Len Beresford – Athlete

Inducted November 20, 1993

Len Beresford, born in St. Brendan’s, Bonavista Bay played in the St. John’s Senior Men’s Softball League for 18 years from 1971 to 1988. Len played 389 season games with a batting average of .331 and 101 playoff games with a batting average of .365. Like baseball’s Mr. October, Beresford was softball’s Mr. August. He won numerous individual titles including M.V.P., Batting champion, No. 1 in Hits, Runs Scored, Triples, Doubles and R.B.I.’s. As well as being named to All-star teams regularly and representing the province in eleven National Competitions, he always demonstrated sportsmanship on and off the field. That combination made Len Beresford a class act. One teammate of Beresford commented that, “Len is the best hitter in the history of Newfoundland Softball and probably among the top five in the country – I’m talking about power, average and in clutch situations.” Beresford’s statistics support these accolades.

In 1974 Len was the first Newfoundlander selected to the All-Canadian team. In that same year he set a record at the Senior Nationals with three consecutive home runs in one game. Len put fear in all pitchers as he presently holds the single season batting average record of .494. In 1982 Beresford was honoured by the St. John’s Softball Association by being inducted into their Hall of Fame. Tonight we are pleased to welcome him into the Newfoundland and Labrador Sports Hall of Fame.

Postscript

Len Beresford was the first softball player to be elected to the Newfoundland and Labrador Sports Hall of Fame.