From the Telegraph Journal.
May 17, 2000.
A league of their own; Miramichi Valley loop gets set for its 55th consecutive season
By: NEIL HODGE Telegraph-Journal
When the Miramichi Valley Baseball League was founded, people were just coming home from the First World War. The year was 1918.
It is both the oldest, and currently the longest-running, baseball league in New Brunswick.
"There's no record of the league during the Second World War," said Billy O'Donnell, who's entering his sixth season as league president. "If the league did operate then, it wasn't registered.
"What we do know is that the league has been running continuously since 1946. We take great pride in staying in operation for so long. This league has been part of life for many communities for a long time."
O'Donnell put things into perspective.
"The trophy that we play for has been around since 1924," he said. "It's not in the best of shape, but we hope to get it fixed up. There's a lot of history in our league and we're proud of it."
The 82-year-old league will open its 55th consecutive season with a pair of games tomorrow. The Rogersville Mooseheads visit the Chatham Head Tigers at 6:30 p.m. The Tracadie-Sheila Alpines host the Lameque Cooperateurs at 8 p.m.
There are 11 teams in the league this season, one more than last campaign. The Beresford Schooners folded, but there are two new clubs with Lameque and the Bathurst Red Sox.
The West Division comprises the Miramichi Renovation Alpine Braves, North and South Esk Lumber Kings, Grand Falls Cataracts, Plaster Rock Lynx, Chatham Head and Rogersville.
The East Division is made up of the Caraquet Alpines, Dalhousie Moosehead Dodgers, Tracadie-Sheila, Bathurst and Lameque.
All teams in the West Division are Intermediate B. In the East Division, there's Bathurst, Dalhousie and Tracadie- Sheila in Intermediate A and Lameque and Caraquet in Intermediate B.
All clubs will play a 24-game schedule in the regular season. It's a heavily lopsided schedule with 20 games against divisional rivals.
"Everybody doesn't get to play against everybody because of the travelling distance," said O'Donnell. "It's the best schedule we could come up with to keep everyone happy."
Anyone age 16 and over is eligible to play in the Miramichi Valley Baseball League. Most players are ages 20-30.
"Up north, they don't have any junior or senior baseball," said O'Donnell. "A lot of players depend on this league as a place to play. A lot of senior- calibre players come to our league because they don't want all the travel."
The East Division will meet the West Division in the league all-star game on July 9 at 2 p.m. in Chatham Head.
At the end of the regular season, Bathurst, Dalhousie and Tracadie-Sheila will do battle to determine the league's Intermediate A champion. The other eight clubs will chase the league's Intermediate B title.
Dalhousie is both the defending league and provincial Intermediate A champion. Miramichi is the defending league and provincial Intermediate B titleholder.
"Our league produced the New Brunswick champion for both Intermediate A and Intermediate B last season," said O'Donnell. "I think it says something about the strength of our league."