Provincial Baseball League (1958-1969)
Tombstone
Born: 1960?
Folded: 19691CANADIAN PRESS. “New ball loop set”. The Montreal Star (Montreal, QC). January 6, 1970
First Game:
Last Game:
Provincial League Champions: 1962 & 1963
Stadium
Stade Municipal
Ownership & Affiliation
Owner: ?
Major League Affiliation: None
Background
Digital-age information is rather scant on the Plessisville Braves, a 1960’s fixture in Quebec’s Provincial Baseball League. This 1969 Plessisville souvenir program (above) arrived here in the mail last year but only added to the mystery, as it contained nothing but advertisements and a blank scorecard.
As far as we can tell, the Braves formed ahead of the 1960 season and joined the last of several incarnations of the Provincial League. In this era, the league was essentially a semi-pro circuit and rosters consisted entirely of native Quebeckers. Perhaps the most prominent local was Montreal-born hockey star Gilles Marotte, who moonlighted as a catcher for the Braves in 1965 and 1966 during his offseason breaks from the National Hockey League’s Boston Bruins.2NO BYLINE. “Marotte To Face Lachine”. The Montreal Star (Montreal, QC). June 22, 1966
During the latter half of the 1960’s, the Provincial League altered its roster rules to allow American and Latin American players. These imports came to dominate the line-ups of the Ligue Provinciale de Baseball during its final seasons.
The Plessisville Braves dropped from the league in late 1969. Under pressure from the arrival of Major League Baseball in Montreal in 1969, the Provincial League itself disbanded following the 1970 season.
Voices
“The last version of the Provincial League (1958-1970) was not part of organized baseball, not much has been written about it. Actually, even the last version of the league could be divided in two parts. First, 1958 to 1964 when all the players were Quebeckers. Then, in 1965 Americans and Latinos were allowed to play. It started with only a few [imports] on each team but from 1968 to 1970, only a couple of Quebeckers were left. So, the caliber of play was pretty good during that last period.”
– Daniel Papillon, Founder, Quebec chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research (2020 email exchange with FWIL author Andrew Crossley)
Links
Christian Trudeau’s Provincial Baseball League History Site (English/French)
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3 Responses
When the Thetford Mines Pirates began play in 1974 Eastern League season, their stadium wasn’t ready, so they scheduled games in Plessisville. Unfortunately, the field was in such horrible shape they played a “home” double-header at Quebec City, and Three Rivers (a Reds farm team) refused to allow their players to play on the field.
Hey John,
Thanks, as always, for stopping by and lending some color commentary. Happy 4th!
Drew
I have team photos of my grandfather–Frank Gallucci–playing for the Plessisville Braves circa pre 1960 (early 50s)