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History of the Hantsport Shamrocks During the winter of 1931-32 a group of young men who had played pick up ball the previous summer gathered in John R. Tattrie's barbershop and decided they would like to form a baseball team and play in the Valley League. To play in the league you had to have uniforms, so nine uniforms were ordered from Eaton's at four dollars a piece. John Tattrie found a picture of a shamrock in a magazine and using old felt from one of his pool tables they cut out crests for their uniforms. Thus the creation of the Hantsport Shamrocks. They did not win the Valley League Championship in their first year, but were league winners from 1933 to 1939. They consistently made the Nova Scotia play downs but were never able to win the Nova Scotia title. This was during the "Depression years" when there were many ex-pro and semi-pro ball players from the U.S. playing in the different leagues in the Maritimes. After the war in the late 1940's and the early 1950's the Shamrocks were again playing in local leagues but there were several years during this period when there were no Hantsport Shamrocks. In 1959 the Shamrocks were back again and were playing in the Senior "B" League. In 1960 they joined the Eastern League, which was the premier senior league in the province at that time and eventually became the Nova Scotia Senior Baseball League. From 1960 to 1967 the Shamrocks, like their namesakes of the 1930's, were a dominant force in the senior league. In 1960 the Shamrocks lost in the Nova Scotia finals, went on to win the Maritime Championship in 1961, 1964 and 1967, the last year of the Hantsport Shamrocks. Many former Shamrocks continued playing baseball for teams throughout the Maritimes and went on to have outstanding careers. Six former Shamrocks- John Bishop, Keith Bridgeo, Alfred Comeau, Carson Ellis, Peter Goucher and Walter Whynot - were on the Nova Scotia Summer Games Baseball Team that won the bronze medal during the 1969 Summer Games. In 1995 the Shamrocks returned to action and will celebrate its tenth year of operations this summer. In the first nine years of play, the Shamrocks won seven League titles, six provincial championships and three Atlantic titles. Last year marked the first season where the Shamrocks had a losing season. The objects of the newly formed Hantsport Shamrocks Baseball Society are: a) To revive the historic tradition of adult baseball in the Hantsport area. b) To promote and provide an opportunity for young adults in Hantsport and area to play baseball.
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