The four diamonds at McCulley Robertson Recreation Park in Huntsville are currently named A, B, C, and F. If Peter Haynes, President of the Muskoka Hornets Baseball Association, has his way, two of the fields will be named after a pair of Huntsville Hall of Famers.
He proposed to council on June 26 that one of the fields, A, be renamed after Stan Rimmington. “Ziggy” is in the Huntsville Hall of Fame as a player and a builder, noted for his stellar work building Huntsville’s men’s fastball league.
“He is everything that you epitomize in any local volunteer,” said Haynes, who added Rimmington still spends most of his time supporting the league.
He proposed naming another field, F, after George Selkirk. Not only is “Twinkletoes” in the Huntsville Hall of Fame, but he is also in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. Haynes says Selkirk is noted for taking over right field for the New York Yankees from Babe Ruth.
He was a five-time World Series champion with the Bronx Bombers, a two-time all-star, and is credited with inventing the “warning track.” Haynes explains it’s part of the outfield and is made of a different material than the rest of the field so players can see and feel when they are getting close to the outfield wall and potentially avoid crashing into it.
He suggested the Hornets would buy a plaque to display at the field, too.
The ask came just a couple of days after the baseball field at Kerr Park in Bracebridge was renamed after Mike Holm.
Council decided to reach out to the McCulley and Robertson families as well as other users of the diamonds to see if they’re okay with the two diamonds being renamed. A report will be discussed by council at their July council meeting.
Haynes also asked council to make changes to its policy of locking diamonds when not in use. He noted that Huntsville is one of the few communities he knows of that locks some of its diamonds.
Colleen MacDonald, Manager of Parks & Cemeteries, pointed out that the only field this doesn’t apply to is C which doesn’t have fencing around it.
She explains staff will maintain the field prior to it being used and, since staff resources are “slim,“, they have to be locked when not in use.
Council agreed to set up a lockbox as a pilot project to allow the Hornets to use the field.
“It’s a taxpayer-funded facility, let’s get them on the diamond,” said Coun. Scott Morrison.
