Greg Price

The final chapter has been written on the Lon Ferguson Memorial Slo-Pitch Tournament, and I must say it was a happy ending not only for tournament volunteers and organizers, but myself as well.
In my years at The Taber Times, I’ve written many an article either promoting its upcoming fun-filled event on every third weekend of August or a retrospective article with results and what the money that was raised was going to, along with some action shots.
But I never ever played in it until this year when drawmaster and co-organizer Rob Kanomata asked me to play on their Miso Soup squad (aka Evil Twins).
I was a little hesitant from the fact this was a team that had many members that were there from the start, and I didn’t want to take away playing time in a tournament that was the last hurrah, being the 25th annual and final time the tournament was being played.
But upon further encouragement I agreed, and those fears were quickly erased upon arrival of our first game Saturday morning.
Thinking I was going to play a couple of innings tops each game, I was surprised to see I had a starting assignment in centre-right field as I was issued my Misou (Generously Monikered) Sexy grey T-shirt as I waddled out to the outfield with my now unmatching shorts and lily-white legs.
A mere couple of innings in I knew this was a team I was going to enjoy playing on, being the exact type of team I had outlined in an earlier column that is a thumbs-up team.
The team right down the lineup had its flashes of skill, from the big-bopping bats of Joey Braun and Chad Clarke to the fancy glovework of Rob and Cindy Kanomata, and every player had an all-star attitude for fun and making people feel welcome.
Big Dogs were barking early in the game with the set of rules the team had with either strikeouts or pop ups with the whole team benefiting from the rules of bought libations to come from the person who got a Big Dog. My only Big Dog came from a lack of hustle to the bench going to bat —a lack of hustle that was understandable from being afflicted with Cocktail Flu from the cabaret the night before.
Fears that I would be hearing barks emitting form the bench after my first at bat, a miracle happened in which I was able to rip a double to right-centre field, and people got a view of my unsexy running style rounding first, with my former six-pack that has turned into a keg chugging to second.
In helped ease my playing fears for a tournament in which I got a good share of hits and made a highlight-reel basket catch in the outfield. We don’t need to go into the details of the blooper-reel error or the fact the one of a handful of catches was made highlight reel from the fact of my sloth-like speed in tracking the ball.
But the individual and team results were secondary. We had our share of hard-luck, Bad News Bears results on the field, having one result reversed to a loss after a walk-off home run that proved one too many with the rules that were in place. Another was on a coin-flip we lost 4-to-3 due to a rainout Sunday morning.
But unfazed, the vibe was so positive on the team. Be it a home run or weak infield groundout to whatever happened in the field on defence, people were waiting at the bench to give high fives and some playful ribbing. It was that same welcoming feel at the cabaret later that night not only from my own team, but members on other teams as well.
It made me think of all the good times people must have had for a quarter of a century in a ball tournament that paid homage to the same fun moments organizers had with a person that unfortunately left the community too soon in a tragic car accident.
It was a rag-tag bunch of men and women but was quite apparent from what I saw, also possessed hearts as wide as the Grand Canyon. In short — my kind of people.
They are people who don’t take life to seriously, unless when it comes to their family and friends, with smiles all around and helping a community in need.
All the volunteers, organizers and players that have graced the ball diamonds over the 25 years of the Lon Ferguson Memorial Slo-Pitch Tournament should be given one final tip of the hat, as many gave their tear-soaked farewells on Sunday.
In short, Misou Sexy was Misou Proud to be part of the legacy that was, and is forever, the memory of Lon Ferguson.