Episode Transcript
[00:00:19] Speaker A: Hi there family and friends. Welcome to Awareness, the podcast fostering a more compassionate, empathetic and accepting society. Yours truly, Rob Daniels with you here for another episode and I thank you so much for being here. Wherever you get your podcasts, make sure to hit that like and subscribe button. That would certainly be much appreciated. So it is we're getting towards the end of May here creeping very close to a special event happening in St. Mary's Ontario. And I can't wait to get that out to you in just a moment here. First, without any further ado, I'd like to welcome you to to Awareness Episode 10, Scott Crawford, the Canadian Baseball hall of Fame operations manager. Welcome to the pod, Scott.
[00:01:07] Speaker B: Hey Rob, thanks for having me on. Always love to catch some baseball.
[00:01:11] Speaker A: Yes, you're most welcome. And I look forward to hearing about baseball today. We have a very special event in the coming weeks in early June.
Why don't you just give the audience a little sort of refresher. We've talked in the past on a previous podcast before, but a refresher on what you do at the Canadian Baseball hall of Fame and Museum.
[00:01:33] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean the induction weekend comes up in June 7th where we're getting ready for it the you know, a little bit of everything. I mean there's, there's only a couple full timers here and the rest of part time and students, summer students. So we just you know, get ready social media and planning duck these parties and well not parties I guess their events and it's a three day festival coming up in June. So we're, we're cramming to get her all done.
[00:02:03] Speaker A: So it's, it's like, it's really, it's St. Mary's biggest weekend of the year, right?
[00:02:08] Speaker B: Oh, definitely. I mean we bring thousands of people to town that weekend. You know it's sort of. We had the golf tournament the day before and the banquet that night and then we had a ceremony on the Saturday. So it's a. And event. The weekend of course kicks off in Toronto, but St. Mary's is definitely lots of people here for a few days.
[00:02:24] Speaker A: Yeah. And so this is of course for induction day at the Canadian Baseball hall of Fame and Museum, June 7. I look forward to chatting more on that. And I mean there is the induction day of course that is big in the festivities that are, that are huge that are that surround that each and every year over at the Canadian Baseball hall of Fame and Museum. But outside of that and even on the day of, you know, people that, that come up to St. Mary's you might notice like a ton of kids living out their dreams playing baseball next to the hall of Fame out on those really beautiful diamonds that surround the Canadian Baseball hall of Fame and museum.
And you know, I've noticed those kids each and every year and they look like they're having a blast. And then they get to meet some of their heroes as well, or perhaps their parents hero.
And why don't you touch on some of the programs that you got going on for the kids on a regular basis at those ball fields at the Baseball hall of Fame? Like, who are those kids? Is it Little League? Is it House League? What is it exactly?
[00:03:31] Speaker B: Yeah, we have all ages at play here. I mean, we have five fields we look after on our site. And right from kids beginning picking up the ball for the first time at five years old and up to, you know, teenage ball, the elite ball, the play plays place here on weekends. And it's, it's great to see the kids playing ball. I mean, outside you want to get them outside, you don't want them playing on their phones and their computers all the time, you know, making friends, etc. And inside the museum, the same similar things. We got a few programs going on.
You know, we have some activities when they come in the museum so they're not just like looking at things on a wall. They get to do those scavenger hunting, word searches and just stuff to keep them entertained and, and get them thinking about the sport of baseball and enjoying the sport of baseball. Because, you know, we want, we want the next generation to love baseball like you and I do, Rob. And it's just one of those things where you got to keeping their minds entertained and grabbing their interest however you can.
[00:04:25] Speaker A: Absolutely. That's fantastic.
We also know that baseball, you know, I often have friends, we have this discussion that it's not just a physical game. Probably one of the most challenging games mentally is baseball. And you know, with this being a mental health podcast, I thought I'd, you know, sort of touch on that because it is very difficult. I mean, you think about these players nowadays in Major League Baseball and you know, baseball coming in at 99 to 100 miles, 101 miles an hour, and they have to hit it with a, with a wooden bat, just a stick, and you're thinking like, that's probably got to be the most difficult thing to do in all of sports. Would you agree?
