REDSOX CLUB HISTORY

(written by Kerry O’Neill, foundation member)

The Carina Redsox Baseball Club Inc was originally founded in 1980 as the Redlands Redsox Baseball Club.

Two of the Club’s life members, Dudley Cullen and Michael Racine (passed away 2007), came up with the idea whilst watching their wives play softball. Both were living in the Redlands area at the time and saw the potential for the establishment of the Club in this rapidly growing area. It took about 6 months of preparation to get things off the ground.

The first meeting of interested players was held in Dudley’s garage and led to him being appointed the Club’s inaugural President and Mick its inaugural Treasurer. They continued in those roles for several seasons, as well as taking on other roles over the years, such as coaches, managers, social directors and canteen conveners.

In its first season the Club entered a team in each of the Metro A and Metro B grades of the Brisbane competition with both teams making the finals and the Metro A narrowly losing in the grand final.

Foundation players included Dudley, Mick, Kerry O’Neill, Kevan O’Neill, John Williams and Wayne Hindsley who are all life members, along with Alan Cullen, Denis Cullen, Lyndon Cullen, Glen Cullen, Shane Cullen, Rob Anderson, Travis Williams, Luke Williams, Peter Chapman, Jim Redford and others. Scorers were also needed and great assistance was given by Alice Cullen and Helen Cullen. Assistance was also required on the social side and the Club was indebted to many of the wives and partners including Neen Williams, Debbie O’Neill, Marion O’Neill and Sandy Racine.

The Club held discussions with officers from the Redlands Shire Council with a view to establishing a permanent home ground but during this two year period were a roving club playing at various venues throughout the Shire including the showground, Mooroondu Park and Capalaba.

The inability to establish a home ground meant that Mick Racine used to carry a mobile backnet around on his car and in his trailer, along with bases, gear and a barbeque, etc. This of course necessitated getting to the ground that much earlier to erect the backnet, measure and mark bases, the pitching mound, etc on sometimes what could be best described as a rough paddock. The Club played with limited facilities on grounds that had electricity lines running across the diamond and pitching up hill on sloping fields.

Uniforms – The first uniforms were made of cotton and there was an assortment of designs due to the fact that many of them were homemade by the individual player.

Social – The players were a very social group with most of them regularly attending the post-game barbeque either at the venue or one of the players homes and served to generate comradery and raise modest amounts for the Club.

The Club used to run pre-season tournaments as a way of generating some additional income apart from getting some obvious match practice in. The players sometimes entered a team in the tug-a-wars held at the Redlands Showground.

Fundraising Activities – In the early days, apart from the usual barbecues and raffles, the Club used to make its own wine and store the bottles underneath Mick Racine’s house and they would then be sold off. The Club also used to raise money from selling treble tickets for the Saturday races and this was very popular for a number of seasons raising hundreds of dollars every weekend. The Club conducted raffles at the Carindale Hotel for several seasons and has had a stand at the Crackerjack Carnival to both raise funds and promote the Club.