As Lorne Harasen said on behalf of the 2011 inductees in his reply speech, "the heart and soul of baseball is in the rural communities."
Many small-town Saskatchewan baseball players, umpires and coaches were inducted this season along with the Biensch family from Marsden, the Lashburn Linnets/Cardinals baseball team and the community of Wilkie.
The 2011 inductees of the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame were honoured Saturday with nearly 400 people in attendance, at what Battleford councillor Garth Walls said is the most well-attended event annually at the Alex Dillabough Centre in Battleford.
David Dekker, Paul Hack and Kevin Waugh did a tremendous job running the evening and reading out the inductions of the 12 individuals, two teams, one family and one community.
Many of the 2011 inductees may have flown under the radar by scouting standards, but to those who played with them, against them, or just watched them, they were some of the best of their eras.
Guest speaker Bill Clark, who scouted in Saskatchewan for over 30 years, as a major league baseball scout, noted a few things about Saskatchewan - first it is a beautiful province, secondly many of the athletes are double-sport athletes and perhaps more important than anything he spoke of how classy everyone he met from Saskatchewan was. He mentioned many 'baseball guys,' such as Bob Colliar, umpire Ace Corbin, Fabion Schommer and others who graced the baseball diamonds in the past.
Once again, Jane Shury and her staff and the board of directors at the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame made it a great event. The praise for Shury and her staff and the way the Saskatchewan baseball history is preserved in the Hall of Fame is second to none.
Many local people have never been to the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame, which is located on 22nd Street in Battleford. For those who don't know what that building is we drive by every week, Saskatchewan has a truly rich baseball history and for that alone the Hall of Fame is worth visiting. Add in the fact that it is almost a guarantee you will recognize a name or a photo in there, and makes it all the more impressive.
The traditional Take Me Out To The Ball Game was sung by the crowd capping off another year of inductions and hard work at the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. To paraphrase Harasen in his closing remarks on behalf of the inductees - "Baseball is a dream you never really give up on baseball is forever, may it always be."
