— Photo by Christopher Gooding/TC Media
AMHERST, N.S. — All the batting titles and MVP awards were nice and so were the plenitude of championship wins, but Steve Dunne says friendships forged on the diamond was what made baseball really special.
The Corner Brook native, who now lives in Amherst, N.S. with his wife Susan (nee Bartlett) and daughter Emily, has been inducted into the Baseball Newfoundland and Labrador Hall of Fame in the player category.
“People you met, played with and against, that’s what I remember the most. The fun times we had and the baseball was always fun,” Dunne said earlier this week from Amherst where he works for the federal government. “It was nice to win and we won a lot when I played, but it was about the people and the friendships which still last to this day.”
Dunne, who is 48 years of age, grew up honing his skills at Jubilee Field under the tutelage of coaches like Steve Angeline in the summer baseball program and broke in with the Corner Brook Barons during an era when Hall of Famers like the Colbourne brothers — Don, Ted, Ray and Fred — and Tom Humber were racking up provincial senior A baseball titals against the rival St. John’s Capitals on the other side of the island. When told about the good news, Dunne — who was also a a steady performer for the Corner Brook Royals during the 1980s as a tough winger — was both surprised and honoured to be recognized for his efforts.
“A great group of baseball players to be included in and considered in the same context is certainly a great honour for me,” Dunne said of being recognized as one of the best to play the game in the province.
Hall of Famer Don Colbourne got to hoist a number of championship crowns as a coach of both the Junior and Senior Barons back in the day. He had Dunne playing the hot corner for many of those championship runs, four at the junior level and eight wins over the Capitals in senior A finals, according to Dunne’s recollection of a career that included playing in three national tournaments and three Atlantic senior baseball championships.
“He could carry a team at times,” Colbourne said of the son of Corner Brook’s John and Doris Dunne.
Dunne was an intimidating presence at all levels of baseball he played with his six-foot-three frame. When he dug in his cleats, you knew he meant business and was going to have a good rip at a pitch.
Colbourne believes Dunne proved throughout his career he could hit the ball with the best of them and also had great hands on defence. More importantly perhaps, Colbourne appreciates the fact Dunne was very respectful of both his coaches and teammates, and left it all on the field at the end of the game.
“He was a good team player that’s the way I remember him,” Colbourne said. “He was one of the boys.”
A career that included crushing three homers for the Terra Nova provincial baseball team at the 1985 Canada Winter Games, Dunne had a blast playing for his beloved West Side Monarchs on the local scene as much as he did helping win titles for the Barons.
However, when pressured to pick out one of the biggest highlights he quickly referred to the 1992 national senior baseball champonship in Windsor, Ont. where the Barons grabbed the bronze medal.
Yes, he was happy to be part of a great team that year, but being named the top right-handed pitcher with back-to-back wins was something nobody could have predicted because he wasn’t known for his arm. He dazzled the opposition on a soggy day with a pesky knuckleball that gave the Barons a medal on the national stage.
“It stands out because I didn’t go in there because I considered myself a pitcher, I was a third baseman,” he said. “As the situation would unfold there were a number of rain delays and I managed to get my hand on the ball.”
He was a hurting unit after his impressive run on the hill, but he would do it all again in the heartbeat if it meant winning.
“You couldn’t pick your nose after that,” he said of his arm.
No regrets
Dunne has no regrets about his participation in baseball and appreciates all the support he had from the local baseball association and the Corner Brook West Sports Club who put a lot of time and effort in promoting the game of baseball in the city and across the province. A fierce competitor who loved to win, there were times when he got pissed off because things didn’t go as planned on the diamond, but that’s just the competitive juices that flowed through his veins to make him the player he was for so many years.
“I had zero disasppointment when it came to playing baseball,” he said. “It was a very fun time in my life.”
2005 Hall of Fame inductee Ed Flood, the first player to be inducted in the Hall in the player and builder category at the one time, had the pleasure of playing with Dunne on the provincial baseball scene with the Barons. He also shared a lot of good times with Dunne wearing the black and gold with the Monarchs where he was both a teammate and a coach.
“You put a bat in his hands he could do a lot of damage,” Flood said of Dunne, who he felt was the best third baseman he ever saw despite the fact Dunne really didn’t like playing the hot corner.
Flood really enjoyed his stint coaching the Monarchs with Dunne’s bat in the lineup. Flood had simple instructions for the big hitter when he stepped into the batter’s box for the black and gold at Jubilee Field.
“I would say to him ‘Dunney, I want you to beat the grill out of my car in the parking lot, not joking’ and as you can see in his stats he did it an awful lot.”
Dunne was prodded for a couple of stories, funny or otherwise, that stands out from the fun years he shared on the diamond, but he quickly pointed out that he’s always lived by the rule that what happens on the road stays on the road. Of course, he followed that up with one of those big laughs that made him a popular teammate no matter if he had bat or a hockey stick in his hand.
A few minutes later, Dunne called The Star after he decided he wanted to share a story from the Blue Barons Lounge — the team bus that transported the Barons to and from tournaments over the years. He remembered the late Mr. Charlie Lockyer, who was the Barons long-time bus driver for so many ventures on the road, deciding to take things into his own hands when he had enough of the boys wanting to make so many pit stops on the way home from a particular road trip. The reason for the pit stops he clearly left to the imagination of the reader, but felt they would have an idea of what he was talking about.
“He drilled a hole in the floor, took a tube and a funnel, screwed it onto the stairs and said ‘this is where you go we’re not stopping anymore,” he said.
