'Great recognition'; Legendary 1934 Chatham Colored All-Stars celebrated

Chatham, Ont. -

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."

Blake Harding, 73, plays first base during a softball game at Fergie Jenkins Field in Chatham, Ont. on Saturday Oct. 2, 2021. Harding's father 'Boomer' and uncle Len Harding played for the 1934 Chatham Colored All-Stars. (Brent Lale / CTV News)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.

"If the ban wasn't there he could have been in the big leagues," says 86-year-old Earl Chase, Jr.

"He had that quality to play the game. He could put the ball where nobody else would get it and could hit, throw and play all positions."

The 1934 team excelled despite racial prejudice. Harding says his family's baseball success, helped him and others live more comfortably during that era.

His father and Uncle Andy worked as shoeshine boys and bellhops at the William Pitt Hotel, while local businessman William Gray offered help.

"He said, 'I write a letter of reference for you'," says Harding. "My dad got on the post office, my uncle became a policeman. So it did open up a lot of doors for a lot of people that were standing on the side before then."

Horace Chase, 85, agreed that the opportunities started to present themselves after the championship win.

"There was places, we couldn't go, that we could go after that," says Chase, wearing a replica of his father's Stars jersey.

"We ended up with firefighters, policemen, EMS people, school teachers, lawyers and realtors. It also opened up almost all aspects of job opportunities for students."

The game was like a large community family reunion, and doubled as an opportunity to raise awareness for the push to get the team into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.

Wilfred 'Boomer' Harding was a member of the 1934 Colored All-StarsCo-organizer Brock Greenhalgh has been leading the charge to get the team inducted the St. Mary's, Ont. hall.

"They need 75% of the ballot and we're hoping that this game today kind of gives a little bit more of a push," says Greenhalgh.

"Whether these, these players realize that or not, they were trailblazers, they were doing something that hadn't been done before. It's a story that that needs to be told again and again. With the Black Lives Matter movement, if this team doesn't go into the Hall now, when would you put this team in? It's a story that still rings true today."

Harding would love to his family's achievements recognized in the Hall of Fame, but really just wants more people to know about the 1934 team.

"I really liked it when the (Chatham Sports) Hall of Fame was at the W.I.S.H Center," says Harding.

"The kids in this community that would go there for day programs could say 'look at that'. If they can do that, why can't we? We have ability, we have talent and they've done it, we can do it now."

John Olbey, 99, and his wife Olive at Fergie Jenkins Field in Chatham, Ont.Saturday Oct. 2, 2021. Olbey's brother Cliff was a member of the 1934 Chatham Colored All-Stars. (Brent Lale / CTV News)As part of the festivities, 99-year-old John Olbey received a jersey in honour of his brother Cliff Olbey who played on the team, and the Chase brothers helped unveil a new plaque at the field honouring the team.