Carroll Plourde is a native and life-long resident of Waterville, Maine and his impressive record of accomplishments in baseball, while largely generated from his hometown, extends through the State.
Plourde’s outstanding career as a pitcher for Waterville High led to his being drafted by the Boston Braves in 1952 and a handsome signing bonus of $2,000.00. Following a season of pitching for the Class D Welch Miners in the Appalachian League, Plourde was drafted again – by the U.S. Army. During a 3-year military stint, Carroll played service ball at army posts in Indiantown Gap in Pennsylvania and overseas in Germany where he joined fellow Mainer Carlton Willey on a division All-Star team. Plourde entered the University of Maine on the G.I. Bill in the fall of 1955 and graduated in 1959 with a degree in education.
Plourde then embarked on a teaching career of nearly 30 years at Benton Elementary School and Lawrence High School that paralleled a long and productive tenure of playing, coaching, umpiring and promoting the game of baseball. Carroll played for several of the storied town teams that dotted the Maine baseball landscape in the 1950’s including the Fairfield Merchants, Waterville Giants, Pittsfield A.C., and Farmington Flyers. “Any team that needed a ballplayer, I was available,” recalls Plourde.
Plourde umpired high school and college baseball games well over 25 years. He was instrumental in organizing the Kennebec-Somerset Umpires Association. In addition to becoming one of the most respected umpires in the State, Plourde was also instrumental, along with Richard “Dick” McGee, in starting the PAL program in Fairfield. He later moved on to become athletic director at Unity College where he coached basketball and organized that school’s first-ever baseball program.
Carroll was an eager benefactor of the Waterville American Little League where he coached all three of his sons playing for Harold Alfond sponsored teams, winning two city championships over a 5-year period.
Following his service to Little League, Plourde devoted countless hours and experience to the Waterville American Legion program and later recruited the esteemed Wally Covell to assist in organizing a Waterville entry in the Portland Twilight League.
For his meritorious service in the promotion and support of baseball in the Elm City, Carroll Plourde was inducted into the Waterville Hall of Fame in 2004.
With an enviable record that includes a distinguished playing career and several decades of “giving back” through his tireless support of youth baseball leagues, Carroll Plourde is, in the words of fellow Hall of Famer Al Card, “a man made for the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame.”
Posted July 26, 2013
MAINE BASEBALL HALL OF FAME: Plourde lived the dream BY TRAVIS LAZARCZYK STAFF WRITER
https://www.centralmaine.com/2013/07/26/maine-baseball-hall-of-fame-plourde-lived-the-dream/
It was just one season, but Carroll Plourde’s time as a professional baseball player still makes him proud, 60 years later.
“I’m a baseball fan,” Plourde said. “I’m fortunate I had the chance to play.”
Plourde played in the Boston Braves system in 1952.
After a standout career at Waterville Senior High School, Plourde received his invitation to the Boston Braves minor league camp in Myrtle Beach, S.C. after a tryout in Waterville. Hundreds of hopeful players worked out in Myrtle Beach, trying to earn a spot on one of the Braves’ minor league clubs.
“They kept 120 (players) and sent the rest home,” Plourde said. “I got a small bonus.”
“I’m thankful I lived in Maine and learned to play baseball here,” Plourde said. “My lifelong dream was to play professional baseball, and I’m one of the few who made it from here.”
From Legacy Pages
https://obituaries.centralmaine.com/obituaries/mainetoday-centralmaine/obituary.aspx?n=carroll-j-plourde&pid=168192482&fhid=29092
Carroll J. Plourde, 80, Dec. 13, 1932 - Nov. 25, 2013
Carroll's contributions to the local sport scene began as a young athlete drafted out of high school, and participating within the Milwaukee Braves farm system (later known as the Atlanta Braves) in the early 1950s. He later returned to the Waterville area where he participated for several local town teams. His accomplishments earned him recognition and induction into the Waterville Area Sports Hall of Fame and recently into the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame.
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