Jay-Dell Mah was born and grew up in Lloydminster, where he slept in Saskatchewan and ate supper in Alberta. The reason was because his father owned the Elite Cafe, which was just inside the Alberta border and was an eating-place for many ball players in the area. These baseball players and teams left a lasting impression on the youngster.
Mah didn't play much baseball himself, but his passion and knowledge for the game became obvious at a young age.
For three years in the mid 1950s, Mah was a batboy and clubhouse boy for the Lloydminster Meridians. He would wash socks, shine shoes, keep score and chase balls. As a youngster, he wrote his first game reports for the Lloydminster Times.
After reaching adulthood, Mah went on to work in Toronto, as a reporter for the CBC at city hall. He retired in 1995.
At that time, he found a box of Western Canada League memorabilia and with this find in hand decided to start an Internet site called Western Canada Baseball. He has been adding information to the site for 15 years, including information from teams from 1946 to 1966, the golden days of baseball in Saskatchewan.
His work includes information on Negro League players, college players, who spent their summers in Saskatchewan and many local Saskatchewan players.
League standings, statistics and game reports are covered and recently he expanded the site to include the early Western Canada League of 1907 to 1921. Other Saskatchewan leagues covered are the Canadian-American League, Saskatchewan League, Southern League, Manitoba-Saskatchewan League, Saskatoon and District League and the Northern Saskatchewan League.
Mah co-wrote a book in 2009 called Black Baseball Players in Canada, a biographical dictionary of those players from 1881 to 1960. The book can be found in the Canadian and American Baseball Halls of Fame.
Mah is considered one of the leading baseball historians in Canada and his work for the sport and knowledge of baseball history warrants a spot in the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, beside some of those great players he already knows so much about.
Ticketsfor the induction of Jay-Dell Mah and 12 other individuals, a team and one family are available at the museum in Battleford. Also anyone interested can call 446-1983 or e-mail saskbaseballmuseum@sasktel.net.
