[Alsfastball] Passing of Ally Glass - Auckland

[Al Doran]

Date: Wed, 29 Sep 2004 17:27:59 +1200
To: "SNZ Media Release": ;
From: SNZ Web-master <snz-webm at ihug.co.nz>
Subject: Passing of Ally Glass - Auckland

Ally Glass. Eden, Auckland and NZ softball man.

Ally Glass was a great softballer and a star of the game in the 1950s when 
he was one of the talented Eden men who dominated the game for so long.

His death, after a battle with cancer, has robbed the sport of a character 
who is remembered for the graceful way he patrolled the outfield, scooping 
up catches and giving his pitchers great support.

On the basepaths it was a job to pin him down. He believed that if a batter 
made it to first base it was his duty to steal to second, and beyond. It 
was not a case of if, but when, and it was often on the first pitch, 
despite the vigilance of the defence.

Ally was the golden boy, in looks, build and style.

The first time he played for Auckland was fifty years ago, yet his lean 
form hardly changed over the years as he travelled about watching the game. 
It was the start of a six-year spell in the team which won the national 
title only once in that time. He made his debut at the end of the five-year 
winning spell as the game's male dominance moved to Wellington and Hutt for 
all but two of the following 30 years.

He and sister Fay made the Auckland sides in his second year, a feat rarely 
achieved.

In 1957 he was in the North Island side for the annual fixture. No NZ team 
was chosen in those days but in the following season he was in the first 
national side, to play the Rest.

In 1958-59 Auckland won the title and Ally was in the Canterbury side the 
following season prior to his marriage to Christchurch girl Shona Sawtell. 
He played in the following two seasons but a major knee injury, as well as 
his building work and family life, took him out of the sport. But he never 
forgot the game, and his beloved Eden.

But he had missed the golden days of Eden's double national titles. However 
he played in four consecutive Auckland championship-winning sides and was 
in the team which lost 1-0 to Cardinals in the national final in 1956 and 
finished second again the following year.

Sister Carol and brother Murray also played for Eden in the following seasons.

Over the years Ally was positive about the game and the people in it. He 
did not compare eras but enjoyed the skills as they developed after our 
renewed contact with the American game. He would have loved to have joined 
in during any of the four decades he was watching.

The fans who watched him glide around Fowlds Park in his glory days would 
have enjoyed that too.

Trevor Rowse.

http://www.softball.org.nz/
* Email: snz at softball.org.nz

Cheers Vance
Softball New Zealand web master.
* Email: snz-webm at ihug.co.nz

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