Tours of historic Labatt Park to be offered this summer

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Beginning this summer, Labatt Memorial Park, home of the London Majors and the world’s oldest baseball diamond, will be offering exclusive behind the scenes public tours of this legendary facility. Photo: Tourism London

Official Tourism London News Release

London, Ont. – Beginning this summer, Labatt Memorial Park, home of the London Majors and the world’s oldest baseball diamond, will be offering exclusive behind the scenes public tours of this legendary facility.

With a history dating back to 1877, Labatt Memorial Park has played an important role on the growth and development of baseball in Canada, and now thanks to support from the Government of Ontario, Tourism London and the City of London, guests will have the opportunity to get behind the scenes, see artifacts, and hear firsthand about some of the famous teams and players that have come through this facility, including Satchel Paige, Ty Cobb, Fergie Jenkins, Jesse Owens, Deion Sanders and many more.

Along with Labatt Memorial Park, Southwestern Ontario is home to a number of important baseball sites including the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in St. Marys, Ont., and the Beachville District Museum, home to one of the first ever recorded baseball games, located just outside of Woodstock, Ont.

Together with these organizations, the “Southwestern Ontario Baseball Heritage Pass” will be formed, marketing the region as a destination for baseball heritage. This partnership will include a dedicated website, itineraries, travel booking and one ticket into all three attractions, encouraging guests to visit each location and explore the entire Southwestern Ontario region.

“Many people aren’t aware of the incredible history of Labatt Memorial Park, and we look forward to sharing these stories with Londoners and many others. We believe this has the opportunity to become another key attraction for the city by providing a unique, memorable and educational experience. The collaboration with the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum and the Beachville District Museum to create a regional baseball heritage pass will provide additional tourism opportunities that will benefit each location while also strengthening the entire region,” said Zanth Jarvis, director, sport tourism, Tourism London

“Labatt Memorial Park is a gem in our city and we’re thrilled to be able to begin offering tours to showcase its incredible history. With our recently announced investment, as well as this additional programming, we’re excited for the future of Labatt Memorial Park and we look forward to continually welcoming guests for years to come,” added Jon-Paul McGonigle, division manager, culture, special events and sport services, City of London

4 thoughts on “Tours of historic Labatt Park to be offered this summer

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  1. Tom Valcke – Stratford, Ontario – Tom Valcke put his iCASE Baseball Academy as well as his position of Head Coach at George Brown College into hiatus, when Hong Kong brought him there in 2018 to serve as head coach of their Men's Olympic baseball team, where he finished with unprecedented success in the 2018 Asian Games held in Jakarta, Indonesia, spiking their WBSC World Ranking from #41 to #28 in just one year under his tutelage. China then scooped up Valcke, as he became the GM and Head Coach of Panda Sport and Culture, a division of the China Olympic Federation, overseeing baseball and softball, and training the national team coaches of baseball and softball, men's and women's teams. Panda Sport and Culture is based in Zhongshan, China's nationally recognized "#1 Baseball City," located on the southeast tip of China, and has a climate much like Florida. On his own initiative, he spent his evenings working with the local coaches of Zhongshan's local amateur youth baseball teams. For the first time in history, the same city won all four 2019 China National Championship gold medals, in 18U, 15U, 12U and 10U, that city being Zhongshan! Valcke worked with the China Baseball Association and Major League Baseball in helping the world's largest country accelerate their evolution into baseball, and helped them design and build a professional baseball stadium, a 600-room dormitory, and a new HQ for Panda Sport and Culture, where he held the role of CEO, in charge of a staff of 60. Valcke, former Technical Director, and Executive Director of Baseball Canada, and former coach of Team Canada, remains a baseball analyst with CBC Canada Radio and TV. The former president/CEO of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, who spent a decade as the Canadian Supervisor with the Major League Baseball Central Scouting Bureau, served as a television broadcaster for the Montreal Expos, the GM of the Calgary Cannons Triple-A club, and the CEO/Head Coach of the World Children's Baseball Fair. He is the proud father of Alanna, Jaxon and Mia, and lucky husband of Paula since 1987. Jaxon and Mia are current star players and captains, respectively, of the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds baseball and softball teams. Mia also became the second female in history to play in World Cups for Team Canada Women's baseball team as well as Team Canada Women's softball team. https://www.canadianbaseballnetwork.com/canadian-baseball-network-articles/baseball-nomad-valcke-a-top-amateur-executive http://www.wbsc.org/csta-prestige-awards-honors-tom-valcke/ https://cooperstownersincanada.com/2012/01/23/valcke-recognized-for-global-baseball-efforts/
    Tom Valcke says:

    Such a beautiful shrine, where both baseball fans and non-baseball fans can simply soak in the charm, character, passion, heritage and history of Canada’s greatest ballpark. Excellent initiative with the Ball Hall & Beachville too! I only hope that you, Kevin, are the chief tour guide, so you can spread your passion for baseball verbally as you do so well with your written words! Thanks for passing this along!

    1. cooperstownersincanada – Kevin Glew is a professional writer based in London, Ontario. His work has been featured on CBC Sports, Sportsnet.ca, MLB.com and Sympatico.ca. He has also written articles for Baseball Digest, Baseball America, The Hockey News, Sports Market Report and the Canadian Baseball Network. He has been involved with the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame for more than 16 years, including a two-year stint as the museum's acting curator.
      cooperstownersincanada says:

      Hi Tom. Hope you are well. Thanks for your note. Stephen Harding and Barry Wells are the best tour guides for Labatt Park.

    1. cooperstownersincanada – Kevin Glew is a professional writer based in London, Ontario. His work has been featured on CBC Sports, Sportsnet.ca, MLB.com and Sympatico.ca. He has also written articles for Baseball Digest, Baseball America, The Hockey News, Sports Market Report and the Canadian Baseball Network. He has been involved with the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame for more than 16 years, including a two-year stint as the museum's acting curator.
      cooperstownersincanada says:

      It should be exciting, Scott.

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