A Yarmouth baseball legend is being recognized.
The late Keith Bridgeo will have his number 16 put on the backstop at Gateway Park Sunday.
He passed away last Christmas at age 75, leaving behind a hall-of-fame career.
His long-time friend Terry MacDonald says baseball wasn’t the most important thing to Bridgeo.
“If there’s one thing more Keith loved than baseball, it was his family. His wife, kids and grandchildren. We’d always talk baseball first, but it easy to tell he loved them dearly,” said MacDonald, who played with Bridgeo for many years in Yarmouth.
He was well-known for playing, coaching and umpiring all through Yarmouth County and beyond.
MacDonald says he leaves behind big shoes.
“He doesn’t need a plaque on the backstop to be remembered by the people here in Yarmouth. He was instrumental in getting the senior championships here, which put Yarmouth on the map for baseball in Canada.”
He says Bridgeo gave him an opportunity to play, and always gave great advice that he never forgot.
The ceremony gets underway at 2 p.m.
Bridgeo a member of Yarmouth County Sports Hall of Fame, others
In 2016, Bridgeo was inducted into the Colchester County Sports Hall of Fame as a member of the 1973 Truro Bearcats, a team that went to the Maritime championships.
He spoke with Acadia News about the honour:
“Every game should be played between the lines. Playing on Truro, Yarmouth and Hantsport and winning Nova Scotia and Maritime titles, that’s the kind of players I played with. I’m looking forward to meeting up with them again. I’ll meet up with three of my 1969 Canada Games teammates who were also on the Bearcats.”
The former pitcher said he had a few people on his mind.
“My parents, and I think about my first two two little league coaches in Yarmouth, Tookie Muise and Jim Comeau. My idol Stu Erickson was here for six years, and gave me the fundamentals I needed to play 16 years of senior baseball.”
