The late Albert Cottenie, Kamsack will be inducted into the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame Individual Category as a player and builder Aug. 15.
Albert, son of Gustaf and Irma Cottenie, was born Jan. 10, 1921. His parents came to Canada from Belgium in 1920, settling in the Prairie View area north of Veregin. From there they moved to Kamsack where Albert’s love of baseball started with inter-school competition.
Initially, Albert played with the Cote Royals but in 1947 was an original member of the Kamsack Cyclones. That name, ”Kamsack Cyclones” was prompted by a devastating tornado that struck the town on Aug. 9, 1944.
During the course of a year, the Cyclones played league, exhibition and tournament games. The 1951 lineup included crowd pleasers Jimmie McIsaac, Albert Cottenie and Charlie Achtemychuk, who took turns at catching and second base. Ever versatile, Albert also played outfield. Tommy Yee of the Star Café in Kamsack supplied a steak dinner for any Cyclone who hit a home run. Albert Cottenie was well fed thanks to his batting power at the plate.
As a farmer and an elevator agent, there was little time for ball. As his widow, Ethel, put it, “He made time.”
The success of the Kamsack Cyclones over a period of three years was historic and attributable to four factors: a strong core of local players including Albert Cottenie, Stan Green, Dave Kosteniuk and Charlie Achtemychuk; a group of talented young players from the College of Sequoias in California; a strong group of volunteers including Albert and other players and Roy Taylor, athletic director of the College of Sequoias as team manager.
Weekends meant baseball games or sports days somewhere, and Albert was the first to go. For home games, Albert would get a public address speaker on the box of the truck, take a microphone and drive to surrounding towns and villages informing locals it was baseball night in Kamsack. The place to meet, visit and have a beer was the Cottenie home in Kamsack or their cottage at Madge Lake.
Albert was always affable and smiling, promoting a sense of family and comradeship amongst the players. Ethel, his wife, said she misses those times of fellowship.
Albert’s great passion and love of the game of baseball was put to a severe test in March of 1953 when an accident at the elevator severed his little finger on his left hand, part of his hand and part of his arm, requiring extensive skin grafting and physiotherapy. His doctor told him his baseball playing days were over. Albert had other ideas. He worked on his disability and when he was satisfied he could carry his share of the load on the playing field, he was back playing the game he loved.
Baseball was prominent on the Canadian prairies when the towns had their own teams and tournaments that offered handsome cash prizes. Albert was part of that as both a player and builder.
Albert died in Kamsack Jan. 21, 1999. The community came out to say, “Goodbye” to a good man who cherished the great game of baseball, and played it very well.
