Making his mark off the diamond

As a boy, Darryl Hosking harboured dreams of being a footballer but soon realised that might not be the path for him. Sid, as he is now known, didn’t have the skills. “I wasn’t much of a footballer. I couldn’t kick for love nor money. I thought I could but then saw my mates were kicking it three times further,” he said.

It meant Sid would take a different path and the sport of baseball is all the richer for that change in direction, although the man who has been involved at the coalface of the sport for more than six decades, doesn’t rate his on diamond work much higher than his footballing prowess.

“I always believe I was an average ball player,” he said. And while that can be debated what is not up for debate is his dedication off the diamond in a wide range of administration roles as well as his tireless work not just improving the facilities for Mount Gambier players but also promoting the sport and preserving its history.

That commitment was recognised in 2022 with induction into the South Australian Baseball Hall of Fame (pictured below with sons Brett & Tim and wife Jill) and most recently, the much loved baseball stalwart was awarded an Order of Australia Medal as part of the 2023 King’s Birthday Honours.

Sid’s baseball journey started the way many sporting stories start – a friend asked him to get involved.

He had played the occasional game of rounders at primary school but it was in 1960, after Mount Gambier hosted the Victorian Provincial Baseball Championships that he was recruited by a mate and the rest, as they say, is history.

“That’s where baseball really took off in Mount Gambier,” Sid said. “The grand finals were played at Vansittart Park and because so many people, so many locals came out to watch, the local league looked to start a junior baseball competition.”

And organisers were right. The interest was there with 120 kids heading to the initial come ‘n’ try training sessions.

The enthusiastic youngsters were divided into eight teams – all with US inspired names – and Sid was part of the Pirates.

Of course a key part of becoming a baseballer is the purchase of the all important glove and Sid spied a beauty in the window of local store Zed’s and it was soon part of his baseball kit.

Starting his career in the outfield, Sid’s inaugural glove was actually a specialist first base mitt, and so a few games in, a keen eye noticed the error and Sid had to replace that first glove.

“I have no idea where it ended up,” he said. “You weren’t allowed to wear a first base mitt anywhere else on the field but I had no idea and I wore it for a few weeks before someone noticed.”

In his second season of junior league baseball Sid ventured to the pitching mound and behind the catcher’s mask but for all his hundreds of games of baseball, Sid never really claimed any one position on the diamond.

His association with Central Baseball Club basically spanned his entire baseball career, save for that first two years in the junior league, when a mate from down the road, Robert Wilson, needed his neighbour to help out with numbers for Central in a senior C Grade match.

And this self-professed ‘average ball player’ must have had some skills. He quickly progressed to the Division 1 line-up as an 18 year old and also represented Mount Gambier at eight Victorian Provincial Baseball Championships and one South Australian Country Carnival – honours not usually reserved for those with run of the mill ability.

But in an era now where there is more pressure than ever on sporting clubs, associations and leagues to attract and retain volunteers, stories like the Sid Hosking story are few and far between. He held a role every year for 63 years and even the 2021-22 season, which was his first stepping away from league and club roles, he still scored regularly for Central Baseball Club and is still collating the league history.

“I just love the game,” Sid said.

“I played my last game about 10 years ago but I just love being involved.” It has been a family affair too, with Sid clocking up more than 700 games for Central, playing in seven title wins, including one memorable premiership alongside his two sons Brett and Tim.

Baseball perhaps doesn’t hold such a special part in daughter Jo’s heart. The day she was born, Sid had a night baseball match to play and in a decision, as much a sign of the times as it was about priorities, he spent a special half hour with his newly arrived daughter and then off to Blue Lake Sports Park.

Sid credits Ian Ewart, Sam Sutton and Kevin Hoath with the establishment of the baseball headquarters at Blue Lake Sports Park and Sid has certainly been part of many of the improvements since, including the construction of new diamonds, the clubrooms, attracting of major events, including national championships and Australian Baseball League matches, and ensuring the Mount Gambier home of baseball is one of the most envied facilities in South Australia, including the construction of international standard lighting in 2002,

Aside from his administration roles at Central Baseball Club, basically since the day he walked in the door in 1962, he was league president for two years treasurer for 23 and league statistician for 38 years.

Local baseball officials are all too aware that the unassuming administrator is the jewel in their sport’s crown. He was awarded Mount Gambier & District Baseball League life membership in 1989, the Division 1 premiership silverware is named in his honour and he presents it after each grand final series and as recently as the 2019-20 season he was awarded the league’s highest honour for contribution to baseball – the Cooke Family Trophy. He was also awarded an Australian Sports Medal in 2000 for his contribution to baseball.

In the mid 1990s he was instrumental in having Penola, Naracoorte and Portland rejoin the competition after many years absence and Hamilton to form a team to play in the Mount Gambier competition. He was heavily involved with the transition from winter to summer baseball in 1980 with that move to permanent facilities at Blue Lake Sports Park.

Sid has always had an interest in history and he has parlayed that into ensuring there is a comprehensive record of the history of both the league and his club and it is his work that has resulted in the league and Centrals Honour Boards which are now on display in the clubrooms.

Of course, Sid is just as well known for his decades working as a WIN TV camerman and he also captured hours of baseball footage as part of that role.

Sid was also the recipient of an Australian Sports Medal in 2000.

THE SID HOSKING FILES

Mount Gambier & District

Baseball League

Publicity Officer (current)

President (1967-1977)

Treasurer (1988-2011)

Statistician (1983-2022)

Life Member (since 1989)

CENTRAL BASEBALL CLUB

Division 3 scorer (current)

President (1988-89 & 1976-77)

Treasurer (1978-87; 1974-75; 1966-1972)

Club Coach (1973 & 1976)

Player (1961-2013)

Life Member 9since 1977)

MOUNT GAMBIER LEGENDS

BASEBALL CLUB

Treasurer (current)

Player (since 2004)

Founding Member

OTHER SPORT

West Gambier Football Club –

Treasurer (1999-2004)

PROFESSIONAL

TV cameraman for 43 years