Neil Tulloch of Regina will be inducted into the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame, Individual Category, as a player/builder, on Saturday, Aug. 18 in Battleford.
Playing baseball as a boy in the early 1960s, Tulloch began playing with the Parry Aces senior men’s baseball team when he was about 13 or 14 years old. Following playing high school baseball with Luther High School, Regina, he played first base, outfield, pitched and managed the Regina Jets of the Molson League in the mid 1970s. Tulloch pitched for the Regina Red Sox in 1974, then he joined the Regina Jets. In 1976 that team represented Zone 2 at the provincials. In the late 1970s, Tulloch, along with Shane Simpson, also took over the coaching duties.
In the 1980s, hitter Tulloch, along with pitcher Simpson, became a fixture in Molson League baseball. Tulloch was regularly leading in home runs and RBIs. In 1988 he batted .560 with seven home runs and 25 RBIs. In 1989, playing with Moose Jaw Ol Birds in an international tournament in San Diego, Calif. and Tijuana, Mexico, Tulloch was named the offensive star of the tournament. Also that year he was picked up for provincials and Western Canadians and attended the Men’s Senior Baseball League World Series Tournament in Phoenix, Ariz. This was the beginning of a decade-long attendance at this annual U.S. tournament.
The Regina Jets disbanded in the early 1990s. Deciding to play in the Soo Valley League, Tulloch and Simpson revived the Gray Ghosts. [They then became the Lumsden Ghosts, then the Regina Ghosts, that exist today]. Both the Soo Valley and Molson leagues were absorbed into the Qu’Appelle Valley Baseball League. Tulloch continued to play competitive baseball, winning many of the Kindersley oldtimers baseball tournaments.
Tulloch managed the Regina Ghosts from the time they were formed until recent years when he transitioned the team to others, but continued to play, just less frequently. Also, his son, Ryan, and friends were recruited to the playing ranks of the Regina Ghosts.
Tulloch coached a number of minor baseball teams between 2000 and 2009 including teams at AA and AAA levels. Among those teams were provincial and western Canadian contenders, with the Regina Pacers Peewee AAA provincial champions in 2004.
In 1984 Tulloch coached the men’s Regina Jets to the provincial championship. In 2001 the Regina Ghosts won the Canadian Oldtimers 35 and over title and in 2013 the Canadian Oldtimer 44 and over championship.
In a letter of support, Bill Demer states that Tulloch felt, and passed onto his players, that it was their duty to give back to the game they loved so much and to pass the knowledge garnered over their career on and to teach the boys how to play the game the right way.
Tulloch and his wife have three children. He continues to practice law in Regina.
