Brewer member of Shiretown diamond dynasty

Woodstock Lions/Elks squads of 1950s named to N.B. Baseball Hall of Fame
 By Jeffrey Bento-Carrier
Bugle-Observer
Baseball days
    Jay Brewer’s baseball days began in 1947 when he was 16 years old. He was playing high school baseball when he turned semi-pro, and he stayed on the diamond as a player until he was 44.
    Brewer and his Lions’ teammates went undefeated and claimed the Maritime championship. He then went on to play for the Houlton Collegians.
    Brewer’s name is also on a plaque at the Woodstock Civic Center, as he was honored by making New Brunswick’s Wall of Fame in the 1980s.
    Read below about Brewer and his teammates accomplishment.
    One of the greatest dynasties of Woodstock’s golden era of diamond play of the 1950s was inducted into Baseball New Brunswick’s Hall of Fame on Saturday, Oct. 30, in special ceremonies at the Delta Hotel in Fredericton.
     Many of the surviving members of the Woodstock Lions/Elks Senior baseball sides of the decade joined together in the provincial capital for the historic event.
    Woodstock baseball fans were treated to some outstanding baseball action from 1950 through 1959, as the flow of personnel through the years denotes the presence of a dynasty representative of what many fans believe is the greatest decade in Shiretown baseball annuals.
     The Woodstock Lions/Elks club were rulers of Senior baseball during a decade of great success for the town on the diamond.
     The Woodstock Bearcats, or Murphy’s Midgets as they were called in the late 1940s and into the 1950s, started the flow of banners with a well-deserved Maritime Juvenile title in 1950.
     From there, Senior squads built on their success with an Intermediate title win in 1951; Senior N.B. baseball triumphs in 1952, 1953, and 1956, and a Maritime title in 1958.
    This was followed by a repeat with another N.B. Senior crown in 1959.
    Players who were in attendance at the event included Dick Cougle, Earlin Phillips, Len Wilson, Ron Wilson, Ray MacDonald, Bill McMullin, Reggie Paul, Jay Brewer, Morley Howe, Ronnie Brown, Vern Giberson, Laird McLennan, and Bun Veysey, who put together the nomination package.
Contributed photograph/ Courtesy Baseball New Brunswick
HONORED — The Woodstock Lions/Elks squads from the 1950s have been inducted into Baseball New Brunswick’s Hall of Fame. Ceremonies in tribute to the squad were held in Fredericton on Saturday, Oct. 30. The dynasty’s 1953 N.B. Senior champs will appear on an induction plaque which will be hung at the Woodstock Sports Wall of Fame at the Carleton Civic Centre. Squad members on hand for the ceremonies included Ray MacDonald (seated), who received the presentation from Baseball New Brunswick president David Watling, as well as, middle row, from left, Morley Howe, Bun Veysey, Ron Wilson, Jay Brewer, Reggie Paul, Laird McLennan, and Earlin Phillips, and back row, from left, Bill McMullin, Dick Cougle, and Len Wilson.
     “It will be a great night for all of us because it’s a great honour to be part of this hall of fame,” Veysey said. “We’ll be sharing a lot of memories and we’re very happy, and pleased, we will be recognized in this way.”
    Veysey, who played first base with many of the teams of this 1950s dynasty, said the squads had a diverse mix of athletes but had the right combination for diamond success at the legendary Island Park.
    “What the late Charles (Chuck) Murphy at the helm, who is also in the hall, he started this all off in the 1940s with his teams and it carried on into our decade,” he said.
    “He was a great coach on all levels and much of the success we had was built from those minor baseball teams he guided.”
    Veysey noted that athletes on the Woodstock teams of the 1950s were determined individuals who survived the Depression, and the Second World War, just as their many fans did, which gave them a connection on many levels in relation to the sport they loved.
    “It was a great time for baseball in Woodstock back then because of what it meant to everyone,” he noted.
    “We also had great teams in Woodstock in the 1920s and 1930s as well which was the foundation, in many ways, for what came later as well.”
    As only one of the team photos could grace the induction plaque, along with the citation, Veysey said the 1953 edition of the Lions/Elks side was chosen, “on the basis of degree of difficulty, in that it was a long road to the championship.”
     Veysey said four provincial Senior leagues were in operation in the province that year, reflective of the talent in all parts of New Brunswick at the time.
    “There were many great ballplayers from that era who suited up in those associations, so to win it all took all we had in relation to our lineup,” he said. “We had a great balance of hitting, fielding, and pitching at the time, which I feel played a huge factor in us winning it all during those years, especially in 1953.”
    The four leagues included the North Shore League, the Southern N.B. League, the Border League, and the York-Sunbury-Carleton League.
    On the regular season, Woodstock finished third in the Y-S-C.
    Other teams in the association in 1953 included the Marysville Royals, the McAdam Legionnaires, the Minto Miners, the Fredericton Tigers, and Vanceboro, Maine.
    Playing its first season in the York-Sunbury-Carleton association, the team finished behind the Tigers and Royals.
    All-around baseball effectiveness would characterize the Woodstock boys, with superb pitching, timely hitting, sound fielding and cunning management.
    After outlasting their talented opponents in two sets of league playoffs, Woodstock advanced to the provincial semi-final round, defeated the Border League champs, the St. Stephen Kiwanis, three games to two.
    That set was exciting from the outset, as two of the five contests went to extra innings.
    The victory qualified Woodstock for the finals, as the Dalhousie Dodgers defeated the Southern N.B. League champs, the Saint John Dodgers, three games to one, for the right to meet Woodstock.
     Woodstock’s long road to the 1953 banner finally became a reality in the title set, as they swept a talented Dodger team four games to none in the best-of-seven for it all.
    Veysey said Woodstock did not go into the final thinking of a sweep.
     “Back then, you took every playoff game you were in as just one game at a time,” he said.
    “It didn’t enter our mind, at least we never thought, we could sweep Dalhousie in four, as they had a very strong team back then. Everything came together that year, especially our pitching when we needed it.”
     Veysey noted that fan support, at home and on the road, played a huge factor in their success.
    “The fans were really behind us that season and we enjoyed a tremendous fan following,” he said. “It was estimated at our home games, in league and provincial play, we would average between 1,200 and 1,500 spectators.”
    Veysey said baseball was always a big draw in Woodstock throughout the late 1940s and into the 1950s for many reasons.
    “You have to remember that many of our players also represented Woodstock and other communities in the Carleton County region which did not have television back then, so we were big draws every summer and into the fall,” he said. “People would come from all over to see us play because we were representing them in something very special.”
    Veysey said it’s not known how many local fans followed the teams on the road, “(and) the support often surpassed that of the home team we were playing against.”
    Veysey added he looks back with great fondness on those squads he was part of, and baseball in Woodstock, during the 1950s.
     “There are many memories, and many great stories, from the 1950s,” he said.
     “Chuck built the basis of our teams in the 1940s at the minor level and it grew from there in so many ways. To win so many titles, and to have so much success, was a dream come true for many of us because we always wanted to compete against some of the best players, and teams, of that era.
     “Saturday was an evening for all of us to look back and pay tribute to what we did together,” he added.