Chatham Coloured All-Stars 1934 Championship photo (Breaking the Colour Barrier, accessed November 25, 2020, https://cdigs.uwindsor.ca/BreakingColourBarrier/items/show/960)Chatham Coloured All-Stars 1934 Championship photo (Breaking the Colour Barrier, accessed November 25, 2020, https://cdigs.uwindsor.ca/BreakingColourBarrier/items/show/960)
Chatham

The Chatham Coloured All-Stars continue to get snubbed by the Hall of Fame

Supporters of the Chatham Coloured All-Stars are disappointed the historic team has once again been shut out of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame (CBHOF).

The Hall of Fame announced its 2024 inductees on Tuesday and the Chatham Coloured All-Stars weren't included.

Interim Executive Director and Curator of the Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society and Black Mecca Museum Samantha Meredith said the fight isn't over yet and she still hopes they get inducted some day.

"It wasn't an easy road for the Chatham Coloured All-Stars in the 1930's and it isn't going to be an easy road to get the team their rightful place in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. It's a fight that the family members and community have been making for seven years now and it's a fight everyone is willing to continue to make," said Meredith. "The team is more than deserving of their spot in the Hall of Fame and the voting committee continues to disregard this key part of our nation's history. The family and community is going to continue to celebrate and honour the Chatham Coloured All-Stars accomplishments, share their story and celebrate the 90th anniversary of their championship later this year."

Secretary of the Chatham Sports Hall of Fame Peter Cobb told CKNewsToday.ca he's baffled by the repeated snubs.

"Doesn't make sense that we have a club in the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame, the highest level this country recognizes, and yet we're not in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame," said Cobb.

Cobb said not only do the Chatham Coloured All-Stars belong in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, they belong among the best of the best in Cooperstown.

"This team should be in Cooperstown too just based on heir incredible accomplishments, being the first to win a provincial championship and certainly the obstacles they had to hurdle off the field outside of the great game of baseball," he said.

Cobb isn't ruling out trying to get the team inducted in another category if the team isn't inducted before this eligibility expires in 2026, but said he'll have to do some research first.

Brock Greenhalgh, who authored a children's book titled Hard Road to Victory: The Chatham All-Stars Story, said the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame has missed an opportunity, again.

"It is disheartening. Luckily, Canada's Sports Hall of Fame got it right, back in October of 2022. The families of the All-Stars deserve better. They continue to keep the memories of these amazing athletes front and centre, with their annual Field of Honour event, and a nod from the CBHOF would have been a fitting tribute. Disappointing," said Greenhalgh.

The team was the first black team to win an Ontario Baseball Association championship in 1934. The legendary team has been honoured with a children’s book, baseball cards, comic books, at the University of Windsor, the Chatham Sports Hall of Fame, and most recently was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame.

The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame won't say why the team came up short or how far away they were from being inducted into the Hall. Voting results are not made public either.

Read More Local Stories