Ronald Duncan Stead (September 24, 1936 – December 5, 2011) was a Canadian baseball

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. He played briefly in Minor League Baseball, then went on to play for over a decade in the

Intercounty Baseball League The Intercounty Baseball League (IBL) is a Canadian amateur baseball league, comprising teams of college players and former professionals from North America and beyond. The teams are located in Southern Ontario. The league was formed in 1919 and ...

of Ontario, setting multiple league records. He was inducted to the

Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum (french: Temple de la renommée du baseball canadien) is a museum located in St. Marys, Ontario, Canada. The museum commemorates great players, teams, and accomplishments of baseball in Canada. His ...

in 2006. Listed at and , he threw left-handed and batted right-handed.

Biography

Stead grew up in Toronto near

Maple Leaf Stadium Maple Leaf Stadium was a jewel box-style baseball stadium in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located at the foot of Bathurst Street on the south side of Lake Shore Boulevard (formerly Fleet Street). It was built in 1926 by Lol Solman for his Toronto M ...

, home ballpark of the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

of the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

. He served as a

batboy In baseball, a batboy or batgirl is an individual who carries baseball bats to the players on a baseball team. Duties of a batboy may also include handling and preparing players’ equipment and bringing baseballs to the umpire during the game. ...

for the team in 1947 and later was a

batting practice B backdoor breaking ball :A breaking pitch, usually a slider, curveball, or cut fastball that, due to its lateral motion, passes through a small part of the strike zone on the outside edge of the plate after seeming as if it would miss the pla ...

pitcher for the team. In 1956, he signed a player contract with the Maple Leafs and was assigned to the

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

(FSL). Stead played in Minor League Baseball during 1956, 1957, and part of 1958. In 1956, he played in the FSL for the

Orlando Seratomas Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures relea ...

. In 30 games (29 starts and 20

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

s) he compiled a 10–17

win–loss record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

with a 3.04

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA) while striking out 157 batters in 237

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

. He returned to the FSL in 1957; pitching for the

Gainesville G-Men Gainesville G-Men were a professional minor league baseball team, based in Gainesville, Florida, that played in the then Class D Florida State League. The team won league championships in 1937, 1938 and 1947. The club folded on June 1, 1952, du ...

he had a 17–10 record in 30 games (26 starts and 24 complete games) with a 2.34 ERA while striking out 138 batters in 226 innings. In 1958, Stead made two appearances for the

Duluth-Superior White Sox The Duluth MN-WI Metropolitan Area, commonly called the Twin Ports, is a small metropolitan area centered around the cities of Duluth, Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin. The Twin Ports are located at the western part of Lake Superior (the wester ...

, a

farm team In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

of the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

in the Northern League. His statistics for the season are incomplete, although a newspaper

box score A box score is a structured summary of the results from a sport competition. The box score lists the game score as well as individual and team achievements in the game. Among the sports in which box scores are common are baseball, basketball, ...

shows he allowed eight runs in innings of relief during a game in May. In early June 1958, Stead joined the

Brantford Red Sox The Brantford Red Sox are an independent team of the Intercounty Baseball League based in Brantford, Ontario. They play their home games at Arnold Anderson Stadium. History The Brantford Red Sox were founded in 1911 when they joined the Canadian ...

, a team in the amateur

Southern Ontario Southern Ontario is a primary region of the province of Ontario, Canada, the other primary region being Northern Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada. The exact northern boundary of Southern Ontario is disp ...

. One of his teammates with Brantford was outfielder

Jimmy Wilkes James Eugene Wilkes (October 1, 1925 – August 11, 2008), nicknamed "Seabiscuit", was a professional baseball outfielder. He played in Negro league baseball for the Newark Eagles from 1945 to 1948. He was a member of the 1946 Negro World Series ...

, who had played several seasons in

Negro league baseball The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...

. Stead went on to pitch for Brantford for nine seasons, through 1966, and pitched 14 total seasons in the Intercounty Baseball League, finishing in 1972 with the Guelph CJoys. Stead had great success in the league, including a 0.35 ERA in 1967, setting a new league record. He was named an all-star 10 times, was league MVP three times, and is considered one of the top 100 players in league history. Stead's uniform number, 11, was

retired Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

by the Brantford Red Sox in 2002. He still held multiple Intercounty Baseball League records, including career wins (104) and strikeouts (1,231), when he was inducted to the

in 2006. Stead also played for the

Canada national baseball team The Canada national baseball team represents Canada in international baseball. They are overseen by Baseball Canada, the governing body of baseball in Canada. Their manager is Ernie Whitt, a former Major League Baseball catcher for the Toronto ...

, appearing in the

1967 Pan American Games The 1967 Pan American Games were held in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, from July 23 to August 6, 1967. Winnipeg was chosen as host of the Pan American Games on its second try. It first bid for the 1963 Games at the 1959 PASO meeting in Chicago ...

, contested in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

. He was the starting pitcher of the team's opening game, a 3–1 loss to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

; Stead struck out 10 batters in seven innings while allowing four hits. Canada won its second game in the tournament, defeating

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

by a 3–2 score. However, officials then ruled that four players on the Canadian team, including Stead, were ineligible to compete because they had previously played

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

. The win over Puerto Rico was forfeited, and the Canadian team continued in the tournament without the ineligible players, ultimately finishing last in the five-team competition. Stead later played for the champion Ontario baseball team at the 1969

Canada Games The Canada Games (french: Jeux du Canada) is a multi-sport event held every two years, alternating between the Canada Winter Games and the Canada Summer Games. They represent the highest level of national competition for Canadian athletes. Two ...

. Outside of baseball, Stead worked for

Union Gas Union Gas was a major Canadian natural gas company based in Ontario. Its distribution arm serviced approximately 1.5 million customers in northern, southwestern and eastern Ontario. Union Gas has been a subsidiary of Enbridge since February 2017 ...

. After his baseball career, he played

slow-pitch softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

until 2000. Stead and his wife, Betty, had three sons and a daughter. He died in 2011, aged 75.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stead, Ron 1936 births 2011 deaths Sportspeople from London, Ontario Baseball people from Ontario Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Canadian expatriate baseball players in the United States Orlando Seratomas players Gainesville G-Men players Duluth-Superior White Sox players Brantford Red Sox players Baseball players at the 1967 Pan American Games