Armstrong: North of Cooperstown, a Hall of Fame that fits Canada just fine

From Kevin Armstrong at the New York Times on July 19, 2019, with mention of SABR members Scott Crawford:

Ferguson Jenkins, the former Cy Young Award winner, sat in a white tent outside the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame last month.

It was induction day, and Jenkins, who was enshrined in 1987, greeted autograph seekers next to his van, the one with “FERGIE31” pounded into the license plates. In between autograph requests, Margaret Higgins, a fan from Ontario, approached with a question.

“Excuse me,” Higgins said, “did you say you’re the only Canadian in Cooperstown so far?”

“Yes, the only one in the American Hall of Fame,” said Jenkins, who was inducted stateside in 1991.

“Oh my goodness,” she said. “I didn’t realize that.”

The Canadian hall is accustomed to the comparisons to the hall in Cooperstown, N.Y., by now. Separated by 379 miles, the two museums share only 11 members (non-Canadians are also enshrined in St. Mary’s), but Jenkins is the Canadian hall’s ambassador in an era of expansion. Last year, the quaint museum closed for renovations, adding a 2,500-square-foot wing for archives and artwork next to the stone farmhouse, built in 1868, that was long the hall’s lone structure. Its footprint has doubled.

Read the full article here: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/19/sports/baseball/canadian-baseball-hall-of-fame.html



Originally published: July 24, 2019. Last Updated: July 24, 2019.