June 16, 2024

By Trevor Fitzpatrick

Canadian Baseball Network

It was 72 years ago back in 1952 that Howard Birnie first donned a pair of cleats and stepped on to a Toronto baseball diamond.

He’s still involved in Leaside Baseball’s programs to this day.

As Saturday’s emcee Rod Black so eloquently put it at the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame’s induction ceremony, Birnie (Toronto, Ont.) is the “King of Leaside.” It’s impossible to imagine the local scene without him playing a role in it.

“I played for the wonderful Matty Eckler,” recalled Birnie during his speech, “after watching me play for a few years, he suggested I coach.”

And while he didn’t know it at the time, he was embarking on a path that would see him put together a long and impressive resume on and around the diamond.

Birnie led teams to seven city championships, a provincial championship, and a national title in 1964. All while making sure to chirp the umpires at each stop along the way.

“I got calls from City Hall who ran all the parks and recreation, they said, ‘tell that guy Birnie to stop harassing the umpires.’ Which I finally did when I started umpiring myself,” said Birnie.

It’s a role that’s hard, underappreciated, and a massive time commitment, but it’s one that Birnie took up because he loved the game so much. For 34 years, he called balls and strikes at numerous levels. Those levels included six national championships, three international championships, two World Junior Championships, and even three Pearson Cup games.

One of his favourite stories behind the plate came at none other than a local house league game at Leaside’s Talbot Park.

“In house league games, you have to call strikes. I had no problem doing that,” said Birnie, “First pitch came in on the border outside, strike one. Kid turned, I thought to myself, he sure ain’t going to like the next one. After another border strike call, I asked him what he came up to hit for? He looked back again and said, ‘to hit strikes.’”

Another man who was always there to hit strikes was the hit king Pete Rose. During an exhibition game in 1984, the king of Leaside rang Rose up on a 3-2 count, much to Rose’s dismay.

“I went and talked to the first base umpire Dick Willis after to ask him if the pitch was low. Dick was a much smaller man than I, very dignified, he looked at me and said, ‘do you mean before or after it bounced?’”

Standing behind the plate is no easy job, but Birnie stuck with it. For all of his efforts in giving back to the game, he’s been the recipient of numerous honours. They include the OBA’s Volunteer and Executive of the Year Awards in 1994, the OBA’s President’s Award in 2007, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Award in 2012 and inductions into the Leaside and Ontario Baseball Halls of Fame, and now of course, the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.

“I was incredibly surprised to begin with, then very much humbled and grateful to be recognized for simply doing something I have loved most of my life. My inclusion is beyond my dreams,” said Birnie.