Bleed Dodger blue? Are you kidding?
You would think that Coldstream Meadows resident Don Stewart, 93, a lifelong baseball player, coach, and fan, would love the Los Angeles Dodgers, having become their property (鈥渃hattel鈥� he likes to call it) in the 1940s and 1950s when the franchise was located in Brooklyn, NY.
But no.
Stewart bleeds blue, alright. Toronto Blue Jays blue.
And after another disappointing Blue Jays playoff exit (the Jays and Dodgers, combined, went 0-5 in the 2023 post-season), the retired businessman settles into to his home to watch October baseball, now rooting for the Arizona Diamondbacks to win the World Series (D-backs were down 2-0 to the Philadelphia Phillies as of this writing).
鈥淚 watch a lot of Jays games during the season,鈥� said Stewart.
Born in Black Diamond, Alta. on July 11, 1930, Stewart grew up in Unity, Sask., where his dad was a grain elevator agent and mom was a telephone operator.
In 1948, Stewart became familiar with Edmonton as the centre/left wing went to a junior hockey tryout there. He was sent to the Flin Flon Bombers of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League. After the season ended and summer began, Stewart鈥檚 dad, Jim, sent him back to Edmonton to try out for Major League Baseball鈥檚 Brooklyn Dodgers, who were holding a camp there.
Stewart went to the baseball camp as a pitcher. At the camp, held at Renfrew Park, an inter-squad game was being prepared and players were told to lineup by position. Stewart took his spot with the pitchers.
鈥淎 scout came up to me and said, 鈥榃e haven鈥檛 got a first baseman, and you鈥檙e fairly tall,鈥欌�� said Stewart, who was listed as six-feet, 170 pounds in his playing days.
So Stewart played first base. In the game, the left-handed hitting and self-described spray hitter, belted three home runs down the right-field line, which was 300 feet from home plate and 30-feet tall, in his first three at-bats.
鈥淭he scout took me out of the game, I said I haven鈥檛 pitched yet, and the scout said, 鈥業 don鈥檛 care,鈥欌�� laughed Stewart
He became the property of the Dodgers, who sent Stewart to Anaheim, Cal. That winter, Stewart returned to Unity and spent most of his time playing catch with his buddy at the local indoor curling club to strengthen his arm for the upcoming season. But the first pitch didn鈥檛 go how he imagined as Stewart threw his arm out in the 40-degree California heat. He was sent back to Unity, and ended up playing in the Big 4 League in Edmonton and Calgary with the Edmonton Cal鈥檚 Dodgers when healthy again later that summer.
In the summer of 1949, Stewart attended the Dodgers鈥� main spring training camp in Vero Beach, Fla., which, had all the guys from the big league squad, as well as players in the team鈥檚 farm system, around 400 players in total. One morning at breakfast, Stewart found himself sitting across from baseball icon Jackie Robinson who, two years earlier, broke the sport鈥檚 colour barrier en route to a Hall of Fame career.
鈥淗e was a great guy,鈥� said Stewart about Robinson. 鈥淗e was such a nice man and always conducted himself with class.鈥� He also got to see up-close 鈥渨ild-ass left-handed pitcher鈥� Tommy Lasorda, who managed the Los Angeles Dodgers from
Stewart played shortstop and outfield in the Dodgers system from 1949-53, which took him to places such as Ponca City, Oklahoma, and Santa Barbara, Cal., where future Hall of Fame manager and three-time World Series winner George (Sparky) Anderson was a teammate.
He originally signed with the Dodgers for a $500 bonus. He was making $150 a month and drove the team bus in Ponca City, sharing driving duties with teammate Joe Stanka, for an extra $75. Stanka would become one of the first American players to go over to play professionally in Japan.
During the off-seasons, Stewart would return to Canada to play hockey and started to date Donna Hanson, a Vancouver woman. While away playing hockey, he received a contract offer from the Dodgers, via telegram, to play for the organization鈥檚 single-A team in Pueblo, Colorado, two levels below the big leagues. He talked things over with Donna.
鈥淪he said, 鈥榊ou鈥檙e away playing hockey in the winter, and now you might be going away for the summer. I don鈥檛 know if this is going to work out,鈥欌�� said Stewart. 鈥淚 sent the contract back. Two days later, I had an offer from the Dodgers to play AAA ball in Minneapolis-St. Paul. It didn鈥檛 help me change my mind. I dropped the Dodgers.鈥�
He and Donna married in 1954 in Lloydminster, Alta., and remained happily wed just three months shy of 68 years, when Donna died in Coldstream Meadows in 2022.
Stewart continued to play baseball upon his return to Canada, and did so up until 1963. He represented Canada at the first Global Baseball World Series in 1955 in Milwaukee, Wisc., helping his country win the bronze medal in the eight-nation event (won by the U.S. over Hawaii in the final).
Life after baseball was a series of different occupations for Stewart. He managed a hotel in Coleville, Sask. during his playing days, and returned there to work in the oil industry. He was a salesman for Swift Canadian and Burns Foods and worked in the tire industry, selling and changing big tractor tires.
Stewart and Donna moved to Taber, Alta., where he owned and operated a tire business.
鈥淏est five years in business I ever had,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 made so many lifelong friends there.鈥�
Tired of changing and fixing tires in minus-30-degree weather, Stewart sold the business and moved the family to Donna鈥檚 hometown, where he tried selling insurance. He didn鈥檛 like it, quit, and went back to what he knew best 鈥� tires.
A couple of years later, a friend in the tire business 鈥� Donna鈥檚 ex-boyfriend 鈥� convinced Stewart to join him in a brake and muffler business. They found a property in Surrey for $30,000, complete with dilapidated house on the property, and turned it into the first Budget Brake and Muffler franchise which, of course, is still in existence.
Stewart was also pretty deft with a golf club in his hand.
He won the 1981 B.C. Lefthanded Golf Championship at his home Pitt Meadows Golf Club. Stewart birdied the second playoff hole after firing rounds of 71-72.
The Stewarts moved to Coldstream pre-pandemic to be closer to family (three daughters, one son, two of which live in the North Okanagan).
鈥淚鈥檝e had a wonderful life,鈥� he said with a huge smile.
Asked if he ever thinks about whether he could have played in the Majors, Stewart says, 鈥淚 always wonder. I was a spray hitter. I never felt like a power hitter but I did hit a few home runs.鈥�
Remember how Stewart attended the Brooklyn camp in Edmonton as a pitcher? He never toed the mound once in his minor league career.
Stewart has been inducted into the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame.
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