Jim Baba to enter Sask. Baseball Hall of Fame

It is only fitting that after a long and varied career in the game, Moose Jaw's Jim Baba will be wearing two hats when he's inducted in the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame.
Baba, the director general of Baseball Canada, will enter the hall as a player and as a builder during the induction ceremony today in Battleford. He will also join his father Farris Baba in the hall.
"It's pretty neat to be in with dad. He's a good, old baseball guy and he got me started in the game," said Baba. "To be in with him is an honour. He's a hero of mine with all that he's done in the game."
Baba credits his father's involvement in the game as a key part of his deep love for baseball, but also said that growing up in a strong baseball town like Moose Jaw also played a big role.
"You see the passion from friends. Back in those days we played a lot in the school yard and Scrub baseball and all that stuff," said Baba. "Thinking back, I'm going in (to the Hall of Fame) with Wayne LeBere and I remember watching him with the (Moose Jaw) Regals and Ross Stone who used to come down and play with Unity. You grow on the game and from there it caught just like it did with my dad."
In Little League Baba was part of a team that finished second at nationals. He began his adult playing career in 1972 with the Moose Jaw Devons of the South Saskatchewan Baseball League while also playing for Yakima Valley College in Washington.
The Devons won the league title in each of his first three seasons and Baba felt that the group of teammates was as memorable as their success.
"They were great guys and we won the championship the first year we played," said Baba. "It was a great year."
In '73 he won the SSBL batting title and in '74 he made the all-star team in college as Yakima Valley won a state title.
From 1980-85 he played and coached with the Kindersley Royals in the Saskatchewan Major Baseball League. The Royals took their lumps in the early going, but won a pair of titles at the end of Baba's tenure.
As much as he loved playing, it was his teammates that were the biggest memory from his playing days.
"The (SMBL) was great travel and great fun," said Baba. "As young guy to enjoy the road and the camaraderie you build and I have lasting friends from Moose Jaw and Kindersley from playing in that league. That's something I will always cherish."
After attending nine National Senior Championships as a player, Baba began to focus more on coaching.
In 1989 he became Baseball Sask's first coach for the Jeux du Canada Games held in Saskatoon.
"I think back to the Canada Games in Saskatoon in 1989 and we put together a really good team," said Baba. "We trained hard, we got the kids to work really hard and believe in themselves. For Saskatchewan to win the silver medal and to be that close - it was tied in the bottom of the sixth inning in the gold medal game - that memory was priceless.
"To see how the program has grown, the Team Sask program has been carried on with Greg Brons and others that are there. I think of the athletes who have gone through and went on to play minor league baseball, those are lasting memories to see those type of things grow and to see Team Sask be recognized."
In the 10 years Baba spent with Baseball Sask, the province was named the "National Province of the Year" four times. He also helped found the Saskatchewan Baseball Coaches Association which was the first of its kind in Canada.
During Baba's time with Team Sask, there were a couple of years where three or four Saskatchewan players made the junior national team.
"Those are things where you look back and think 'that's great' because that's what it's all about - giving kids the opportunity," said Baba. "A lot of times with the junior team, for a Saskatchewan guy to make it was pretty tough, but I think we grew the program."
Team Sask continue to punch above their weight.
Baba moved on to Baseball Canada where he coached the national team from 1991-95 and again in 1998.
Baba's passion was for developing players has evolved - it began in the coaching end and is now in a more administrative role.
Right now Canada is producing more world class baseball players than at any other time.
"We've got a great junior national team program that's developed and we see a number of kids coming out of that program get success and moving their way up the ladder and seeing some of them go all of the up to the pros. It's interesting to see that on the elite level," said Baba who noted that they aren't forgetting the grassroots and have programs to get the next generation playing the game.
Looking back on his career, Baba can't believe what the game has given back to him - not only in the people he has met, but the places he's seen and the things he has been able to experience.
"I never envisioned what I got out of the game," said Baba. "When you start throwing out the countries I've been to and I feel pretty lucky.
"When you think back to what baseball has given me, it's the travel and some of those things that has been great. You're not a Major Leaguer, you're not involved in the minor leagues of Major League Baseball, but I think I've got my share of great things back from the game.
"I've been pretty lucky to have been involved in this game."