OBA HOF class 2021: Ridley, Upham, Willis, Leaside seniors

John Upham, who pitched and played outfield for the Chicago Cubs, is a member of the Baseball Ontario Hall of Fame class of 2021.

Baseball Ontario Hall of Fame release

Former two-way major leaguer and sandlot coach John Upham, long-time scout and coach Jim Ridley, veteran umpire Dick Willis and the powerhouse Leaside seniors make up Baseball Ontario’s Hall of Fame class for 2021.

The inductees:

Hall of Famer John Upham

John Upham (born Dec. 29, 1941 in Windsor, Ont.).

Upham was signed in 1960 by Philadelphia Phillies scout Tony Lucadello. The lefty played outfield and pitched for class-D Tampa, class-C Bakersfield, triple-A Buffalo, triple-A Arkansas, double-A Chattanooga and class-A Eugene in the Phillies’ system. His finest year was in 1961 when he was named the best centre fielder in all of class-C as he finished second with a .356 batting average.

Joining the Chicago Cubs’ organization in 1966, he was with double-A Dallas-Fort Worth and triple-A Tacoma before making the Cubs under manager Leo Durocher the next year. His major-league debut came as a reliever on April 16, 1967 at Forbes Field when he allowed a single to Manny Mota. The Cubs starter that day? None other than Chatham’s Fergie Jenkins, another Baseball Ontario Hall of Famer. The Pirates scored four times in the ninth for a 6-5 win.

On May 19, 1967, Upham had his first major league at bat for the Cubs when he pinch-hit for Bill Hands and singled to right off Hall of Famer Don Drysdale in an 8-0 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers at Wrigley Field.

In 1968, he pitched seven scoreless innings for the Cubs in two games, while seeing action in 13 games as a hitter. It was his ninth and final year of pro ball from 1960 to 1968. Yet, he was far from finished with the game.

Upham managed Riverside (1978-81), was the pitching coach for Ontario, which won gold at the Canada Summer Games (1981, 1985), skippered the Windsor Chiefs to Ontario and Canadian senior titles (1982), was the pitching coach for Canada at three consecutive World Junior championships (1986-88, winning bronze medal in 1987), coached third for Canada at the Olympic Games in Seoul (1988), managed the Canadian team at the World Junior championships (1989-90), was pitching coach at the Pan-Am Games (2011) and managed the Canadian senior team (1992).

The pull of the diamond was strong and Upham returned to manage Riverside to the nationals, winning bronze (2000) and silver (2001). He was inducted into the Windsor/Essex County Sports Hall of Fame in 1995.

HOFer Jim Ridley

Jim Ridley (Born: July 9, 1945, Toronto, Died: Nov. 28, 2008, Burlington, Ont.).

There is a certain symmetry to Ridley’s career with the Toronto Blue Jays. A full-time teacher, he ran the first-ever Blue Jays’ tryout camp in Utica, NY in 1976. And in August of 2002, he was in Utica when the call came from 1 Blue Jays Way that his services were no longer needed.

He was not a free agent for long as he was hired by Minnesota Twins successful general manager Terry Ryan to scout Canadian high schoolers.

A highly respected coach at the amateur level -- as part of Bill Byckowski’s staff which won the 2007 peewee nationals in Quebec City, which included Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Carson Kelly, coaching his twin sons Shayne and Jeremy in high school or Canada against Cuba and Japan -- he had an eye for talent and always pushed his bosses to “give the Canadian kid a chance,” come draft time.

Ridley was Greg Hamilton before Greg Hamilton, coaching the Canadian junior national team (1983-88), winning bronze at the Worlds in 1983 and 1987. Hall of Famer Larry Walker was part of that 1984 team as a shortstop. More than 20 teams, including Ridley’s bosses with the Blue Jays, overlooked Walker. Montreal Expos’ Jim Fanning sent scout Bob Rogers into Grand Forks, BC, for a second look and Walker signed for $1,500.

Ridley coached the Canadian Olympic team (1988) and the national team at the Pan Am Games (2001). He also served as a coach with the Blue Jays’ rookie-class affiliate in Medicine Hat (1978-80).

Scouting for the Blue Jays, Ridley was involved in the club signing Paul Spoljaric, Rob Butler and David Corrente. With the Twins, Rene Tosoni and Jon Waltenbury were among the Canadians he brought into the organization.

Fanning signed Ridley with the Milwaukee Braves. After two seasons as an outfielder with the rookie-class Braves in Sarasota, class-A Greenville and class-A West Palm Beach in 1964 and 1965, Ridley returned to Canada. He continued his playing career in the Intercounty League earning the MVP with the Stratford Hillers in 1974. He then started a three-year stint as a part-time scout with the Detroit Tigers, beginning his storied coaching and scouting career in earnest.

Ridley passed away in 2008. Each year, the Canadian Baseball Network presents the Jim Ridley award to the country’s top scout in his memory.

Jim McIntyre was the 2018 winner of the Dick Willis Memorial junior umpire of the year.

Dick Willis (Born: 1920, New York City, Died Aug. 20, 1992, Georgetown, Ont.)

Willis grew up living in the Bronx. He became a high school teacher and then worked for a publisher of educational books, umpiring college ball in the US. His company transferred him to Ontario. He became secretary of Central Ontario Baseball Association and Baseball Ontario supervisor of umpires. He also served on Baseball Canada’s umpiring committee and he supervised international championships.

Leaside’s Howie Birnie, a former umpire himself, shared his first recollection of Willis working a Leaside senior game at Talbot Park in the Halton County League. “He wore an all grey uniform,” Birnie, an OBA Hall of Famer, “and handled games with remarkable control and dignity. He was one of the most articulate persons whom I have ever met with a great sense of humour.

Trevor Drury (Outlook, Sask.) won Baseball Canada’s Dick Willis Memorial award in 2019

Willis was recognized for his umpiring across the country. Awards in his honour are presented yearly at the provincial and national levels. For example, the Baseball Canada umpire of the year earns the Dick Willis award. The Baseball Ontario Junior Umpire of the Year receives the Dick Willis award.

The greatest compliment is to have a diamond named after a player or a builder. In the 1990s, there a Cannon Cup midget tourney -- composed of association all-star teams -- each fall at the end of the season. The bantam segment was named the Willis Cup and ran the same weekend.

The Leaside Maple Leafs, OBA senior champs in 1980 are now HOFers

Leaside seniors

They played at a place known as The Shrine, as Howie Birnie describes Talbot Park. Located at the corner of Bayview and Eglinton, it had a short fence with a screen monster in left and wide, wide open spaces in right. Left-handed hitters could often be heard yelling at the right fielder who caught a 400-foot drive “get back in the park!”

Between 1972 and 1989 the Leaside seniors, known as the Maple Leafs, Hurricanes or Leafs won 11 OBA senior titles. In addition, they won five Halton County titles and five Greater Toronto League championships.

Leaside’s winning percentage in 1976 was .806. The team batting average in 1981 was .360. In 1983, the club won 55 games.

The coach most of those years was the late Ric (Smooth) Fleury. Sam Leonard, the assistant coach, has also passed away.