[00:05:13] Speaker B: 100% it is. And that's what everyone says. You know, all the athletes say you're hitting a, you're hitting a round ball with a round object in less than half a second after the let's go of the ball going straight, right. You know, most of them are moving at some point, dipping, curving, you know, dropping.
So you have less than half a second to decide. You want to swing, to swing and actually make good contact with the ball to get a base hit. So it's. It's all. It's difficult. Like we say, like, you get three hits out of 10 at bats and you're in the hall of Fame, right?
[00:05:46] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:05:47] Speaker B: You're on the walls into your or in Cooperstown, if you get 3 out of 10 on your math test, your parents aren't so happy. You get 3 out of 10 in a weekend double header. You know, you're the best player on the team.
[00:05:58] Speaker A: And yeah, it's.
[00:06:00] Speaker B: It's definitely a tough thing to understand, but.
But it's the sport of baseball, and.
[00:06:04] Speaker A: That'S how it goes for sure.
So.
So with that being said, you know, and they start at such a young age, and baseball's ever evolving and changing, and the rules seem to keep changing, what do you think? What sorts of challenges would you say are the kids at your fields being tested with early on, do you think, when it comes to their mental game in baseball, is it. Is it situational plays?
Are you able to elaborate on. On their mental game?
[00:06:39] Speaker B: Yeah, and it varies with age. I mean, of course, with the little kids, how. You know, because the kids can't hit the ball in the outfield.
[00:06:45] Speaker A: Right.
[00:06:45] Speaker B: But someone's got to play the outfield. You know, at young age, the coaches have to be rotating kids around. Obviously, everyone gets infield, outfield, you know, just. Just to stay in the game and be entertained, you know, because again, you might get one ball hit to you in an hour and a half ball game and just be able to, you know, still get your head in the game. Think about the game. Every hitter might hit the ball to you, so you got to be like, oh, this guy might hit the ball to me. What am I gonna do, right? Am I gonna throw it to second? Am I gonna throw to third? Am I gonna try to throw a runner at home? Now, obviously, different ages mean different things and how far you can throw the ball type thing. But it's just one of those aspects where baseball is a slow game.
You really need to be thinking about what you're doing all the time. And it's something that just takes time to grow with the game and your mind and to be prepared. Because, again, every pitch is exciting. In baseball because you never know what's going to happen with bigger teenagers. Every pitch could leave the ballpark or it could end up in a strikeout. With little kids, obviously you're not going to have the home runs, but every ball could be hit to you and you got to be ready. And it's just part of the excitement of the game of baseball.
[00:07:53] Speaker A: Yeah.
Who's mostly coaching these kids at the Diamonds at the Hall? Is it usually the children's parents or volunteers?
[00:08:03] Speaker B: Most of the minor ball is players, parents, because that's just what they do. Their kid wants to play ball, the parents want to be involved, which is the perfect way to do it. The younger the kids are, the more coaches should be involved. And, and you don't want parents say, well, I don't know how to play baseball. Well, you have a five year old on the field, you know how to play baseball better than the five year old. So you can help them catch the ball, you can roll balls to them. Because again, to catch it, to catch a ground ball, you got to start by someone rolling a ball to you and catching it in your glove. Right. You don't need someone hitting a ball with a bat at you. You'll never catch it. So I mean it's just one of those things where you parents need to be involved and should be. And the younger the age, the more parents you need because every parent can help a 5 and 6, 7, 8 year old learn the game. Baseball.
[00:08:47] Speaker A: Yeah. I gotta say, it always makes me smile to see those kids playing on the diamond on induction weekend because it reminds me of me and you know, playing house league, seven, eight, nine years old and having dad help coach, it certainly does help and molds you into a great person too. You know, just playing baseball throughout your life years. It, you could say it certainly keeps you out of trouble too, you know, and, and physically fit and mentally sharp. So it's a, it's a good thing for sure. Let's, let's move in the direction of, of induction day because that is happening in the coming weeks on June 7th. Very much looking forward to this and I bet you are as well.
In the past. I've seen you there and it's usually on Father's Day weekend, I guess. You, you guys, is there a reason it, it scaled back a couple weekends before or is that off the table to, to not reveal or, or what can you say on that?
