Golightly covered all the bases in a 39-year baseball career
By Joan Janzen
EATONIA — Jim Golightly is a familiar name in southwestern Saskatchewan. His name made headlines when he was inducted into the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame in the Individual Category as a Player/Builder back in 2018. His 39-year baseball career began at the tender age of 14 years.
He shared part of his life story at his new residence at Eatonia Oasis Living, where he has been living since May of this year.
Covering all the bases. Jim Golightly holds the plaque marking his 2018 induction into the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame, recognition of a 39-year playing and coaching career that started when he was 14. He now lives at Eatonia Oasis Living. PHOTO BY JOAN JANZEN
Jim was born on April 16, 1938, and lived on his family's mixed farm located three miles from Mantario.
"Sometimes we got snowbound out there," Jim recalled. He was the oldest child in the family and had two sisters and two brothers.
He attended a two-room school in Mantario where the classrooms were located upstairs and downstairs. He and his siblings would get a ride to school in the family's truck. In 1949 they purchased their first family car.
It was about that time when Jim's youngest brother was diagnosed with polio. "They took him to Empress hospital where they took towels as hot as he could stand it and wrapped up his leg," Jim remembered. "Later on, you would have never known he had polio."
He chuckled as he remembered one of his friends throwing a cup of water into the aisle of the classroom. When the teacher pulled on Jim's ear and asked if he thought that was funny, Jim promptly said "No!"
"Then, as she walked away, I said yes I did," Jim laughed. "I got expelled from school and had to walk home with a sprained ankle."
His punishment didn't last long, because that night his parents met with the school board and Jim was back in school the next morning. "I got along real good with the teacher after that," he added.
The Mantario students were bused to Eatonia school when they reached Grade 9. Jim ended his school days after Grade 10 and started his farming career and his 39-year baseball career.
He was only 14 when a station agent in Eatonia was getting together a softball team and asked Jim to play. He played with the team for four years. "All the other players were in their 20s, but they treated me real good," he said.
Jim played junior baseball in 1956 and 1957 with the Eston 44s junior team. In 1957 the team had an excellent season with 45 wins and three losses, which coincided with Jim's change in batting.
"I batted right hand, but when I was about 18 I started batting left hand and it worked out pretty good," he said. "I batted more left hand because there's more right-handed pitchers."
In 1968 he played with Eatonia in the SaskAlta League and was selected for the All Star team that entered and won the Saskatchewan senior playoffs. He played in the Saskatoon Exhibition four times with Eatonia and once with Kindersley. In the Medicine Hat Optimist tournament, he played four times with Eatonia and once with each of Leader, Oyen and Sibbald.
"I coached in Eatonia and played at the same time, and I coached for eight years at Sibbald," he said. "In Sibbald many of the players were 16 or 17 and still going to school."
Jim married his wife Yvette in 1974 and they spent many winters living in Arizona. They lived in Mantario and then Eatonia. Yvette died in 2007, and Jim continued to live in Eatonia and spend winters in Arizona.
From 1976 to 1995 Jim played twilight baseball with the SaskAlta team.
"In the winter I curled a lot, but I didn't start that until I was 22," he said.
He's been a longtime member of the Lions Club. "It will be 60 years this year," he reported. "Might be time to retire."
He farmed near Mantario from 1956 to 2017, and every year the machinery kept getting bigger. Now he enjoys life at Eatonia Oasis Living where many of his old friends are his neighbours.
Thanks for sharing your memories, Jim. I enjoyed the visit.