Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame

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 2500 sqft 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.

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. and extensively researched and validated the Beachville game in 1838.

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.

In early 2022, the Hall of Fame was criticized for not inducting the Chatham Coloured All-Stars, the first team of Black Canadians to win an Ontario Baseball Association title.

Awards

Since opening, over 160 individual members have been inducted into the hall. 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. 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 other inductees 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.

Facilities

The 32 acre facility in St. Marys also includes four baseball fields designed by landscape architect Art Lierman of London, Ontario.

Rules for nominations

1. A player must be retired for at least three years.
2. Must receive 75 percent of the vote to be inducted.
3. If the person is not Canadian he must have done something significant with respect to baseball in Canada.
4. The person nominated will stay on the ballot for nine years as long as he receives a minimum of one vote every two years.
5. All information must be in by December 1 of the year to be eligible for the following year.

Inductees

Individuals

Groups

References

References

1. "Our History".
2. (2021). "Bob Barney and Riley Nowokowski join Labatt Park National Historic Site Committee".
3. North, Andrew. "The Beachville Game".
4. (June 20, 1995). "Baseball Has Border Dispute". [[The Washington Post]].
5. Davidi, Shi. (November 4, 2021). "Callaghan set to be first woman inducted individually into Canada Baseball HOF".
6. (February 10, 2022). "OPINION: All Star snub".
7. Kennedy, Ian. (February 21, 2022). "Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame snubs historic all-Black team for 5th straight year".
8. Brown, Mark. (March 22, 2022). "Hatfield calls for Black team's induction to Canadian baseball hall".
9. "Inductees".
10. [http://www.baseballhalloffame.ca/inductees.html Tip O'Neill Award] {{webarchive. link. (2011-08-26 at baseballhalloffame.ca; accessed July 2, 2009)
11. [http://www.baseballhalloffame.ca/inductees.html Jack Graney Award] {{webarchive. link. (2011-08-26 at baseballhalloffame.ca; accessed July 2, 2009)
12. [http://www.baseballhalloffame.ca/inductees.html Rules for Nominations] {{webarchive. link. (2011-08-26 at baseballhalloffame.ca; URL accessed July 2, 2009)