History of the A's
The Rock 'n Roll Fifties
The decade just past would cast a long shadow on the Athletics teams of the early 1950s as they struggled to regain some of the earlier successes on the floor and at the box office. But two factors would cripple the hopes of the Athletics Lacrosse Clubs of the 50's; one was the steady stream of local lacrosse talent leaving the city, and the other was the explosion of mass entertainment that the growing medium of television was providing.
The fact that St. Catharines was continuing to produce significant lacrosse talent could be seen in the lineups of teams in Hamilton, Weston, Peterborough and even in Western Canada. Peterborough was building a small dynasty in the early fifties (winning four consecutive Mann Cups) with St. Catharines players like Jerry Fitzgerald, Harry Wipper, Bobby Thorpe, and Donald "Nip" O'Hearn in their line-up. Elsewhere, Jim McNulty would win scoring titles in both Ontario and in British Columbia leagues, while other Hall-Of-Famers like Jim McMahon, Tony D'Amico, "Stu" Scott, Kenny Croft and Derry Davies could be seen at times in the visitors uniforms at the Haig Bowl.
Television added a significant source of competition for the sport of lacrosse in the 1950s. Much has been written of the effects of television on other forms of entertainment, and even on the family or the larger sense of community for that matter. Television opened up whole new worlds in the 1950s, and at the same time, closed off others. A regional sport like box lacrosse at that time would not gain the same presence on the new medium as football, baseball or hockey would, and the game would soon find itself in decline in St. Catharines. Our heroes no longer were the neighbour who played for the honour of his city at the lacrosse grounds or at our own Haig Bowl, but they would be the new darlings of the mass media like Mickey Mantle or Gordie Howe, even Sheriff Matt Dillon or Sgt. Bilko, all heroes that we welcomed into our own homes on a grainy black and white screen.
The decade started with the end of the electric street car service in St. Catharines. The Niagara Grape and Wine Festival started in 1952, the junior hockey Teepees won the Memorial Cup in 1954, the population of the city hit the 40,000 plateau, the Pen Centre shopping centre opened with just four small stores and a supermarket in 1957, and by 1959, the last steam locomotive in regular service to St. Catharines made its final run.
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The Athletics scrapbook of this era includes: