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Proulx, Patrick (2009)

Writer: Maine Baseball HOF
Maine Baseball HOF
Aug 9, 2019
3 min read


Proulx, Patrick

Pat’s impressive career in organized baseball began in his sophomore year at Waterville High School, where he earned the starting shortstop position for the Panthers. For the following two years, he and second baseman Ted Shiro (HOF ’94) teamed up to create a very talented double play combination for excellent Waterville High teams.

His strong bat and good glove soon attracted the attention of local semi-pro teams, and in the summer of 1943 he and Ted, the only high-schoolers to make the team, played for the Winslow Taconets. It was during this summer that Pat and Ted impressed a Pittsburgh Pirate scout, who invited them to attend a workout for the Pirates later in the summer at Braves Field. As a result of this workout, they were both invited to attend, following their graduation in 1944, a baseball school in Hornell, NY. However, after an outstanding senior year at Waterville High, Pat enlisted in the U.S. Navy.

In 1946, Pat returned to Waterville after a two year hitch in the Navy and was soon playing shortstop on the American All-Stars in the Central Maine League. The following year, he went to work for his brother Real in Presque Isle, where his outstanding play for the Presque Isle Indians convinced his brother that Pat should give professional baseball a try. In the spring of 1948, Pat went to Hot Springs, AR to attend the Rogers Hornsby baseball school, where he signed a contract to play Class D ball for Odessa, TX in the Longhorn League, an affiliate of the Cleveland Indians.

He moved up to Class C in 1949, playing for Roswell, NM in the West Texas-New Mexico League. It was one of his finest seasons in organized ball, leading the league in batting as late as mid-August. He again excelled at shortstop and finished that season with a .337 batting average, along with 38 doubles and 12 home runs.

With the promise of being moved up to Class B the next season, Pat returned to Presque Isle to work for his brother over the winter. However, before the 1950 season began, Pat was persuaded to stay in Maine and to play for the home town Indians in a new high level semi-professional league that would feature top college players from the New England area and the Maritime Provinces --- the Maine-New Brunswick League. Pat powered the Indians to the league championship, leading them in average (.330), home runs and runs scored.

Another great experience came in the fall of 1950 against the Birdie Tebbetts All-Stars, which featured Walt Dropo, Johnny Pesky, Vic Wertz, Phil Rizzuto and Whitey Ford. Pat still remembers getting two hits off Yankee right hander Frank “Spec” Shea.

Although business interests and family commitments limited his play for the next two years, Pat bounced back with one of his finest seasons in 1953 with the Indians. Described by manager Freddy Harlow (HOF’74) as the “heart” of the team, he once again sparked Presque Isle to the Maine-New Brunswick League title, batted .343 and led the team in almost every offensive category. It was during this 1953 season that a Presque Isle newspaper seemed to really capture Pat Proulx the ball player, “he is playing more for the love of the game of baseball than for” anything else!

Pat’s final year of baseball was 1956. Although the Maine-NB League had folded, the Indians decided to play independent ball, travelling all over Maine and New Brunswick to face the best teams in the area.

Pat Proulx lived and worked in Presque Isle for sixty years, has three children, Patrice, Real and Holly Ann, and two grandchildren – Jessamyn & Tristan. Two years ago, Pat moved to Portland, where he now resides with his wife Joyce.



Patrick Proulx



From Legacy Pages PORTLAND - Patrick R. Proulx, 88, of Portland, April 6, 2014

https://obituaries.centralmaine.com/obituaries/mainetoday-centralmaine/obituary.aspx?n=patrick-roland-proulx&pid=171003601&fhid=11597


"Baseball was one of the enduring passions of Pat's life. He played shortstop for the Presque Isle Indians in the Maine/New Brunswick league and on Class D and C teams at the professional level in the West Texas/New Mexico league. In 2009, he was inducted into the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame. A devoted Red Sox fan, he was elated to see the team win three World Series titles."






 
 
 

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Meet the 2026 Maine Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
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Portland Press Herald 4/10/2026
https://www.pressherald.com/2026/04/10/meet-the-2026-maine-baseball-hall-of-fame-inductees/?copylink=true

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Former St. Dominic and current Gray-New Gloucester coach Bob Blackman and Cony coach Don Plourde are among the 11 members of the newest class. Four coaches currently preparing for the upcoming high school baseball season are among the 11 inductees in the 2026 Maine Baseball Hall of Fame class.

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Gray-New Gloucester’s Bob Blackman, Brewer’s Dana Corey, Hampden Academy’s Jon Perry and Cony’s Don Plourde are all part of the class that will be inducted on Oct. 4 at the Holiday Inn by the Bay in Portland. Blackman coached St. Dominic High School to nine state championships in 22 seasons before the school closed at the end of the last school year. He was named the coach at Gray-New Gloucester in September. Corey hit .359 at the University of Maine in 1971. He played two seasons in the Chicago Cubs system and has been the head coach at Brewer for 18 seasons.

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Perry hit .381 at the University of Maine in 1981 and helped the Black Bears reach the College World Series. He has coached for the past 45 seasons at the high school, American Legion and collegiate levels. 

Plourde is in his 17th season as the coach at Cony High School and has been named the KVAC Coach of the Year five times. He has been coaching at various levels for more than 30 years. 

Others earning induction are: 

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• Al Cloutier, who has been involved in baseball in Augusta as a player, Cony High and American Legion coach, Babe Ruth League director and volunteer. 

• John Kolasinski, who was a college coach at for 37 years, first at Husson and later at Siena Heights University in Michigan. He is a five-time New England Coach of the Year winner.

• Mark Littlefield, a Portland High graduate, who is now in his 36th season working on the medical staff of the New York Yankees organization. 

• Scott Littlefield, a Portland High graduate, who will be inducted posthumously. Littlefield coached at Florida State University and the University of Southern Maine before working for 34 years as a Major League Baseball scout, including 16 as a player personnel special assistant for the Texas Rangers.

• J. Ronald Livington, who will be inducted posthumously. Livingston was an All-Star infielder for the semi-pro Presque Isle Indians in the Northern Aroostook League in the 1930 and 1940s. He also coached and was a director in the South Portland National Little League.

• Mike McCullum, of Portland, who hit .338 at the University of Southern Maine and earned ABCA Division III All-American honors in 1999. 

• Jim Taylor of Lewiston, who was a founding member of the Central Maine Board of Approved Baseball Umpires and was instrumental in starting the Maine chapter of the Collegiate Baseball Umpires Association.

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Maine Baseball Hall of Fame day  Delta Dental Park aka Hadlock Field 7/19/2026
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