Meet the Americas Masters Games Baseball Ambassador - Gary Pennington
Posted February 28, 2016
Meet the Americas Masters Games Baseball Ambassador – Gary Pennington
The Americas Masters Games Baseball Committee is proud to announce that Gary Pennington will be the official ambassador for the baseball event at the 2016 Americas Masters Games. Gary, who will be turning a spry 80 years of age on March 16 will be suiting up for the Vancouver Pirates in the 55+ Division – that fact alone makes him a unique ambassador for baseball.
Born and raised in Vancouver’s West End, Gary learned the game of baseball on sandlots and open fields and played in the men’s senior league at age 15 – while playing at the senior level, he led his King George Secondary School (Vancouver’s smallest high school) to two city championships. Gary was a very talented multi-sport athlete participating at high levels of competition in boxing, track and field, soccer, rugby, basketball, and handball.
After graduating Gary received contract offers from the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox but elected to play high level college baseball at the University of California at Berkeley and Seattle University. During summer breaks he played in the Western Canada Baseball League and for the championship US amateur team, Cheney Studs. Along with baseball, Gary also played varsity basketball at Seattle University in addition to rugby and handball. During a training stint with the Canadian Olympic team, Gary played against the famed Harlem Globetrotters (Gary’s team lost).
As a university professor, Gary continued to play baseball at a high level in British Columbia, the United States, and Australia where he won numerous awards in both baseball and basketball. After winding down his globetrotting days, Gary returned to Vancouver and became a charter member of the Lower Mainland Baseball Association (1994). Twenty three years later, Gary remains active with the Howe Sound Hounds (30+ Division) where he has been an integral part of their nine championship teams. Gary has developed an extensive network of players and teams in both Canada and the United States and he has won eight Senior World Series Championship rings with Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres baseball teams in Arizona.
For the past several years, Gary has worked with the Baseball Federation of Ireland and in April 2016, Gary and former Toronto Blue Jay Simon Pond will be in Ireland conducting a number of clinics for senior and youth players. Gary will be back in plenty of time to help with the Americas Masters Games baseball event and he is currently spreading the word with his many baseball contacts. Gary is looking forward to seeing everyone in Vancouver this August.
Gary can be contacted at gazpen@gmail.com
The photo accompanying this article contains two true baseball legends who are long time team mates and friends. The gentleman on the left is Gary and the gentleman on the right is Dick Fitzgerald who pitched professionally with the Vancouver Mounties (1958-1960) in the Pacific Coast League. Like Gary, Dick is still going strong and is a national legend in Senior/Masters Baseball in the United States.