Labossiere follows in father’s footsteps

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/11/2015 (3796 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Mike Labossiere will earn another tribute from Baseball Manitoba on Saturday as it inducts the Brandonite into its Honour Society.

Labossiere, who played senior baseball from 1969 to 1989, has been an active volunteer, organizer and teacher in the game for decades.

While Labossiere said his induction into Baseball Manitoba’s Hall of Fame in 2002 will always be a highlight, this latest nod will be special for a unique reason.

“My dad (Gaetan) was put into the Honour Society a number of years ago,” Labossiere said. “He was inducted in 1980 so that’s another sort of neat thing, that my dad was put in and I’m in as well.”

The Baseball Manitoba awards banquet will be held at the Royal Oak Inn in Brandon starting on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.

Labossiere said he considers this accolade as a nod to his work in the sport after he retired from playing.

The league website defines the honour as “those individuals who have paved the way, and have spent their lifetimes involved in baseball as either a builder, player or official. These honorees are very valuable to our sport and it is their countless efforts and dedication that keep baseball moving forward.”

The other two people being inducted into the Honour Society are the late Perry Kalynuk of Virden and the late Bob Shipley of Winnipeg.

Labossiere said he didn’t know Shipley but spent time with Kalynuk offering baseball seminars after years of playing against him.

“He was just such a big promoter of baseball, especially in the Virden area,” Labossiere said. “But he would hop in his car and do players’ clinics and coaches’ clinics. I think he really just promoted baseball.”

The efforts of people like Labossiere and Kalynuk are reflected in the strength of the sport at the senior level in rural Manitoba, where 31 teams played in the AAA and AA levels last season.

The sole senior league in Winnipeg had just six teams.

“I think the game is quite healthy in rural Manitoba, at least at the senior level, which is what I’m more familiar with,” Labossiere said.

He won’t return as president of the Andrew Agencies Senior AA Baseball League next season, although he expects to be active in some capacity.

Labossiere has helped some of the catchers on the provincial teams and also was busy on the field when Toronto Blue Jays alumni put on a seminar in Brandon in August.

“I don’t have any trouble staying busy,” he chuckled.

The other winners with Westman connections who will be honoured on Saturday are the Baldur Regals as high performance senior team of the year; pitcher Anthony Friesen, who threw for the Regals in some tournaments, as senior AA player of the year; Virden’s Matt Gunning as the top senior AAA player for the second year in a row; and Oakville’s Brady Moxham, who pitched in the Manitoba Senior Baseball League with the Neepawa Farmers, as midget player of the year.

Peter Perreault of Russell won the umpire award of merit.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @PerryBergson