Chatham Coloured All-Stars 1934 Championship photo (Breaking the Colour Barrier, accessed November 25, 2020, https://cdigs.uwindsor.ca/BreakingColourBarrier/items/show/960)Chatham Coloured All-Stars 1934 Championship photo (Breaking the Colour Barrier, accessed November 25, 2020, https://cdigs.uwindsor.ca/BreakingColourBarrier/items/show/960)
Chatham

Chatham Coloured All-Stars snub is "super disappointing"

There's disappointment over the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame snub of the Chatham Coloured All-Stars.

The pioneering 1934 team once again didn't make the cut and will not be inducted into the hall in St. Marys this summer.

Executive Director and Curator of the Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society and Black Mecca Museum Samantha Meredith said she and others woke up early on Wednesday hoping to witness history, but were disappointed the team wasn't selected for induction. She feels the hall of fame missed a golden opportunity.

"Definitely disappointed because they've been on the ballot for the last five years. It just felt like this year was going to be the year that they were going to be inducted," said Meredith. "To me a class seems like more than one person. When you look at the list of the previous years, there's at least four or five people on those and to only have one person inducted seems very odd to me. A missed opportunity not only to have the all-stars included, but maybe another individual or two as well."

Meredith said she and others will continue to push for induction into the hall of fame and share the story of the team that was the first black team to win an Ontario Baseball Association championship in 1934. The legendary team has been honoured with a children's book, baseball cards, comic books, at the University of Windsor, and the Chatham Sports Hall of Fame.

"Hopefully eventually they'll do the right thing and induct them into the hall of fame," she said.

She says the players are hall of famers in her books and in the eyes of many others.

The Toronto Blue Jays have also supported the team throughout the years and released a video this week, narrated by hall of famer and Chatham native Fergie Jenkins Jr., in honour of the Chatham Coloured All-Stars and Black excellence in communities.

The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame did not respond to a request asking how far away the team was to being inducted into the hall. Meredith wishes the hall in St. Marys did what the major league hall in Cooperstown does and release the voting results.

The Chatham Coloured All-Stars still have four years of eligibility.

To learn more about the Chatham Coloured All-Stars, listen to this episode of The 519 Podcast:

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