It's been a disappointing start to Black History Month for many residents of Chatham, Ont.
Despite an extensive campaign to get the 1934 Chatham Colored All-Stars into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame (CBHOF), they weren't part of the 2022 class announced by the Hall this week.
"I was disappointed I have to be honest," says Blake Harding, whose father Boomer Harding was a member of the 1934 team, which was the first black team to win an Ontario Baseball Association Championship.
In 2021, a local group put forth a massive effort to get the All-Stars into the CBHOF.
They held a well-attended slo-pitch game in Chatham in October, with many descendants of 1930's teams in attendance.
They felt their chances were even better last week when the Toronto Blue Jays released a video for Black History Month with local hero Ferguson Jenkins attributing his National Baseball Hall of Fame career to his dad, a member of the 1935 All-Stars team.
However they still couldn't muster 18 of 24 votes necessary from the voting committee.
"While the Chatham Coloured All Stars did not achieve the 75 per cent threshold, they still have four more years on the ballot to gain election from the committee of historians, past inductees, media and baseball executives," Scott Crawford, CBHOF director of operations tells CTV News in a statement.
"I really don't know what else we need to do at this point," says Brock Greenhalgh, an author who wrote 'Hard Road to Victory,' the story of the Chatham All-Stars.
Greenhalgh has been leading the campaign to get the team into the hall in St. Marys, Ont. and he's frustrated the bid came up empty again.
"One discussion point that's out there right now is maybe we look at putting them forward as builders," says Greenhalgh. "If we don't just focus on the 1934 Championship, then they can look at the entire spectrum of that team from 1932 to 1939. The impact it had in southern Ontario the impact that it has in other markets as well."
The team were trailblazers on and off the field, accomplishing things never done before. Their legacy is still felt in Chatham-Kent as many descendants of the team still reside and work there.
"The '34 Colored All-Stars was before Jackie Robinson, and my dad playing hockey was before William O'Ree," says Harding.
"They opened those doors and a lot of people aren't even aware they have a debt to pay for that team. My dad was the first black letter carrier in Chatham, my Uncle Andy (Harding) was the first black police officer in Ontario and my Uncle Ken Milburn, became the first black fire fighter."
He says Ferguson Jenkins Sr. who played on the 1935 team was able to become a cook in Chatham, and his son Fergie Jenkins Jr. ended up in Cooperstown as a hall of fame inductee.
"'If the team is not successful through this process by 2026, they would be considered by the Veterans Committee immediately starting the following year. We continue to appreciate the passion and enthusiasm for the Chatham Coloured All-Stars' candidacy," says Crawford.
Greenhalgh understands that the voting committee for the CBHOF knows the impact of the 1934 team, but wonders why they keep falling short.
"What is the wall that we're running up against?" he says. "That's the part that we need to figure out. I wish they would give us some direction so we can get these athletes the recognition they deserve."
If they are to eventually make it to the CBHOF, descendants like Harding hope it happens soon so they can celebrate their father’s achievements.
"One player's brother [John Olbey] is 98-years-old I believe," says Harding. "He made it out to the family game that we had this summer, and it was a real tribute to see him still alive and to see that day. But if this goes on another a year or two, he'll be the last of that one. There's very few direct first generation descendants out those players. I'm 74 and I'm one of the younger ones."
Crawford says anyone has until Dec. 1, 2022 to adjust their nomination for the class of 2023.
This year's induction ceremony with Jeff Francis, Justin Morneau, Duane Ward, John Olerud and Jacques Doucet, will take place June 18, 2022 in St. Marys.
