1975 – today
Our history
Five decades of family values and integrity, from two leaky sheds on Wilsons Road to A1 premiers, 51 years apart.
Timeline
Milestones
The moments that made the Pirates.
1975
Club founded, and premiers in year one
Founder and first president Paul Simmons starts the club, the first south of Frankston. It enters the DBA winter series at Graydens Road Reserve and wins the A Grade premiership in its first season. Judy Simmons sews the white uniforms from a bolt of donated linen.
Late 1970s
A home at CB Wilson Reserve
The club moves to Wilsons Road, sharing with the Diggers Cricket Club. Two leaky timber sheds serve as store and change room. Members later fund and build permanent netting for two diamonds.
2002
New clubrooms open
A State Government and Shire grant of about $85,000, plus $25,000 of the club’s own labour and donated materials, delivers the clubrooms we use today. The opening was so foggy that the VIPs cut the ribbon and went home.
2011
Dugouts and a first Masters team
Chris Taylor Landscape Construction and Stuart Isbister Plumbing build dugouts on the main diamond. The club’s first Masters side finishes runner-up in the 2011/12 summer grand final.
2013
Record year
Junior dugouts are finished, membership and donations hit records, and the first Presidents’ Lunch brings past committee and sponsors together.
2015
Gippsland champions
Led by Brendan Wilson, the Pirates win the Gippsland Championships. Under-13 Jacob Bald represents Australia in Taiwan, following Jordan Barnett (USA, 2012).
2020/21
Summer baseball arrives
The club enters its first senior and junior teams in the Victorian Summer Baseball League.
2023
A2 premiers
2024
The 50th season
A 50th anniversary uniform, an anniversary dinner, and the Pirate Pale Ale, brewed with Tar Barrel.
2026
A1 premiers again
Fifty-one years after the first flag, the A1s win the DBA grand final. Todd Grierson plays in it, 51 years after his father Allan played in the 1975 premiership side.
In his words
The founder’s story
A reflection from Paul Simmons, club founder and first president, 1975–1977.
1974/1975: there was no baseball club south of Frankston, so I decided to try to start a new club in Mornington. I found players through word of mouth from ex-players, and one led to another.
Wally Wedgwood knew Doug Provis (an ex-Australian pitcher), who I eventually got to play with Mornington. Wally also helped with bats, bags, catching gear and balls at cost, to pay when we could. The top side was built around Doug Provis, Steve Bowen, Steve Gosstray, Robby Bishop, John Johnson and Rick Blackmore, some of whom played for Victoria. I approached the DBA three times about entering a Division 1 side. When I gave them the players’ names and assured them they were all playing, they agreed.
Mornington of course went on to win the premiership in its first year.
Before the first season I approached Bradmill Knitting Mills and got a bolt of heavy-grade white linen, and Judy Simmons made most of our white uniforms, which served well for some years. Yes, we looked like hillbillies, but so what.
The Shire Council gave us Wilson Road as our home ground, shared with the Diggers Cricket Club. We had two leaky timber sheds as a store and change room, and no toilets. When it rained the ground was a quagmire, and our white uniforms were not so good. The council agreed to drain the ground and enlarge it to its current shape. While that work was done, we played at Graydens Road, Helena Street, Tanti Park Primary School and Mornington High School.
With a lot of help from Neil Williams, a teacher at Mornington High, we put together an Under-17 side, and then an Under-13 side.
During my years we had some great times and met heaps of lovely people. I am sure it was worth the effort that Judy and I put in over many years.
Edited from Paul Simmons’ reflection on the club’s original website.
Club trivia
Did you know…
- The original Pirates uniforms were white shirts, white pants and black undershirts. They were home-made.
- At the grand opening of the new clubrooms, with all the VIPs present, it was so foggy that they just cut the ribbon and everyone left.
- In 2012 the DBA changed the junior age groups back to Under 13, 15 and 17, the way they used to be.
- The club fielded its first Masters team in the 2011/12 summer season, and it finished runner-up in the grand final.
- In 2012, Under-15 Junior Pirate Jordan Barnett represented Australia in the USA.
- In 2013, Club Secretary Craig Isbister hit his first senior home run over Cheltenham’s left-field fence. First and last… worth a history note.
- In 2015, Under-13 Junior Pirate Jacob Bald represented Australia in Taiwan.
- In the early years, the first ground was so small that two games ran at once, with outfielders facing each other. No one ever got hit in the back.
Help us tell the story
Got photos, clippings or memories from the club’s 50+ years? We’d love to add them. Email media@morningtonbaseballclub.com.au.