Saint John's Mike Skidd called to N.B. Baseball Hall of Fame

After coaching more than 100 players and winning championships at the provincial and national level, the 66-year-old will be immortalized by the New Brunswick baseball community.

On Saturday in Fredericton, Skidd will be inducted into the New Brunswick Baseball Hall of Fame at its 2024 Hall of Fame and Awards Banquet. He will join the 1942 North Shore Regiment baseball team, Canadian Army Champions, in the class of 2024.

“I’m very appreciative. I was very fortunate. I had great people and great players, a lot of talented players, and that certainly, obviously helped me along the way that’s for sure,” said Skidd. “It’s amateur sport, and people have lives outside the game, and this is not what they’re doing for our livelihood. You really go through a lot of players and in a lengthy period like that, but I was really fortunate that we had a great run.”

In 1992 when the Saint John Alpines joined the New Brunswick Senior Baseball League, he took over as the head coach, and by the end of his tenure with the Alpines in 2004, winning was a habit in Saint John.

Under Skidd’s watch, the Alpines won provincial titles in 1993, 1994, 1996, 2000, and 2001. On the national stage, the Alpines won the Men’s National Championship in 2001, and won silver the next year in 2002.

“We had a good run, and we won a lot of games, we won some championships, but it’s the people you meet,” said Skidd. “I’ve always treated people with respect and dignity, and I think when you do that to people, you get a lot in return.”

Terre Hunter, president of the Alpines, said not only was Skidd a great coach, but also involved himself in other aspects to help the team run, always helping out with fundraisers.

Colin Ring joined the Alpines in 1994 at the age of 17, jumping straight to senior baseball. A fellow catcher, Ring was also part of the 2001 national championship team.

He describes Skidd as a player’s coach who possessed good emotional intelligence with his background as a social worker. To this day, Skidd is still working at Bobby’s Hospice.

Ring is a fellow inductee as well as part of the 2001 Alpines team that was inducted in 2015. He said he wanted to make sure Skidd got his turn individually, spearheading his nomination.

“I suspect it’s going to be a full house there,” said Ring. “I think that you’re going to see a lot of lot of players around province that have played under Skiddy locally and throughout the province that’ll be there to support him.”