Yesterday, I headed to beautiful St. Marys a small town located in southwestern Ontario that is home to The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum to witness the 2011 induction class that included Tom Henke, Allan Simpson & George Wood. Bob Elliott received the Jack Graney Award for his work covering baseball as a writer for the Toronto Sun and Canadian Baseball Network.
I had never been to the Hall of Fame or St. Marys for that matter; this was also the first time I had attended an induction ceremony I decided to make the trip from my St. Catharines home with a friend of mine as I had heard nothing but good things about the Hall of Fame through the grapevine over the years and I was sure glad I did as the day did not disappoint.
Honestly I’m not sure where to start in telling about my day. So much was going on at the Hall of Fame. There was a silent auction, tours of the museum, the sale of baseball memorabilia, and youth baseball being played on the back field. If you liked baseball you found that you had came to the right place. For me personally one of the thrills of the day was meeting Fergie Jenkins, who played 19 seasons in the Major Leagues and is the only Canadian member of the [U.S] Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown and currently does a variety of charity work with his foundation, The Fergie Jenkins Foundation. Other baseball personalities on hand included Paul Quantrill, Pat Gillick, Jim Fanning, and Ron Stead.
It was a great day as the weather fully cooperated, as it was warm and sunny. I have met a handful of baseball people both past and present and have always been treated with the utmost respect. I recommend that next June you personally make the trek to St.Marys as it will be a worthwhile journey regardless of how far you come from. I plan to attend the 2012 inductions when they roll around regardless of who the individual inductees are that is how much I enjoyed the experience.
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