'Great recognition'; Legendary 1934 Chatham Colored All-Stars celebrated
CTV
It was billed as a 'Field of Honour' game to recognize the 1934 provincial champion Chatham Colored All-stars baseball team
It was billed as a 'Field of Honour' game to recognize the 1934 provincial champion Chatham Colored All-stars baseball team.
Thirty decedents of players from the team took part in a softball game at Fergie Jenkins Field in Chatham, Ont. Saturday with hundreds of community members in attendance.
It was a chance for families to reconnect, while continuing the push to get the first all-Black team to win a Provincial Ontario Baseball Amateur Association (OBAA) championship into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.
"Other than the parade after they won the 1934 Colored all-stars, this is great recognition," says first-baseman Blake Harding, 73, whose father Wilfred 'Boomer' Harding played for the club.
"My father and my uncle Len, both played for the '34 team, and then a year later my uncle Andy played for them. He was a first black police officer in town."
Horace Chase and Earl Chase Jr. were also both watching from the stands.
Their father Earl 'Flat' Chase was a star for the 1934 team before going onto play for many teams in southwestern Ontario including the London Majors. He was said to have the ability to be a Major League player if it wasn't for the colour of his skin.
'It certainly has ramped up': Community centres throughout Winnipeg dealing with uptick in break-ins
Community centres in Winnipeg are ringing alarm bells over what they say is an increase in break-ins.