‘Big Geno’ stands tall in softball circles
Gene McWillie was a fixture on mound and Saskatoon television in 1970s, 1980s
There was a time a few SASKATOON decades ago when Gene McWillie filled black-and-white TV screens in Saskatoon on Saturdays during softball’s golden age.
Locally, “Big Geno” was both a softball and TV star. CTV (then CFQC Saskatoon) used to broadcast Saskatoon Special Men’s softball games with a game of the week. McWillie was often front and centre.
“It was pretty big at that time,” he recalled. “It was a good deal.”
McWillie was a big deal. A household name around the city and an international softball star, he was an imposing and dominant figure on the pitching mound wherever his whip-like arm travelled in the 1970s and 1980s. Today, he is retired from his job with the City of Saskatoon and turns 69 in November.
“It was a good career for me — 40 years I worked,” said McWillie, who began working as a laboratory chemist before moving on to superintendent stints at both the water and waste treatment plants. He retired about five years ago.
These days, McWillie remains a curious softball fan. He was on hand for the Canadian men’s softball championship in Saskatoon, where he still gets that playing itch before reality strikes him out.
“The desire is there, at times,” he said. “You want to be out there and compete, no doubt about it. The mind says yes; the body says no.”
McWillie, who was still playing masters a couple of decades ago, is unsure how effective he’d be in this day and age when pitching, in general, isn’t quite as dominant as it once was.
“They’re sure hitting the ball more than they used to. There was a lot less hitting (in the 1970s and 1980s). I think the batters have improved. The equipment has improved. The bats are better; the balls are more lively. Technically wise, the hitters are better, too,” he said.
The hitting has caught up with the pitching, he says.
His stellar softball career was filled with highlights. He lists playing in his first Saskatoon Merchants tournament, which “used to be a big deal,” as well as winning a Canadian championship with Weyburn in Edmonton. He also won a whole bunch of silvers, too, with different teams.
Another highlight was “playing in the worlds and pitching the final game, although we didn’t win that,” he said.
“We came away with silver a number of times, but what a great experience. Great teams and players I played with. It was really fun.”
McWillie ended his international career back in 1988 when Saskatoon played host to the world men’s softball championship at Bob Van Impe Stadium. Team Canada settled for a bronze medal after McWillie had earlier pitched a no-hitter against the Philippines and also secured a win over Cuba.
At age 40, McWillie made his third and final world championship appearance.
He had previously won silver medals in 1980 and 1984. As well, he helped Canada win gold at the 1983 Pan-American Games in Venezuela. He spent more than a decade with the Canada’s national team.
McWillie never kept count of his no-hitters and perfect games. He simply lost track.
“Just lots,” he said. “I never counted them all. Some perfect games at the worlds, but against some lesser competition. Nothing that really sticks out.”
Along the way, he broke some catcher mitts and bruised many a catcher’s hand. In his prime, McWillie stood six-foot-five and weighed somewhere between 220 and 250 pounds, although he says he was just a skinny rail, 180 pounds, in high school.
McWillie threw as hard, or harder, as anybody off the rubber on the mound 46 feet from home plate. Years removed from his prime, he said it would “be interesting to see” how a young McWillie would fare today.
“They told me I threw pretty hard. They had clocked me between 85 and 89 miles per hour at one of the worlds. That was towards the end of my prime,” he said.
“I probably threw even harder when I was here (at Canadians) in my 30s or so, and late 20s.”
He still believes the calibre of softball to be strong in the city, but the sport is no longer quite as prevalent as it once was.
“The one disappointing thing is that, at one time when I grew up and as I played ball, softball was played all over the city,” McWillie said.
“If you went to any park or school grounds, it was there. I don’t see that here as much as in the past. That’s not as good for softball.
“But then I see lots of kids playing soccer. And then I see a lot of other sports around. There are more options. As long as the kids are out there playing and being involved in sports, I think it’s a good deal.”
You want to be out there and compete, no doubt about it. The mind says yes; the body says no.