Gallagher: Yankees legend Selkirk honoured by town of Huntsville

A field in Huntsville, Ont., will be named after New York Yankees all-star outfielder George Selkirk who was born there. Photo: CBHFM

September 23, 2025

By Danny Gallagher

Canadian Baseball Network

The decision to get George Selkirk's name on a baseball field in Huntsville, Ont. wasn't a simple exercise.

After close to 10 years of coaxing and prodding by Peter Haynes of Toronto, a Huntsville property owner and president of the Muskoka Hornets Baseball Association, town council voted 7-2 on Sept. 22 to rename the F Diamond the Selkirk Diamond in honour of the New York Yankees legend.

"Long time coming,'' Haynes said after the vote.

My research shows Selkirk was born in Huntsville and left with his family at age 7 for a brief stay in Midland, Ont. before landing permanently in Rochester, N.Y.

Selkirk replaced Babe Ruth in right field for the Yankees and went on to play about eight seasons for the Bronx Bombers and was credited with the invention of the warning track.

Nicknamed Twinkletoes because of his unique style of running on the balls of his feet, he was a two-time all-star and was the general manager of the Washington Senators for six seasons in the 1960s.

George Selkirk (Huntsville, Ont.) was the general manager of the Washington Senators for six seasons.

In advance of the council meeting Monday, council members received a 28-page presentation about Selkirk and the various rules and regulations to be followed for sponsorships and renaming of facilities and fields.

An online survey conducted by the town of its residents produced a narrow consensus in favour of Selkirk getting approved: 53.5% for, 46.5% against. 

"The nominated individual shall have performed an activity in an uncommonly high standard that brings considerable benefit or great honour to the Town of Huntsville, the Province of Ontario and/or Canada,'' the report to council said. 

Well, Selkirk sure did some wonders in baseball and was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983.

Then the report went on to say "familial consent'' was needed from someone in Selkirk's family to support the renaming of the field. I couldn't get a hold of Selkirk's son-in-law Hine, 92, this year because I believe he has moved into a long-term home. I had spoken extensively to Hine for stories I did on Selkirk for Canada's National Post and the Canadian Baseball Network in August of 2021.

A few months ago, I presented these stories to Reva Frame, Huntsville's director of sponsorships and community strategy in support of Selkirk. As a result, Frame accepted my stories as "affirmation of the family's approval'' since Hine said in the stories he was looking forward to seeing Selkirk being honoured in Huntsville.

Without Haynes leading the charge, Selkirk's commemoration would not have happened. Kudos to him.

Haynes had accumulated "countless hours'' in dealing with town administrators, council members and Frame.

"I think it was in 2016 I started to push for George to be in the Huntsville Sports Hall of Fame and as part of that, I pushed for the diamond naming and that went back and forth several times,'' Haynes said in an interview today.

"He was elected into the hall in 2018. Several times since then, we hosted a Twinkletoes Cup game in his honour, sometimes within our house league and more recently house-league teams in Huntsville and Orillia. Going forward, we plan to commemorate the naming in part by moving the Twinkletoes Cup to a game or series of games on the diamond each year, perhaps as part of our Muskoka Cup tournament schedule.

"Plus, we will work to get a commemorative plaque at the diamond as well and all of this will be coordinated with the town for a ceremony next summer or late spring. It would be great if we could get a hold of Bill Hine.''