[00:09:47] Speaker B: Yeah, normally it is a week or two later. We always have it in June. So we just started to adjust a few things. To get everything scheduled correctly and properly. So just. Yeah, I got moved up one weekend.
[00:09:58] Speaker A: But it got moved up. Yeah. Yeah. So. So Saturday, June 7, 2025. And it's, you know, I've noticed it's probably one of your. That's what you work for each and every day moving forward on the calendar to get to this specific weekend. And I notice you are certainly busy on, on that day. And We've got more 2020. We've got more inductees this year. Of course, that's the, the purpose every year is to induct new hall of Fame members. So on that bill for 2025, perhaps my favorite on the bill, and I imagine several others who are listening or might be watching this podcast, Jose Batista, who had an incredible tenure with Canada's team, the Toronto Blue Jays, do you. Being like, I've, I've always. I've kind of been interested when I was knowing that I was going to be chatting with you, thinking like, okay, where's the director of operations for the Canadian Baseball hall of Fame and Museum sitting, thinking about when that bat flip was heard around the world. When Jose Batista hit that in the seventh inning against the Texas Rangers, October 14, 2015. I still remember the date vividly. Where were you? What were you doing on that day?
[00:11:11] Speaker B: People ask me that a lot. And it was already 10 years ago, which is hard to believe, but I was at, I was at the stadium. I was in the press box at the stadium that night.
And it, the state, like everyone says, the stadium was rocking. It was. It was moving. The unique thing about the press box is you're not allowed to cheer for either.
[00:11:31] Speaker A: No.
[00:11:32] Speaker B: So you have to stay neutral. Right. Because you're beside Texas writers, MLB writers and Blue Jay writers. And so you have to respect everyone up there. And so basically I'm watching the game.
I see the hit.
I know it's a home run because everyone can tell it's a home run. The crowds are so crazy. And the whole press box was completely silent because everyone was doing their job and the Texas writers were writing one story and of course the Blue Jay writers were writing a different story.
And.
And yeah, it was so I so wanted to stand up and yell at top my lungs with hand claps and cheering and whatnot, but I'm looking around and nobody is in the press box. Wow.
[00:12:15] Speaker A: So you had to hold that in. I can't even imagine what that must have been like being a Blue Jays fan all your life. And. And that moment you had to hold your. Wow if, if there's any lesson in mastering your thoughts and emotions, that was it right there for you. I guess say it was, it was.
[00:12:33] Speaker B: It was so, so exciting. Of course. And you know to say I was there, which, which is cool. I mean for, I wasn't there for Joe Carter's home run. I was sitting in my basement as a teenager watching the game and there and then I could cheer. Right. But Jose Batista, I got be at the stadium which obviously a very unique perspective and it was, you know, I was glad I was there. Even though I couldn't stand up and cheer. I cheered on the inside.
[00:12:57] Speaker A: Right. Yeah. So that's, that's certainly interesting. So you were in which. Sorry, in a basement when Joe Carter hit that home run in the 93 World Series in your parents basement in Saint Mary's?
[00:13:11] Speaker B: Yeah, no, I was living in Georgetown where my family's from and yeah, I was just in their basement. I was just a teenager and you know, just watching, of course watching every game because I'm a Blue Jay fan and yeah, it was, that home run was exciting and, and I mean that Joe Carter home run was the ultimate home run. As a baseball fan, you know that you can't hit a bigger home run than the World Series winning home run.
You know, Batista's home run is, you know, it was a playoff home run. It was a seventh inning. It put the Jays ahead.
So it was amazingly dramatic and awesome because that seventh inning was just ridiculous. You remember the errors and all that stuff from the top in the whole seventh inning. But Joe Carter's was pretty impressive as well.
[00:13:52] Speaker A: Yeah, for sure. So we have, we know that Batista is on the bill. He is going to be inducted in the in on June 7th in St. Mary's Ontario. Certainly a great event each and every year, Induction day. And he's not the only talented one on the bill. There are other 20, 25 inductees that will be at the hall of fame on June 7th. Can you reveal who those are?
[00:14:17] Speaker B: Yeah, we got five other people which. So we have a great class of six.
The other people are Eric Bedard who's a left handed pitcher with both mostly Baltimore and Seattle. He's from the Ottawa area.
