The next crop of Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame inductees includes a generous representation of current and former Elmwood Giants.

The inductees with Giants connections include:

Al Kinley: Long-time Giants Coach and Organizer (45 years of coaching), One of the founders of the modern-day Giants (1976 to the present)

Kollesavich Family: Including father Dan and sons Jim, Gerry, John and Rob; Dan organized minor ball in Rivers and umpired when he moved to Winnipeg. The boys all played for periods of time with the Giants.

Morgan de Peña: A flaming-red-haired fire-baller who pitched for the Giants Seniors in the early '80’s in the Redboine Senior League, he was a dominant pitcher in the Winnipeg region.

Brock McConachy: Brock played for the Elmwood Juniors in 1967. His father Dave had played for and coached the Giants in the late '40’s.

Hank Lemoine: One of Elmwood’s all-time most “hated” opponents who was always admired at the same time, Hank continues to contribute as an umpire in the Senior, Junior and minor baseball ranks after a great playing career with Carmen and St. Boniface.

The Elmwood Giants Baseball Club, its Executive and entire Board of Directors congratulate all of you on achieving this honour. In particular, the other Board members take this opportunity to thank Al Kinley for his dedication to the club for so many years.

The Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame Executive held a press conference on October 27 to announce the full list of inductees. You can read the media release here and the Winnipeg Sun coverage of the event here. You might also want to listen to CJOB's Bob Irving provide some commentary on the nominations here (look for the October 28 entry).

Update 2010/03/10: Tickets for the event are now available from Al Kinley, 338-9603, Gord Menzies, 257-3553, or Ken St. Germain, 227-8652 (cell). Tickets are $60 ($35 donation for income tax). They will also be available at all major Giants events.

Update 2009/11/19: Canstar News has published an article about Al Kinley's induction in several of its community newspapers. You can read an on-line version of the article here.

Watch this site and future editions of the newsletter for detailed profiles of some of the people named above and for details about the induction banquet to be held June 5, 2010 in Morden. Mark your calendars.

Photo: Al Kinley