The Okotoks Dawgs banquet is an opportunity to throw your support behind a worthwhile cause that will help boys and girls pursue their dreams between the lines on the ball diamond.

The banquet is this Saturday at the Foothills Centennial Centre. The proceeds will go towards ongoing costs to the Duvernay Field House.

It’s a great cause, providing foothills area youths from across southern Alberta to hone their baseball skills.

The benefits are already starting to pay off. Youngsters are now taking groundballs, learning pick-off moves and are in the batting cage despite weather outside more fitting for dog sleds, not sliding into second base.

The banquet is also an opportunity to thank the Dawgs for another outstanding baseball season lat summer. They won their third-straight Western Major Baseball League championship (“There is no joy in Melville…) and have a created an atmosphere at Seaman Stadium that is exciting for ardent fans to those who thinks a homer is just a character on the Simpsons.

But another good reason for attending is its solid entertainment and enough food to make former LA Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda feel stuffed.

Part of that entertainment will be the opportunity to listen to guy who actually played for Lasorda.

John Shelby, a former outfielder with the Baltimore Orioles and Los Angeles Dodgers, played for Lasorda in 1988 while playing in LA.

That was the year the anemic-hitting Dodgers somehow got by Darryl Strawberry and the New York Mets in the National League championship series and then amazingly beat the Oakland A’s in the World Series.

Here is a chance to talk to someone who was actually in the ballpark when Dodger Kirk Gibson launched his famous pinch-hit home run off of hall-of-fame pitcher Dennis Eckersley to win Game 1 of the Fall Classic.

Shelby won his first World championships with the Baltimore O’s in 1983. He played with a guy by the name of Cal Ripken Jr. who was at shortstop. Ripken was about 380 games in of his astonishing 2,632 consecutive games played.

How often do you get to hear a person who was involved in some of baseball’s greatest moments and milestones?

However, Shelby will likely also speak of the importance of family and community.

He knows the subject.

His son Jeremy will be one of the Dawgs players attending the banquet.  The fact both are making the track from the eastern part of the United States speaks volumes to the importance they place in the Dawgs’ organization.

The other guest speaker is Jim Henderson, a minor league pitcher in the Milwaukee Brewers, who came up through the Dawgs organization

The Dawgs’ banquet has always been a fun affair, with guests ranging from the voice of the Toronto Blue Jays Jerry Howarth to Stampeders QB Henry Burris (who wasn’t quite as successful as the Dawgs in repeating as champions).

I will be going for sure.

“And I don’t care if I never get back…”

0 Click Here to 'Like' this post

 Email This Post  Print This Post