PI baseball great to be inducted
PORTLAND — James Dyer, a player-manager for the Presque Isle Indians semi-professional team in the late 1940s and early 1950s who went on to successfully coach the Wildcat varsity baseball team for 15 seasons, will be inducted posthumously into the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame during ceremonies scheduled July 31 at the Holiday Inn by the Bay.
PRESQUE ISLE INDIANS player-manager and Wildcat baseball coach James Dyer is being inducted into the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame in July.
Other inductees include Chad White of Bangor, Dick Scott of Ellsworth, Greg Reed of Lincoln, Kenneth Libbey of Mattawamkeag, Bob Baumer of Lisbon Falls, Dennis Gratto of Portland, Mark Palmer of Rumford, Bob Prince of South Portland and Bill Wing of Richmond and currently Ooltewah, Tenn.
Dyer will be joined by Bobby Doyle of Gorham as posthumous inductees.
Dyer was a sports legend in Aroostook County, known for his exploits on the baseball field in the semi-pro Aroostook League and Maine-New Brunswick League.
He developed his multiple-sport skills at Foxcroft Academy in Dover-Foxcroft, where he starred in four sports – football, basketball, baseball and track. He earned a total of 14 letters while at Foxcroft Academy, including two his freshman year in football and basketball, and four in each of his next three years.
Foxcroft Academy sports historians place Dyer near the top of the list as the best overall athlete ever to don the maroon and white. Teammates remembered him for his intense desire to excel and win, his natural athletic ability and for the sportsmanship he displayed.
At Bowdoin College, he experienced success in football and baseball, and also captained the first semi-official basketball team at Bowdoin during the 1941-42 season. Dyer won six letters for the Polar Bears from 1938-42 and was regarded as one the best athletes to ever compete at Bowdoin. He excelled academically as well and was a member of the National Honor Society, the DKE Fraternity while also participating in student government.
In the summer of 1940, Dyer was named to the United States team as an outfielder-catcher in the World Series of Amateur Baseball in Cuba. Due to the war, there were no Olympic Games that year, and the U.S. finished second to the tourney hosts.
After graduating from Bowdoin, Dyer served in the military for 3-1/2 years and was discharged in November of 1945. He was then offered a contract to sign with the Cincinnati organization but turned it down. After a summer of baseball in Dover in the Tri-County League in 1947, Jim accepted a position as a math instructor at Presque Isle High School. He returned to Dover the following summer for another year of Tri-County baseball, but in the summer of 1948 he joined the Presque Isle Indians in the Northern Aroostook League.
While playing for the Indians for four season beginning in 1948, Dyer was one of the leading offensive players in the league. He compiled a batting average of at least .350 in three seasons and twice played and twice managed against the Birdie Tebbetts Major League All-Star Team. He was named league MVP in 1948 and was a league all-star in 1949. He was a player-manager the last three seasons.
When his playing days concluded, Dyer continued to be active in the game by umpiring and directing baseball instruction programs for the Presque Isle Recreation Department.
In 1958, Dyer became coach of the Presque Isle High School varsity baseball team. He coached 15 years with his teams never finishing lower than second in 13 of those years. His Wildcats won Aroostook League championships in 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964 and 1972. Presque Isle teams accumulated a record of 124-45 during his tenure. He passed away in fall of 1972 at the age of 52.
Dyer is a member of the Maine Sports Hall of Fame and the Maine Sports Legends Hall of Honors. The Presque Isle High School baseball field was named the James E. Dyer Memorial Field in Jim’s honor. He and his wife, Doris, had five children.