Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame
The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum (French: Temple de la renommée du baseball canadien) is a museum located in St. Marys, Ontario, Canada. The museum commemorates great players, teams, and accomplishments of baseball in Canada.
Temple de la renommée du baseball canadien | |
 | |
 Original building in St. Marys, c. 2010 | |
| Established | 1982 |
|---|---|
| Location | 386 Church Street South St. Marys, Ontario, Canada |
| Coordinates | 43.251435°N 81.143845°W |
| Type | Sports museum |
| Director | Scott Crawford |
| Chairperson | Jeremy Diamond |
| Curator | Christi Hudson |
| Website | www.baseballhalloffame.ca |
History
The museum was founded in November 1982 in Toronto at Exhibition Place and later moved to Ontario Place theme park. In August 1994, it was awarded to St. Marys, Ontario, and in June 1998 the doors officially opened in St. Marys. On November 23, 2017, construction began on a 2,500-square-foot (230 m2) expansion to the museum, including a secure archive facility, library, new entrance, and auditorium/exhibition space. The re-designed museum opened to the public on April 27, 2019.[1]
The Hall of Fame and Museum is dedicated to preserving Canada's baseball heritage which dates back to June 4, 1838, when a game which very closely resembled today's game of baseball was played in Beachville, Ontario.[1] University of Western Ontario professor Bob Barney wrote the historical study which advocated for relocating the hall of fame from Toronto to St. Marys, Ontario,[2] and extensively researched and validated the Beachville game in 1838.[3][4]
In 2021, Helen Callaghan, who had played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL), became the first woman individually inducted to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame; the Hall had previously inducted, as a group in 1998, all Canadian women who played in the AAGPBL.[5]
In early 2022, the Hall of Fame was criticized for not inducting the Chatham Coloured All-Stars, the first Black team to win an Ontario Baseball Association title.[6][7][8]
Awards
Since opening, over 125 individual members have been inducted into the hall.[9] This includes professional and amateur players, builders, administrators, umpires, broadcasters, writers, and honorary members who have helped popularize the sport in Canada. Several teams or groups have also been inducted.[9] Multiple members of the hall have also been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York, as players, managers, or executives; several others have been recipients of the Ford C. Frick Award or BBWAA Career Excellence Award.
In addition, the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame awards the Tip O'Neill Award annually to the Canadian baseball player "judged to have excelled in individual achievement and team contribution while adhering to the highest ideals of the game of baseball" and the Jack Graney Award for Lifetime Media Achievement.[10][11]
Facilities
The 32-acre (13 ha) facility in St. Marys also includes four baseball fields designed by landscape architect Art Lierman of London, Ontario.
The Pearson Cup—awarded to the winner of an annual exhibition game between the Toronto Blue Jays and Montreal Expos from 1978 to 1986—is on display at the museum.
Rules for nominations
- A player must be retired for at least three years.
- Must receive 75 percent of the vote to be inducted.
- If the person is not Canadian he must have done something significant with respect to baseball in Canada.
- The person nominated will stay on the ballot for nine years as long as he receives a minimum of one vote every two years.
- All information must be in by December 1 of the year to be eligible for the following year.[12]
Inductees
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| † | Member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York (includes Ford C. Frick Award and BBWAA Career Excellence Award recipients) |
|---|
Individuals
Groups
| Name | Year(s) honored | Location | Year inducted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canadian-born AAGPBL players | 1943–1954 | Canada | 1998 |
| Asahi baseball team | 1914–1941 | Vancouver, British Columbia | 2003 |
| Beachville & Zorra amateur teams | 1838 | Ontario | 1988 |
| London Tecumsehs | 1877 | London, Ontario | 2021 |
| National Youth Team (1991 WJC) | 1991 | Brandon, Manitoba | 1992 |
| National Baseball Team (PA 2011) | 2011 | Lagos de Moreno, Mexico | 2012 |
| National Baseball Team (PA 2015) | 2015 | Ajax, Ontario | 2017 |
See also
- History of baseball outside the United States#Canada
- London Tecumsehs#Early baseball in Canada
- Category:Baseball in Canada
- Baseball awards#Canada
References
- "Our History". Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.
- "Bob Barney and Riley Nowokowski join Labatt Park National Historic Site Committee". University of Western Ontario. 2021. Retrieved August 9, 2023.
- North, Andrew. "The Beachville Game". Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
- "Baseball Has Border Dispute". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. June 20, 1995. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
- Davidi, Shi (November 4, 2021). "Callaghan set to be first woman inducted individually into Canada Baseball HOF". Sportsnet. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
- "OPINION: All Star snub". Chatham Voice. Chatham-Kent, Ontario. February 10, 2022. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
- Kennedy, Ian (February 21, 2022). "Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame snubs historic all-Black team for 5th straight year". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
- Brown, Mark (March 22, 2022). "Hatfield calls for Black team's induction to Canadian baseball hall". Windsor News Today. Windsor, Ontario. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
- "Inductees". Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.
- Tip O'Neill Award Archived 2011-08-26 at the Wayback Machine at baseballhalloffame.ca; accessed July 2, 2009
- Jack Graney Award Archived 2011-08-26 at the Wayback Machine at baseballhalloffame.ca; accessed July 2, 2009
- Rules for Nominations Archived 2011-08-26 at the Wayback Machine at baseballhalloffame.ca; URL accessed July 2, 2009