PROLOGUE
This week I had every intent to do a story on how much the sport of baseball has diminished in popularity since its height of involvement way back when.
However, that was before I began attempting to contact the presidents of the existing youth baseball leagues in the city to request the total number of players in their leagues.
Turning on my computer, I opened the website of the city’s “newest” program, Manchester New Hampshire Little League, glanced at the banner at its top and saw something I had never seen on a baseball web site’s opening page.
Though the topics included the usual…HOME, PHOTOS, COACHES’ CORNER, PARENTS’ CORNER, CALENDAR…it was the final one…IN MEMORIUM…that stopped me in my tracks.
IN MEMORIUM? Who died from South LL? So I did the obvious…I opened and read it.
It was a beautifully written tribute by well known and long-time, LL president, Al Beauchemin, to one of South’s coaches whose name I recognized immediately.
Though it didn’t surprise me because I knew he had passed, it DID upset me…even made me angry and disappointed, not at Al, but at myself!
I knew him well. My sons played for him at East. Like Al, I coached with him. Heck, I even did a story about him…and I changed my mind.
As the 2026 season is about to begin, this story will still involve baseball, but the subject will be the man who devoted 52 years of his life to it, a man who is considered a Little League Baseball icon in the Queen City.
The story will be about BOB MORNEAU.
His career was like a baseball hit into the gap between outfielders with no fence to stop it,,,just kept rolling and rolling until gravity eventually brought it to a halt.
I have to admit that trying to decide the most appropriate way to begin has been difficult.
How do I entice people who’ve never met Bob to want to know more about him?
How do I tell people who never knew him just how special he was to those that did.
Because Bob and I both love baseball, I’m going to use the game itself to introduce you to him.
To get to where they want to be, baseball players will spend years making a number of different stops as they climb the ladder.
Six, to be exact… Rookie, Single-A, High-A, Double-A, Triple-A, then finally, the Majors.
Unfortunately, not all players make it to where they want to be when their careers end.
The same can be said for a number of coaches.
Most start in the Minors and many make it to the Majors. The difference being the number of stops.
Fact is, most make only one…and it’s usually brief.
Bob made six…Central, East, North, West. Southwest, and Manchester NH South.
Thankfully for Bob, he made it to where he wanted to be when his career came to an end.
The Bob I knew as both a coach and as a person was always fair.
Sadly, that’s not always the way he was treated…and that’s not just a statement, that’s a FACT.
BUT I DIGRESS…BACK TO HIS STORY…THE ORIGINAL ONE
“SPOTLIGHT ON…”BOB MORNEAU
“Spotlight On…” highlights individuals involved in sports from the local area, but with a slightly different “twist.” While their “whereabouts” are most likely known, particularly to those involved in sports, their “stories” often are not.
THE PURPOSE:
These articles are intended to put a “spotlight” on the individual thereby giving readers greater knowledge of some of the important, but sometimes overlooked, members of our athletic community whose stories might otherwise never be known…like Bob’s.
THE CHOICE:
The names of a number of local sports figures came to mind, many of whose stories I know would be interesting, but I had difficulty trying to decide on which one should be the first. Then it hit me…why not be a little “selfish” and start with a person who had a significant impact on me when I first began coaching.
We were both coaches at East Little League, but he was a head coach and I was an assistant…on different teams. It wasn’t until I joined his staff with the ‘84 All-Stars that I really got an opportunity to watch him “up close and personal”, to pick his brain, to hear the reasoning behind his “moves”, and to experience his “calmness” while I was a bundle of nerves.
Whether it was figuring out a starting line-up, a specific batting order, or a rotation of pitchers, he was really something to watch as his “wheels” turned inning by inning, game by game. And he always seemed to be one step ahead of an opposing coach.
As time has passed, I’ve often thought back to those days and every time I‘ve done it, I realize more and more just how great a time I had…how great a time WE had…something I know Al Beauchemin can relate to.
Because of the impact he’s had, not just on my life, but also a large number of young athletes’ lives, I’ve always wanted to do a story on him, but couldn’t find the appropriate venue…until now.
HIS ROOTS:
Bob’s career in athletics began in Twin Mountain, New Hampshire, a small community that neighbors more well-known Littleton. Considering the fact that he’s spent most of his coaching life with baseball, it was surprising to hear that, except for the three years he spent as a pitcher/outfielder for his St. Patrick’s of Twin Mountain CYO (Catholic Youth Organization) ball club, he never played the sport that much…but not because he didn’t want to.
You younger readers need to know (and you older ones will certainly remember) that back in the ’50s and ’60s, families only had ONE car (or no car at all), with many people opting for public transportation or a taxi instead. Neighborhoods with two, three, or more vehicles in the driveway just didn’t exist…and that’s where Bob’s “problem” lay.
