Ronald Duncan Stead (September 24, 1936 – December 5, 2011) was a Canadian baseball pitcher. He played briefly in Minor League Baseball, then went on to play for over a decade in the Intercounty Baseball League of Ontario, setting multiple league records. He was inducted to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006. Listed at 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m) and 150 pounds (68 kg), he threw left-handed and batted right-handed.
In early June 1958, Stead joined the Brantford Red Sox, a team in the amateur Intercounty Baseball LeagueofSouthern Ontario.[6] One of his teammates with Brantford was outfielder Jimmy Wilkes,[7] who had played several seasons in Negro league baseball.[8] Stead went on to pitch for Brantford for nine seasons, through 1966, and pitched 14 total seasons in the Intercounty Baseball League, finishing in 1972 with the Guelph CJoys.[9] Stead had great success in the league, including a 0.35 ERA in 1967, setting a new league record.[10] He was named an all-star 10 times,[11] was league MVP three times,[11] and is considered one of the top 100 players in league history.[12] Stead's uniform number, 11, was retired by the Brantford Red Sox in 2002.[11] He still held multiple Intercounty Baseball League records, including career wins (104) and strikeouts (1,231), when he was inducted to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006.[1]
Stead also played for the Canada national baseball team, appearing in the 1967 Pan American Games, contested in Winnipeg. He was the starting pitcher of the team's opening game, a 3–1 loss to Mexico; Stead struck out 10 batters in seven innings while allowing four hits.[13] Canada won its second game in the tournament, defeating Puerto Rico by a 3–2 score.[14] However, officials then ruled that four players on the Canadian team, including Stead, were ineligible to compete because they had previously played professional baseball.[14] The win over Puerto Rico was forfeited, and the Canadian team continued in the tournament without the ineligible players,[14] ultimately finishing last in the five-team competition.[15] Stead later played for the champion Ontario baseball team at the 1969 Canada Games.[16]
Outside of baseball, Stead worked for Union Gas.[11] After his baseball career, he played slow-pitch softball until 2000.[11] Stead and his wife, Betty, had three sons and a daughter.[17] He died in 2011, aged 75.[4]
