Hurricanes History

Hurricanes History

The Dublin Hurricanes 1997-2000

By Tom Kelley

The origins of the Dublin City Hurricanes baseball club are found in the early days of Irish baseball. In the wintery months of 1998, Jim Kilbride, the first captain of the Hurricanes, selected the players for the new team during the adult draft held at Bowe's pub on Fleet Street in Dublin's city centre. Mike Kindle was the first player taken, and after Kilbride, has always been known as the "second Hurricane". Other original players
including Cormac Eklof, Tom Kelley, Gus Hernandez, Stuart Blaine, Tom O'Malley, Phil Keogh, and Tom Kerrigan made up the first ever Hurricane squad. So, the Hurricanes joined the two other newly created teams in Dublin: the Spartans and the Panthers, and the Belfast based Northstars, to make up the 1998 league.

The 1998 campaign was a roller coaster ride for the club. The Hurricanes finished third with a 3-5 record behind the Spartans, despite putting up
some oppressive numbers offensively from Tom Kelley (.391, .522 slg., 13 sb), Gus Hernandez, (.333, .444 oba) and decent pitching from rubber armed Cormac Eklof (3-5, 53.3IP, 62K).

After the 1998 season, it was agreed to expand to four teams in Dublin. So all returning players were entered into a new adult draft. In a power
struggle before the draft, Tom Kelley became the new Hurricane skipper, and selected probably the strongest league team of that year. New comers Joel
Hiltner and the fuzzy Swede, Olaf Sederstrom, headed the newly selected squad. Kelley was also able to acquire Gordon Ireland and Mick Manning, formerly of the Panthers as well as the fella they call "the kid", Ken
Murphy. Alan "Junior" Lenihan, the two Paul's (McGrath and Peake) and Steven Walsh added to this volatile lineup.

The 1999 season started off brilliantly as the Hurricanes cruised to a 9-1 record. However the superb pitching of the Spartan's Greg Modaro stopped the Canes in their tracks. In the last game of the season, the despised and scheming Panthers beat the Hurricanes, 17-5, to prevent the Canes from clinching the league. Although the Hurricanes finished in a tie with the league winning Spartans with a 9-3 record, the Spartans had beaten them twice in three meetings.

The 2000 season is underway soon, however the Hurricanes have lost the services of Paul Peake, who was selected by the DiMaggios in this year's draft. Returning this summer are Tom Kelley, Gordo Ireland, Mick Manning, Cormac Eklof, Junior, and Ken Murphy. The team has acquired Chris Foy to replace the nature boy Joel Hiltner who fecked off to Australia and Eamon Slattery, the Duke of Ranelagh, to offer some middle infield assistance. New comers Garret Pearse and Ciaran Cupples are expected to contribute as well. Just ask Mike Kindle, who will agree that, "Once a Cane, always a Cane!"