The baseball field at Kerr Park in Bracebridge will forever be named the “Holm Diamond at Kerr Park” after Mike Holm.
He died in 2017 at the age of 39.
Holm’s number 25 was also retired. Only Holm’s sons Mark and Lucas and their descendants will be allowed to wear the number.
On Saturday, Mark pitched a great game against Innisfil and helped his Hornets to a six to two victory. He even hit a home run to help his cause.
After the first of two games against Innisfil ended, the assembled crowd gathered shoulder to shoulder around the diamond to watch as it was renamed after Mark’s father Mike.
“This is certainly a day of fond remembrance,” said Parry Sound-Muskoka MPP Graydon Smith. He was mayor of Bracebridge at the time. He told the crowd that during his time as mayor, he came to know Mike as not just a builder of baseball but a builder of youth.
Joe Hickes, Vice President of the Muskoka Hornets Baseball Association, credits Holm and Peter Haynes, President, with growing the league to what it is today. “It’s one of the most respected ones in the province,” he said.
He called Holm “the glue” of the organization. “I think everyone realized how much he was doing because we needed so many people to step up to replace the work of one,” said Hickes.
Hickes explained Mike’s oldest son Mark is set to play college baseball in New York next year, so the organization really wanted to get this recognition done before he left.
Bracebridge council agreed to rename the diamond in April 2023. “It was an absolute no-brainer,” said Mayor Rick Maloney.
Hornets players stood along the third base line and Maloney told them to not forget about the legacy Holm left behind. “You should always remember that and I’m sure you do,” he said.
The Innisfil team stood shoulder to shoulder along the first baseline during the ceremony.
“If Mike were here today I’d ask him, ‘hey, Mike, I brought my glove,” joked Maloney. “‘What do you think? Do I still got it? And I’m sure with the big heart he has he’d have a way to let me down easy.”
Smith brought a plaque from Premier Doug Ford. “This is a fitting way to honour a man who was a cornerstone in the Muskoka Hornets organization,” it says.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also sent a plaque writing that Holm was a brilliant coach, the heart and soul of the community, and a true family man.
