Joe Wiwchar, left, completes the St. Marys class of 2023, with his son Tim, middle, and his grandson Tyler.

February 3, 2023

By Melissa Verge

Canadian Baseball Network

Joe Wiwchar has saved the day many times.

Rushing in with a ball cap and a love for the game of baseball, the now 87-year old has stepped into an unexpected coaching role on many occasions. Kids who would’ve otherwise missed out on the beauty of baseball summers - mouths full of sunflower seeds, freshly cut grass and dirt underfoot - were all given a chance to take the field because of Wiwchar.

So, although the call came as a shock for him last Friday, that shock was one-sided.

The longtime baseball coach was fittingly, but not surprisingly, at the amazingly detailed Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame -- a must stop if you are driving through Morden, Man. -- when he picked up.

“You’re going to be inducted [into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame],” Scott Crawford, director of operations at the St. Marys hall told him through the phone.

“I was skeptical, I said, ‘so this is a joke?’” answered this humble man, who has given so much to Manitoba ball.

Upon hearing that it was, in fact, true, Wiwchar proceeded to sit down, he said, because he was absolutely flabbergasted. His story is unique to the other 2023 inductees in that he didn’t make his mark on the game as a major-league player. He was a grassroots coach/volunteer/administrator. Former scout Murray Zuk (Souris, Man.) was Wiwchar’s champion.

In fact, Wiwchar put away his catching mitt 70 years ago. Although he was a decent catcher, he said, his cross-handed batting grip landed him ninth in the batting order consistently.

He called an early wrap on his playing career after midget ball.

However, it was far from the end of his time on the ball field. Not a year later, a group of girls came up to him and said they needed a coach. He volunteered his time to help, marking the beginning of his 60-year coaching tenure.

Since that first year, he’s spent countless hours growing the sport in Manitoba. In addition to coaching, he worked as the first administrative manager of the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame for more than two decades. He was also a member of the committee that formed the Manitoba Baseball Association in 1968.

If all the hours given back were added up, it would be an estimated 24 hours a day, seven days a week for almost a full year.

“[It was] just something that I loved doing,” Wiwchar said.

It was a love that kept on giving, with dozens and dozens of young kids getting the opportunity to take the field because of him. They all got to grow up on the diamond, Wiwchar included. The young 18-year-old fresh off his retirement as a player learned alongside his athletes.

In the beginning, his coaching involved a lot of shouting because he didn’t know any better, he said, and as he attended clinics he realized there were different ways of doing things. Mainly, he tried to instill in his players a sense of respect.

It was a pure love and commitment that spread to his relatives.

The sport has been passed down in the family much like a favorite recipe, except instead of doing it every Christmas, they do it every summer when they take the field. All three of his sons played ball at some point.

Later on in his life, he took the field with three generations - himself as coach, with his son alongside him, and his grandson as catcher. His grandson, Tyler, and son, Tim, were called in to help when one coach couldn’t make it and Wiwchar needed another catcher. He laid down the law early on with his players in regards to his new recruits.

“This guy is my coach and you know you have to listen to him, too. And this is my grandson catching and he isn’t going to get any favoritism.”

Although Wiwchar is extremely bashful in his recollections, it’s clear from the response to his accomplishment the impact he’s had on so many athletes’ lives. From 12-year-olds to seniors, he’s coached many, with the one thing they all had in common: a love for the game.

The phone has been ringing consistently with them calling to congratulate the 87-year-old inductee. In the past, he’s been invited to players’ weddings whom he’s coached. And, he’s often visited by former athletes on their lunch breaks. They stop by his home to chat, talk ball and sometimes a bit of curling.

“They must’ve thought I was okay,” he said humbly, likely the same way he picked up the phone when Crawford called to tell him he was being inducted into the Canadian ball hall.

“It’s a tremendous honour [to be an inductee]” Wiwchar said.

All of those players, all of those generations, they’d pull into the parking lot, or they would visit the Manitoba Hall.

And then they would play on the ball field.

Name of the ball yard?

Joe Wiwchar field.

Of course.

Verge: Manitoba HOFer Wiwchar headed to St. Marys as grassroots HOFer