By IAN WILSON
A baseball builder from Moose Jaw and a pair of former Edmonton players are part of the 2026 Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame class.
The organization, based in St. Marys, Ontario, unveiled the class of six new inductees on Feb. 5th. Among the honourees are former Toronto Blue Jays centre fielder Devon White; St. Louis Cardinals first base coach Stubby Clapp; long-serving Baseball Canada executive director Jim Baba; Women’s National Team alum Kate Psota; Montreal Expos stalwart Bill Stoneman; and former Major League Baseball (MLB) umpire Paul Runge.
“We look forward to celebrating the outstanding careers of this year’s inductees in St. Marys this June,” said Scott Crawford, the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum’s Director of Operations, in a press release.
“Each of them, in their own way, has made a tremendous impact on the game of baseball in our country.”
Here’s a closer look at the inductees with ties to Saskatchewan and Alberta:
JIM BABA
The product of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan spent more than three decades growing and developing baseball in Canada.
He coached and managed Canadian entries at international tournaments in the 1990s before becoming the manager of baseball operations for Baseball Canada in 2000.
From there, Baba moved into the role of executive director and was a key component of men’s senior national team gold medal victories at the 2011 and 2015 Pan Am Games. He also oversaw the introduction of national Rally Cap and girls baseball programs.
In addition, Baba was a technical official for the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) at 25 international events between 2002 and 2021. Those tournaments included Olympic qualifiers, Pan Am Games, the World Baseball Classic and the Women’s Baseball World Cup.
Baba, who is also a member of the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame, passed away on Sept. 12, 2025 at the age of 69.
“We are incredibly proud of our dad and the impact he had on the baseball community across Canada. He poured his heart into baseball, and we are deeply grateful to celebrate the legacy he leaves behind. While we wish he were here to experience this honour himself, it means so much to see his contributions recognized in such a meaningful way,” said his children Melani, Jamie and Mitch Baba in a statement.
Melani expanded on her father during the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame conference call with reporters.
“He definitely took who he was at home and put that out into who he was in his workplace in the baseball community. He was assertive, he was stubborn, he knew what he was talking about, he was confident and knowledgeable but he cared a whole lot about what he did in the sport of baseball and the people that he impacted and worked with and coached,” she said.
“He really took that love of baseball and that character and his integrity and pushed that out into what he did with work.”
Clapp also shared a fond memory about Baba during the Zoom call.
“My first time I ever tried out for the men’s national team, I was the last one cut off the team and Babs was the one who gave me the news,” said Clapp.
“I’ve always razzed him about it but it was probably the absolute best news that I could’ve got at that time. He knew what he was talking about and I still needed time to develop and I just made it a mission after that, that I was going to figure out how to get better and play for that man.”
Learn more about Baba here.
DEVON WHITE
Known for being a key piece to Toronto’s World Series championships in 1992 and 1993, “Devo” also dazzled Alberta audiences as a member of the Edmonton Trappers in 1985, 1986 and in 1990.
With the Trappers in the Pacific Coast League (PCL), the switch-hitting outfielder hit .283 with 18 homers, 105 RBI and 67 stolen bases in 192 games.
“Forget the numbers, Devon White is the best Edmonton Trapper player ever,” wrote Edmonton Journal reporter Mark Spector in 1990.
Joe Maddon, the roving hitting instructor with the California Angels at the time, was also singing the praises of the talented outfielder.
“He’s not a Triple-A ballplayer. Devon White is on the verge of becoming a major league superstar,” said Maddon.
“He’ll play for many, many more years, and you don’t want him with some other team, beating you.”
In early December of 1990, the Angels dealt White, pitchers Willie Fraser and Marcus Moore to the Blue Jays for outfielder Junior Felix, infielder Luis Sojo and catcher Ken Rivers.
“I spent some time in Edmonton to develop some more, which I needed, and when I did go up everything seemed a lot easier for me, so I really enjoyed that,” said White during a Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame conference call.