As a freshman, he played basketball at Twin Mountain. However, when the high school closed its doors at the end of that year, opting to send its students to neighboring Littleton, Bob tried to continue his involvement in sports as a sophomore member of the Crusaders’ JV hoop team. Unfortunately, the 18 mile trek to his new school from his home in TM proved to be a fruitless venture. Remember, we’re talking an era of one-car families and Bob didn’t get his first one until after he graduated from Littleton in ‘61.
Being “car-less” was a fact of life for most of us back then.
Hey, I can still remember “thumbing” home to Manchester from Keene State College and then back to the Elm City during the school year and then to my job at the Casino Complex at Hampton Beach during the summer. My Dad would drop me off at an appropriate spot on 101 west or 101 east and my journey would begin. Met some interesting people, too, but that’s another story.
Does he regret not playing back then? In his own words…“If I had it all to do over again, I’d have found a way.”
As much as I wish you could have, Bob, you know that’s wishful thinking at best. The “times” just would have made it too difficult, not only for you, but also your family…and you knew it. You had a completely justifiable reason for stopping.
AFTER HIGH SCHOOL
After graduating, Bob and his cousin, Tom McGee, signed a contract (yes, that’s what I said…a contract) to work at the Breakers Hotel on West Palm Beach, Florida, where they remained for a year. During that time, workers in Florida had to sign a contract with their employers to guarantee they they’d stay for its duration. As he put it, “If you didn’t sign the contract, you didn’t work.” As far as his “experiences” there, he smiled broadly and said “We had a blast!” When I pressed him for more info, he chuckled and answered “That’s all the detail I’m going to give you.”.
Hmmm, somehow I just can’t picture Bob as a “party guy.”
After his “Vegas” year (you know…what happens there stays there) in the sunshine state, he returned to Twin Mountain where he re-united with his high school sweetheart, Pat. As he put it “She saw my car go by and knew I was back in town. About a half hour later I got a call from her and we’ve been together ever since.” I heard that his “drive by” (to be sure she’d notice he’d returned) was so slow that neighbors were actually able to watch the leaves change color. At least that’s what Pat said.
They ended up in Manchester where Bob worked in the parts department for the old Manchester Chrysler-Plymouth dealership on the DW highway. Shortly thereafter, he read an ad in the Sunday edition of the Union Leader that stated the city of Manchester’s Highway Department was looking for a purchasing agent. He filled out an application and soon joined their ranks where he remained until his retirement in 1997.
As a new resident of the Queen City, he also joined the East Side Club softball team where he pitched for 13 years in the old Carignan League (12 foot arc) hooking up with some of the city‘s finest in the persons of Denny Smith, George Larkin, Ed Beaurigard, Louis DeMayo, Gary Lawrence, and Tony Puglisi. He concluded his career on the Wolfe Park softball diamond in 1973 only because he wanted to coach his eight year old son, Mike, at Youngsville.
A CAREER IN COACHING BEGINS
In 1974, ironically he took over East Little League’s minor league team, East Side Club, where his son would now play…and that’s when and where it all began.
After moving up to the majors the following year, for the next 21 years he served as head coach of DAV (Disabled American Veterans).
In 1995, he and wife, Pat, purchased her dream home…a farm house (with barn) in Candia. He made the commute to Manchester throughout that season, but decided that the travel was just too much and called it quits upon its conclusion.
A BRUSH WITH DEATH
Unfortunately, it was at this time that the old saying “bought the farm” was to take on an entirely different meaning for him. In fact, in the fall of ‘97, Bob became extremely ill awakening early one morning to an often fatal experience…a pulmonary embolism.
Knowing something was severely wrong, he woke Pat and told her that she needed to get him to the hospital…and quickly. As they headed for Manchester, and now unable to get his breath, he told her he didn’t think he was going to make it and that they’d better pull over and call for an ambulance.
There stood Pat at approximately 5 am on the front porch of a complete stranger’s house near Charmingfare Golf Course, pounding on the door trying desperately to awaken its inhabitants.
Finally successful, an ambulance was summoned and arrived just in time. A blood clot in his left leg had moved up to his lungs and Bob spent the next 14 days at the Elliot Hospital..
During this time, he sincerely believed he was going to breathe his last and called real estate agent, Nikki O’Neil, asking her to come to his hospital room.
“I really thought I was going to die and knowing there was no way Pat could take care of the Candia farmhouse, and because Pat’s family was in the city, I wanted Nikki to find a house in Manchester for her to live in. I told Nikki that I didn’t care what it looked like or how much it cost. I just wanted something that Pat would be happy in. She took my wife to look at a number of houses and found the one we’re presently in. Fortunately, I‘m still here to share it with her.”
As I looked around, though she had to leave her dream farm in Candia, Pat has definitely made the transition to her new home an amicable one. The Belmont Street “castle” has been beautifully decorated with a country “touch” and its interior is absolutely beautiful.
Ted Menswar Jr. is a life-long resident of the Queen City and a retired member of the English Department of Memorial High School who has been involved in local sports for 70 years as a player, a coach, a mentor and a fan. He can be reached at tedmenswar@outlook.com