The all time left handed pitcher in game started, innings pitched and strikeouts for Canadians. So well, well deserving for him.
Greg Hamilton of course runs the baseball Canada national team, is a junior and senior national men's team. He's been Baseball Canada for 30 years. He's done it all. He's won gold medals at Pan AM Games. He's been in the Olympics, he's managed all the WBC teams.
So he's getting honored for all his dues. He's done with baseball Canada, the national teams program. The other, the other three people have passed away, but we have family members coming.
So Amanda Assay from the women's national team, she was playing up to 2021 when she unfortunately passed away early, 2022.
But she's, she was the rock for the team. She played for 15 years, pitcher slash first baseman.
She was one of the best in the world at the game of baseball. And so we're able to honor her. And her parents are coming in.
Going back a few years, you got Arlene Noga, as we all know, the movie League of Their Own. So Arlene played the All American Girl, the Girls Professional Baseball League. She's from Saskatchewan. She played for four years. She was nicknamed the Iron lady because she had a consecutive game streak of over 300 games. So pretty cool that way. And she actually got to work with the stars in the League of Their Own, Rosie and Madonna, to sort of teach them how to play the game of baseball. So it'll be great. Her daughter's gonna be here, so we'll hear a few cool stories, I'm sure about her mom's, her mom's time teaching Madonna and also playing in the, in the big, in the games in the, in the 40s and 50s. And last but not least, of course, Jerry Snyder. Jerry Snyder was a city councilor with Montreal and he was, there were a few fellows, but he was, he was the main city councilor that wanted a baseball team. He pushed and pushed and pushed Major League Baseball to bring the Major League Baseball team to Montreal in the mid-60s.
It happened obviously, 1969, the expos was the first season. He brought Charles Bronfman on board, he brought John McHale on board and he basically helped convince Major League Baseball to bring baseball to Montreal. And they were the first. Right. So without the Expos, who knows when the Blue Jays might have come?
But Expos were first. And so that's, that makes it even more exciting and impressive for Jerry Snyder and his family.
[00:16:40] Speaker A: Lots to look forward to in terms of inductees, that's for sure.
So I mean, it's going to be a busy day on the 7th and I imagine it's going to be just a busy weekend day, busy week in general for you being the director of operations. I mean, can you, can you talk a little bit about the, the lead up events that take place before induction day?
[00:17:02] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean it's a three day festival we have. I mean we're going crazy since basically we announced it in February.
But we have the opening pitch which is on the Thursday night. It's at Left Field Brewery in Toronto at their new, newer place in Liberty Village, just west of the, the Dome. So it's, it's sort of like a mingling meet and greet. It's a fundraiser for us. It's sort of to get us out of St. Mary's and into Toronto where there's a lot of baseball fans obviously in the big city.
So we do that on the Thursday night from 6 till 10, the inductees will be there and say it's just a mingling meet and greet fundraising event with food and drinks.
And then the Friday that we have a big golf tournament, fundraising golf tournament here on June 6th here at the St. Mary's Golf Course.
It's sold out, but there's lots of banquet tickets available.
And the banquet runs from 4 to 7 that Friday night in St. Mary's at the hall of Fame in the same 10 as induction day the next day. So there's lots going on a couple days before, whether you live in Toronto, whether you like the golf or you just come out to a nice dinner, there's a variety of things do those couple days and, and then the big induction, one o' clock on Saturday, June 7th.
[00:18:07] Speaker A: Right. So how, speaking of that, on, on the Saturday, so it gets underway, it goes from about 1 to 3pm the, the induction ceremony.
[00:18:17] Speaker B: Yeah, it usually lasts about two hours. Again, it depends how many. We're also getting Dave Perkins his Jack Rainey Award for lifetime media award that he won last year. So that's, we're sort of honoring seven people that day. So yeah, we generally say about two hours.
[00:18:31] Speaker A: Okay, so how can fans be a part of this special induction ceremony on the 7th? Like let's say new fans, people that haven't been to St. Mary's before. Do they have to buy tickets to come to the induction ceremony? What do they have to do?
[00:18:45] Speaker B: Yeah, no, it's, it's a free event. It's outside in our tent on the ball field.
