Baseball HOF names 2026 class

The Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame announced its induction class for 2026 last month, and the country hardballers dominate. Seven individuals will be honoured and just one, Ed Kulyk, is from Winnipeg. In the minor team category, Winnipeg is represented by the South Chiefs AAA peewee/bantam teams for the three seasons from 2008 to 2010.

The other individual inductees are Nate Andrews from Brandon; Darrell McElroy from Darlingford; Larry Nicholson, who grew up on a farm near Neepawa; Garth White from Neepawa; Guy Yerama from Gilbert Plains; and Lorna Robertson of Hamiota.

Kulyk is described as an organizer and builder of the Elmwood Giants, one of the top baseball organizations in the province. Between 2016 and 2025, his Giants 22U AAA team reached the Manitoba Junior Baseball League final every season and won six championships. In 2023, the Giants won the national title and in 2024 the Western Canada championship. His individual awards include being named Baseball Manitoba high performance coach of the year and MJBL manager of the year both on two occasions.

Kulyk served on the Giants’ board of directors and as chief administrator of Koskie Field where the team plays its home games. In that role, he was in charge of diamond scheduling, field maintenance, capital projects and upgrades, insurance, field security, and revenue collection. I wonder if his revenue collection duties included passing the hat between innings to collect donations from fans.

Andrews played in the Manitoba Senior Baseball League (MSBL) from 1993 to 2015 and was a nine-time all-star. He twice was the league home run and runs-batted-in leader. McElroy played for seven teams that won the Manitoba intermediate AAA championship and was a Border League all-star for 17 of his 20 seasons, which began at age 17 with the Kaleida Ks. Nicholson was a top pitcher and power hitter for the Neepawa Farmers from the mid-1970s until the late 1980s. White played for the Farmers in the 1970s and early 1980s. He took over as coach in 1986 and continued until 2010. His teams won the MSBL title in 1992 and 1994.

Yerama’s resume is a lengthy one beginning in Gilbert Plains youth baseball in 1967. Over several years, he was a catcher and sometimes player-coach for teams in the MSBL, Border League, Red-Boine League and the Winnipeg Intermediate League, where he served as the first president. As a coach between 1990 and 2010, he led several provincial teams. He then moved to Toronto where he continued to coach. Robertson was inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 2008 as a multi-sport builder. In baseball, she worked in many roles for the Hamiota Red Sox of the MSBL. She helped organize the junior Red Sox and served as president of the town’s youth baseball organization in the 1980s.

In Winnipeg AAA league play between 2008 and 2010, the South Chiefs had an amazing 63-0 win-loss record and in total games played across Canada won 134 games and lost just 13. The team won two provincial championships and twice was honoured as Manitoba’s high-performance team of the year. In each season, a Chiefs player was named Baseball Manitoba player of the year in the relevant age category: Madison Bovey, 13U in 2008; Chris Shaw, 15U in in 2009; and Derrick Millar, 15U in 2010.

The 1987 Virden Oil Dome bantam A all-stars and 2003 Neepawa AA midgets will be inducted in the special team category, as will the Western Manitoba junior all-star team that represented Manitoba at the 1973 Canada Summer Games.

The HOF also will add Al Kinley of Winnipeg and Morris Mott of Brandon to its list of honorary life members. A member of the board of directors since 2004, Kinley served as the chair of the board from 2011 to 2013. Mott, who has served on the board since its formation in 1996, held the top position from 2013 until 2020.

The 28th annual induction banquet will be held at the Access Events Centre in Modern on June 13, 2026.