The Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum Association is proud to announce the selection of the late John 鈥淛ack鈥� Norris Batey, to be inducted into the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame, individual category, on Saturday, Aug. 19 in Battleford.
Born in Hamilton, Ontario on Nov. 25, 1894, Batey lived most of his formative years in New England finishing school in Duluth, Minnesota. He excelled in sports and at the age of 15 he was a catcher for a Senior City League team. In 1912, the family moved to Asquith, where Jack proved to be an outstanding baseball player, especially as a catcher for Senlac and Macklin.
Legend has it that due to his sharp reflexes and strong arm, his teammates could always count on Batey throwing out any runner on base and blocking even the wildest pitch, as well as hitting a long ball to get them out of a batting jam.
His years of participation and contribution to Saskatchewan baseball as a player were mainly from 1912 to the 1920鈥檚.
In the early 1950鈥檚 Jack was invited to umpire in the North Battleford League. Thereafter, he followed the game religiously as an umpire.聽
Another of his religiously followed pastimes was that of keeping statistics of the World Baseball games. These finely-tuned record books are still in evidence in his daughter鈥檚 home. Batey鈥檚 contribution to baseball came during the pioneering days of the province when travel was by railway and not too many people had cameras. Any records that may have been kept are difficult or impossible to locate.
Ken Scott, 99 years old as of June 2017, recalls Batey as an umpire. Sadly, Jack鈥檚 days as a phenomenal catcher were all but over when Ken became a teenager and a ball player.
Gladys Crich, 85 years of age, revealed that her late husband Art was also baseball crazy in his youth and early adult years and spoke often of Batey鈥檚 prowess as the best catcher in the area.
Batey served in World War I and was a member of the Macklin town council. As a community minded citizen, he volunteered and belonged to, and participated in many Macklin organizations. He also established his athleticism as a legendary curler, refereed hockey games and never missed an opportunity to 鈥渟upport the boys.鈥澛�
Batey died March 9, 1973, in Macklin.