All our information is on our website at baseballofame Ca. But the ceremony is free. We have food, we have drinks, there's ball games going on. The museum's open, silent auction. There's an autograph session after the induction ceremony.
And it's just a day of baseball. You can come early. Ball Games start at 9 o' clock on our site.
So you can watch ball games all day long.
And then the museum opens at 11 and the barbecue gets going and ceremonies at 1 and museums open all afternoon, so you can check out the museum after the ceremony as well.
[00:19:23] Speaker A: Okay, great.
And just for public knowledge, if they want to partake in the public signing, let's say they want to get their baseball heroes autographs that day that, that could be signing.
What should they be aware of? Is there a donation fee? What, what is there, what should they be in the know of for that?
[00:19:44] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. I mean, autographs are after the ceremony. There's two lineups. One's a members line if you bought an annual membership, and one's a non members line. And one of the benefits of the membership is you get to go in first.
One thing I want to touch base on, like, autographs aren't guaranteed, of course, because, because, you know, we get as many people through as we can, but there is a limit to the time that we'll have the celebrity sign. So, so just get there early and, and it'll be a long lineup, no doubt about it. But you know, we get as many people through as we can. So just. And there is a fee. It's $30 members and 40 for non members. And you just pay that at the front of the line when you get the front of the line. So it's not per autograph, it's just a get into the autograph session. So for that price, you're getting, you know, 10 to 12 autographs for, for 30 or $40. So it's quite, quite a bargain, that's for sure.
[00:20:33] Speaker A: Yeah, that's a bargain indeed. Yeah. So it should be a, a full house June 7th in St. Mary's and you know, it's a, it's such a, I always say this, it's such a pretty town as well, just to, to, you know, maybe go grab lunch on that Saturday and then go to the ceremony. It's definitely a great day out for the family.
[00:20:52] Speaker B: It is. We're looking forward to. It's going to be a huge day.
You know, it's outside, so dress for the weather. It's early June, so it should be a very nice, comfortable day. But we can't wait to see everyone there that day.
[00:21:04] Speaker A: All right. Baseballhallofame CA is the website. How can they follow you on social media?
[00:21:10] Speaker B: Yeah, we have, our main accounts are Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. You know, Twitter cdn, cdn, Baseball hof along with Facebook and Instagram's Canadian Baseball hof.
Or just, just put A search. Put us in the search and you'll find us. But yeah, we'll post all our information on those three socials and if you don't follow us now, please give us a follow on all of them. And you'll get caught up to date with what we're doing all summer long. So museum's open so you can come visit us if you can't make induction day. You know, museums open all summer, so come check out the museum and entertain.
[00:21:42] Speaker A: And my last question for you, this is just off the cuff.
What?
You know, I was thinking about your past MCs. Who. Who's going to be hosting the 2025 induction ceremony? I mean, we've had Hazel May in the past. We've had Rod Black, I believe. And is there anyone new this year? Is. Are we bringing back Hazel May? What's the dealio?
[00:22:02] Speaker B: We're bringing back one of those two.
[00:22:05] Speaker A: Okay. So you can't stay.
You can't bring that into awareness yet?
[00:22:10] Speaker B: No, not yet. So we're just.
[00:22:12] Speaker A: Lips are sealed. Okay, well, we'll keep you on that. I won't.
[00:22:17] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:22:17] Speaker A: I won't push any further. No worries.
[00:22:19] Speaker B: We always have. But. Yep. So you gotta come here that day and you'll find out.
[00:22:25] Speaker A: Okay, sounds good. We'll keep it a secret for now. Then I will understand. That is Scott Crawford, the director of operations at the Canadian Baseball hall of Fame and Museum in St. Mary's Ontario. Thank you so much for doing this, Scott.
[00:22:40] Speaker B: Hey, no problem, Rob. It's always great to talk baseball and your podcasts are always wonderful to listen to. So I hope everyone chimes in and learns from them and enjoys listening to them.
[00:22:50] Speaker A: Appreciate that very much. For producer Mike, I'm Rob Daniels. Thanks so much for listening to Awareness Fostering a more compassionate, empathetic and accepting society. We'll see you back in the next episode.
[00:23:07] Speaker B: Sam.
