Beaver Island Beachcombers baseball team

Organization

Eras

Modern era

Concepts

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Within

Beaver Island

Summary

The Beaver Island Beachcombers were the island’s home baseball team, fielding both men’s and women’s sides in the early 1970s. A June–July 1972 report names the team in a home doubleheader against Charlevoix; August 1973 reporting gives fuller game results, named pitchers and home-run hitters, and records the first live radio broadcast of a game from Beaver Island. A November 1973 notice credits islander Jim Janda with sponsoring both the girls’ and boys’ teams that season.

History

The team’s first documented appearance is a 16 July 1972 doubleheader at home against the Charlevoix Towne House club, which the Beachcombers won twice, 11–4 and 5–3. By August 1973 the Beacon’s sports coverage names a women’s slow-pitch side, the “Beachcomber Last Calls,” and separate men’s and women’s schedules. On 12 August 1973 the Last Calls beat Chuck’s Marathon of Petoskey 6–5, coming back from a 5–2 deficit with four runs in the bottom of the sixth; Mary Gillespie, the winning pitcher, drove in the winning run herself. The same day, in men’s play, Charlevoix Townhouse beat the Beachcombers 15–5 behind winning pitcher Art Reibel, and the Beachcombers took the second game 16–4 behind Mike Green, with home runs from Delbert Kelly and Richie Gillespie in the first game and Buddy Martin in the second. The Beacon notes that 12 August 1973 game as the first time a Beaver Island ball game was broadcast live over radio. A week later, on 19 August, the Beachcombers lost the first game of a doubleheader to the Harbor Inn team of Harbor Springs 15–7 and won the second 16–6, with Mason and Mike Green as the respective winning pitchers.

A November 1973 Beacon item, headed “Thanks, Jim,” records that 2 September 1973 was designated Jim Janda Day: Janda, described as a relatively new year-round island resident, had promoted and sponsored the island’s baseball teams that summer, funding two trips to Charlevoix for both a girls’ and a boys’ team to play the mainland clubs there. The item states that exact season statistics were not available to the paper.

Evidence and limits

The sources give box-score results, named players, and one sponsorship account, but no complete roster, league affiliation, founding date, season standings, or organizational structure. It is not established whether the men’s and women’s sides were formally one club or two related teams sharing the Beachcombers name.

Added 1 August 2026 · revised 3 August 2026. Recent changes