EBBA Minor

A FIXTURE AT AGRICULTURE PARK IN GODERICH PASSES AWAY

by Dan Haugh

Each summer local baseball teams travel across the province of Ontario to play in tournaments. Some of those tournaments are of the highly-competitive variety, and are used as tune-ups for Provincial championships, while other tournament destinations provide a fun weekend away playing the game we all love.

One of those fun spots for LDBA teams has always been Goderich. The Goderich tournaments always provide an opportunity to enjoy a combination of the beach, camping and small-town hospitality. You always are made to feel at home, but if you ever made a second trip to Goderich you felt like part of the 'baseball family.' This summer there will be a very familiar friendly face missing from that ‘baseball family’ at Agriculture Park when we travel north to take part in Goderich’s annual tournaments.

Long-time umpire Jimmy Harrison who was known in and around Goderich as 'Jimmy Who', passed away on February 3, 2011, at Alexandra and Marine General Hospital in Goderich at the age of 73. Harrison was a fixture at the ball diamonds in Goderich and central Huron County for decades, and the one face that was always recognizable upon arrival at Agriculture Park.

For those of us who have taken teams to Goderich tournaments and coached in games he umpired, we may not have always agreed with Jimmy’s calls, but the games he umpired were guaranteed to be entertaining regardless of the outcome.  

Although Harrison was not an LDBA umpire, he will be remembered by LDBA players, coaches and parents as someone who could make you laugh and make every game an enjoyable experience regardless of the score. It has been suggested that Jimmy may have had a personal preference towards one particular LDBA association.  There is no positive proof to back up that accusation, but one thing is for sure … Jimmy Harrison will be missed by everyone who had the good fortune to encounter him on their baseball travels.

It points out the importance of the friendships we all make as we attempt to provide the best possible experiences for our young baseball players.

Every year we meet many people just like Jimmy Harrison who may only touch our lives briefly, but we should always stop to consider their contribution to youth baseball, and we should remember that in every community there are people who give of their time to enrich the lives of young baseball players throughout Ontario.

While we won’t see Jimmy behind home plate at the racetrack in Goderich this summer, we should remember his contributions to youth baseball, and stop to appreciate the efforts of the hundreds of volunteers just like him.

Without people like 'Jimmy Who' the game we all love would not be the same!

                                                     ~30~

Link to Goderich Signal-Star article ...

http://www.goderichsignalstar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2968489

President - Joe O'Neill
1st Vice President - Derek Brooks
2nd Vice President - Daryl Badder
3rd Vice President - Dan Haugh
Treasurer - David Ramsdale
Secretary - Diane Wakefield
Diamond Assignor - Brandon Fox
Umpire Assignor/U.I.C. - Rob Companion
OBA Rep - Dan Haugh

The London and District Baseball Association enjoyed a very successful season in 2010.

Among the highlights of this past season was the hosting of the Baseball Canada Midget Championships by the LDBA and the London Badger program in mid-August. The host London Badgers Midgets came away with the Bronze medal to go with the Gold Medal they won in 2009 in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Tecumseh Thunder representing Ontario defeated Quebec for the Gold medal to cap off four days of outstanding baseball.

Another major tournament came to London, St. Thomas and Kitchener on Civic Holiday weekend. The 2010 Baseball Ontario Senior Men's elimination tournament saw a record 26 teams participate, with a local team, the Ilderton Red Army, finishing second to the Windsor Stars and earning a berth in the Senior Men's Nationals in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

Major Rookie 'A' - North London - Silver medal
Major Rookie 'B' - St. Thomas - Gold medal
Minor PeeWee 'B' - St. Thomas - Gold medal
Minor PeeWee 'B' - Delaware - Silver medal
Midget 'B' - St. Thomas - Gold medal