in The Guardian. He can be reached at fiddlersfacts@hotmail.com
