Vincent Churchill "Manny" McIntyre (October 4, 1918 – June 13, 2011) was a Canadian professional athlete who played both

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

. He is an inductee of the

New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame The New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame () is a provincial sports hall of fame and museum in Fredericton, New Brunswick. The sports hall of fame honours athletes, teams, and sport builders that are from the Canadian province of New Brunswick. New nom ...

Canada's Sports Hall of Fame Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (; sometimes referred to as the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame) is a Canadian sports hall of fame and museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Dedicated to the history of sports in Canada, it serves as a hall of fame and mu ...

, and the

Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum () is a museum located in St. Marys, Ontario, Canada. The museum commemorates the great players, teams, and events from Canadian baseball history. History The museum was founded in November 1982 in ...

. McIntyre was a member of the "Black Aces", the first all-black line in professional hockey, with brothers Ossie and

Herb Carnegie Herbert Henry Carnegie (November 8, 1919 – March 9, 2012) was a Canadian ice hockey player of Jamaican descent. After his playing career was over, he became a successful businessman working in the investment industry. In 1954, he founded one o ...

. They played together in various leagues including one season in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

where they became a big draw and helped set an attendance record for French ice hockey. In 1946, McIntyre became the first

Black Canadian Black Canadians () are Canadians of full or partial Afro-Caribbean or sub-Saharan African descent. Black Canadian settlement and immigration patterns can be categorized into two distinct groups. The majority of Black Canadians are descendants ...

to play

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...

, as a

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

for the Sherbrooke Canadians of the

Border League The Border League, currently known as the Booker Border League, after its sponsors, is the oldest competitive club rugby union league in the world. It is contested each year by seven teams from the Scottish Borders, the only area of Scotland w ...

Early life

McIntyre was born in 1918 in

Devon, New Brunswick Fredericton (; ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The city is situated in the west-central portion of the province along the Saint John River, also known by its Indigenous name of Wolastoq, which flows west to ea ...

. As a child, he began playing both ice hockey and baseball. He played

shinny Shinny (also shinney, pick-up hockey, pond hockey, or "outdoor puck") is an informal type of hockey played on ice. It is also used as another term for street hockey. There are no formal rules or specific positions, and often, there are no goal ...

, a form of pick-up hockey, on frozen ponds with wooden pucks.

Ice hockey career

McIntyre played in the Porcupine Mines Senior Hockey League, where he was first teamed with brothers

Ossie Ossie is a nickname usually used in place of a given name such as Osama, Osman, Oswald, Oscar, Ossian, Osmond, Osbourne and Osvaldo. In Assyrian Neo-Aramaic, it is used as a diminutive for Joseph and Yousif. It may refer to: People Given nam ...

and

. They formed the first recorded all black line in hockey history. The trio became known as the "Black Aces". The trio gained notoriety in North America and moved to France to play for Racing Club de Paris, becoming the first professional black players to play in Europe. The Black Aces became a big draw while playing in Europe attracting large crowds for each of their games. Including a game against the British National team which drew 20,612 spectators, which set an ice hockey attendance record in France. When the season ended they were offered a contract to stay in with the team, but chose to return to North America joining the Sherbrooke Saints of the

Quebec Senior Hockey League The Quebec Senior Hockey League (QSHL) was an ice hockey league that operated from 1941 to 1959, based in Quebec, Canada. The league played senior ice hockey under the jurisdiction of the Quebec Amateur Hockey Association until 1953, when it becam ...

(QSHL) for the 1948–49 season. Upon joining the QSHL they became the first all-black line in professional history. For the 1949–50 season McIntyre moved to the Moncton Hawks of the

Maritime Major Hockey League The Maritime Major Hockey League was a semi-professional men's senior ice hockey league which operated for four seasons from 1950 to 1954, in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The league competed for the Alexander Cup as part of the Major Series opera ...

(MMHL). He set a career high in goals with 36. In 1950 he was traded to the Saint John Beavers, where he moved from a winger to

defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

. According to the

Society for International Hockey Research The Society for International Hockey Research (SIHR) is a network of writers, statisticians, collectors, broadcasters, academics and ice hockey buffs. The society, based in Toronto, Ontario, has an international membership. The society cultivate ...

McIntyre compiled 187 goals, 278 assists, for 465 points in 468 games played during his career.

Baseball career

McIntyre's

career was similar to his hockey career as he moved from league to league with regularity. He began playing with Fredericton Capitals of the

New Brunswick Senior Baseball League The New Brunswick Senior Baseball League is the highest level of amateur baseball play in New Brunswick, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from ...

, before moving on to

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

. Playing as a

, McIntyre set a career high .385

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

in 1943 playing for the Halifax Shipyards. The following season he helped the Shipyards win a Halifax Defense Baseball League championship. McIntyre played for Trois-Rivieres team in the

Quebec Provincial League The Provincial League, sometimes known as the Quebec Provincial League, was a minor league baseball league based in the Canadian province of Quebec. It went through a number of incarnations during the 20th century, spending time as both an independ ...

in 1945. For the 1946 season, McIntyre signed a contract with the Sherbrooke Canadians of the

, thereby becoming the first

to sign a professional baseball contract. The Canadians were affiliated with the

Rochester Red Wings The Rochester Red Wings are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Rochester, New York, and play their home games at Innovative Fie ...

of the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...

; Rochester itself was a

farm team In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a Team sport, team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any s ...

of the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

. McIntyre later became the first Black Canadian to play professional baseball, as he hit .310 with one

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

and two

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

s in 30 games, collecting 40 hits in 129

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, ...

s for Sherbrooke.

Personal life

After his playing career McIntyre worked at the

Dorval International Airport Dorval (; ) is an on-island suburban city on the island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada. In 2016, the Canadian Census indicated that the population increased by 4.2% to 18,980. Although the city has the largest surface area in Montr ...

. He was elected into the

in 1997. McIntyre died on June 13, 2011, in

Candiac, Quebec Candiac () is a suburb of Montreal, in the Canadian province of Quebec; it is located on the South Shore of the Saint Lawrence River opposite Montreal near La Prairie. The population as of the Canada 2021 Census was 22,997. History Candiac ...

, at the age of 92. McIntyre was posthumously inducted into

in 2015, the Maritime Sport Hall of Fame in 2020, and the

in 2021.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McIntyre, Manny 1918 births 2011 deaths New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame inductees Ice hockey people from New Brunswick Canadian ice hockey defencemen Canadian ice hockey left wingers Quebec Senior Hockey League players Baseball shortstops Minor league baseball players Baseball people from New Brunswick Sherbrooke Canadians players Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inductees 20th-century Canadian sportsmen