90-year-old Sask. baseball historian makes Toronto Blue Jays wish

Jane Shury makes the drive to the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum five days a week.

She parks her vehicle, unlocks the front door, and steps inside the bright green building that is home to thousands of relics of the sport she loves.

As she makes her way up the narrow stairway into the crowded front office, she smiles and bids good morning to a photo of her late husband Dave Shury. He founded the museum in Battleford in 1983 with the dream of preserving stories and artifacts tied to baseball in his province.

Jane Shury’s husband Dave Shury founded the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in 1983. (Alex Brown/650 CKOM)

“How do I feel? Very content that Dave’s dream came true,” Shury said, pausing to admire the vast collection that has continued to grow since Dave’s death in 2008.

“It was his dream, and it sort of became mine. I’ve carried on for him,” she said. “The purpose of the organization was number one, to have a museum where we could display the history of baseball in Saskatchewan. Secondly, was to honor those that contributed to this rich baseball history.”

Shury, who turns 90 next month, has dedicated nearly half of her life to ensuring Saskatchewan’s incredible baseball history is never forgotten.

Jane Shury will celebrate her 90th birthday on July 23rd. She plans to continue volunteering at the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. (Alex Brown/650 CKOM)

A history worth preserving

Saskatchewan’s baseball history began before the province itself even existed. The first recorded baseball game in Western Canada was played on the grounds of Fort Battleford on May 31, 1879 — when Battleford was the capital of the North-West Territories.

“They must have had a great time in those years, you know because baseball did play a very big role in the settlement and development of our province,” Shury said. “When the settlers came and the community started to develop, they needed something to do to provide entertainment, and most of all, to go to socialize.”

As technology evolved the pioneers found new ways to entertain themselves, but the steadfast love of a good ballgame remained.

“The best years were the late ’40s and into the ’50s and just into early ’60s when we had semi-pro baseball. Oh girls, that was fabulous!” Shury exclaimed. “It was such good baseball. We got spoiled at that period in time.”

Every wall and shelf in the Saskatchewan Baseball Museum is teeming with memorabilia spanning over a century. (Alex Brown/650 CKOM)

A league of her own

Shury looks back fondly on her earliest memories of the sport from her childhood in Leipzig, Sask., a hamlet 150 kilometres east of Saskatoon.

“There weren’t enough girls to play and not enough boys. So we did the games together,” she recalled.

She continued to play as she entered high school, and her involvement in the sport grew when she started a family of her own.

“When my son was younger, there weren’t enough coaches for baseball in the Battlefords,” she said. Shury and a friend were invited to become the first female little league coaches in the area. The pair of women-led teams went head-to-head in the late 1960’s Battlefords Little League Championship.

Shury remained heavily involved in the baseball community throughout the decades and has wonderful memories from 1992 when ‘A League of Their Own’ — her favourite movie — was released.

“Oh, what a game, and oh, what a movie that is!” she said, a warm smile spreading across her face. The film tells the story of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League that began in 1943.

Shury says at the time of the honorary induction, 25 women from Saskatchewan played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. They were given an honorary induction into the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991. (Alex Brown/650 CKOM)

“There were 25 women from Saskatchewan that played in that league,” Shury said at the time of the induction. “We gave them an honorary induction way back in 1991. We had a very special one, just for them. There was a women emcee and everything!”

A special showing was held at the theatre in Battleford to celebrate the upcoming release of the movie. Shury still remembers the emotions that ran through her while watching it for the first time.

“You just sort of got chills up your spine, you know… Oh, my goodness sake. Yeah, that was a very special night. And that was before anybody else saw it!” she said.

Shury, who many would agree is also in a league of her own, has remained unwavering in her dedication to preserving the history of baseball in Saskatchewan.

Listen to Jane Shury’s interview on Behind the Headlines:

A Blue Jays birthday wish

While her collection of baseball memorabilia is vast, she said there is one item that is high on her wishlist for her upcoming 90th birthday — a baseball signed by Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Yusei Kikuchi.

“I really like Kikuchi. I like his pitching. He’s a good pitcher, he’s steady… and he’s a left-handed pitcher,” Shury said, adding she has always had a fondness for lefties. “I would like Kikuchi to sign a baseball for me!”

“Why I love Kikuchi? I really don’t know. I just think he’s such a nice fellow and there’s no arrogance about him in anyway shape or form!”

The Saskatchewan Baseball Museum houses a large collection of ball gloves. Shury says the oldest gloves in the collection look like pancakes compared to the gloves used by modern athletes. (Alex Brown/650 CKOM)

The future of the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

In recent years the hall of fame and museum has seen a decrease in both memberships and donations which, along with rising costs, has left the organization in a tough financial spot.

“We do not and we never have received funding from any government,” she said. “We survive on the money we make from our membership fees and donations and any of our fundraising projects.”

More than 400 people have been inducted into Saskatchewan’s Baseball Hall of Fame, as well as a number of teams and families.

In August a new crop of inductees will be honoured. Twelve individuals and one team will become part of Saskatchewan’s baseball history during the annual induction ceremony, an event that attracts hundreds of people each year.

The Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame has held an induction ceremony each year since 1985. The 2024 inductees will be celebrated during a ceremony on Aug. 17, 2024. (Alex Brown/650 CKOM)

Shury, who spends a minimum of 40 hours a week at the museum, volunteers her time. She said she first expressed interest in retiring from her position in 1999 but noted that it’s been a struggle to find someone willing to take over.

With each year that passes, the air of uncertainty surrounding the future of the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum grows thicker.

“We have to keep going,” said Shury. “What’s going to happen? It’s hard to say.”

At the end of each day, Shury looks around the museum, the stories tied to each item in the collection flitting through her mind as her eyes scan the room.

She turns out the lights and says goodbye to the photo of her late husband as she makes her way back down the staircase, locks the door and heads home… ready to come back tomorrow and do it all over again.