“California, I just kind of wore out my welcome I think, and that’s why I asked for a trade and when I got traded to Toronto I was ecstatic.”
Over the next three campaigns in Toronto, White produced 15-plus home runs and 30-plus stolen bases each season, while averaging over 100 runs a year. And, of course, he won back-to-back World Series championships.
It was all part of what would become a 17-year major league and 21-year pro career.
White finished his MLB tenure with seven Gold Glove Awards and three World Series championships, including one with the Florida Marlins. He also posted a career .263 batting average, 208 home runs, 846 runs batted in (RBI), 346 stolen bases and 1,125 runs in 1,941 games.
White has also made Blue Jays a part of his post-playing career. He worked as a coach with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons – Toronto’s top minor-league affiliate – and has traveled across the country as part of the Blue Jays Academy tours in recent years.
“Receiving the phone call last night informing me that I was being inducted into the Canadian Hall of Fame was a dream come true,” said White.
“Toronto has always felt like home to me and to now be etched into history is a legacy I could have only hoped for. I am deeply humbled and grateful.”
Learn more about White’s time in Edmonton here.
STUBBY CLAPP
It was all about winning and Stubby Clapp didn’t want it any other way.
The versatile infielder and outfielder from Windsor, Ontario had played at the NCAA Division 1 level. He had rode the buses in the minor leagues. Clapp even made it to The Show in 2001, when he suited up for the St. Louis Cardinals for 23 games.
He also earned a reputation as a gutsy ball player during his performances for Canada internationally.
In 1991, Clapp helped Canada win its first World Junior Championship in Brandon, Manitoba. That team was later inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.
In addition, he delivered a bases-loaded, game-winning hit in extra innings at the 1999 Pan-American Games in Winnipeg that secured a 7-6 upset victory for Canada over the United States. Canada won a bronze medal at that tournament.
Appearances at the summer Olympics in Athens and Beijing followed, and Clapp also represented Canada at a pair of World Baseball Classic tournaments in 2006 and 2009.
Wedged into that full and varied playing career was a two-year stop in Edmonton, where the 5-foot-8 sparkplug took to Telus Field as a member of the Cracker-Cats of the independent Northern League.
When news broke of Clapp joining the Cracker-Cats in March of 2005, he was praised as an “Olympic hero” and for his “on-field intensity and hustle” on the front page of the Edmonton Journal sports section.
“We had so much fun. It was a good group of guys. That whole group of guys in that two years, we wanted to win and we played like it. We didn’t necessarily win every game but we had a lot of fun trying,” recalled Clapp, who played 166 games for the Cracker-Cats over two seasons, registering 121 runs, 48 doubles and 46 stolen bases in that time.
The time in Edmonton marked Clapp’s final days of playing pro, but also his first year of coaching at that level.
“That second year, getting that coaching tag put on you, that responsibility was a lot of fun for me, being able to share with the younger guys and stuff like that, but it was also, you look in the mirror and the writing’s on the wall. You flip the page, so for me it was a lot of fun,” said Clapp, who went from being a playing hitting coach on the Cracker-Cats to earning back-to-back PCL Manager of the Year awards with the Memphis Redbirds in 2017 and 2018.
“I enjoyed getting that responsibility in a lesser atmosphere, where it wasn’t everything on me because I still had to play. It was fun and I enjoyed that transition.”
The man known as “Captain Canada” – who was inducted onto Baseball Canada’s Wall of Excellence in January of 2025 – said he was caught off guard by the news of the 2026 Hall of Fame nod.
“This is an absolute honour to receive the call from the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame,” said Clapp.
“If Baseball Canada wasn’t around, I’d probably be working in the automotive industry and that’s just the truth.”
Read more about Clapp’s time in Edmonton here and here.
The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame’s 2026 class will be recognized in a ceremony in St. Marys, Ontario on June 20th.
Tales of Baseball 