Arden Eddie - Roy McKay Clubhouse

Roy McKay Clubhouse

In the spring of 1977, Eddie moved the London Majors back into the old team, circa 1937 clubhouse, saving the one-story, cottage-style structure from near-certain demolition. (For the previous decade the clubhouse was being used by the City's Parks and Recreation Department as a storage facility.)

The clubhouse was officially named the Roy McKay Clubhouse on August 1, 1996, in honour of Eddie's mentor, Roy McKay (1933-1995), a former Majors batboy in 1945, pitcher, manager and coach who was born on August 1.

See a photo of the Roy McKay Clubhouse at Labatt Park here.

Eddie was supportive of the heritage designation of Labatt Park under the Ontario Heritage Act in 1994 as the world's oldest baseball grounds in continuous use in its original location. The park's designating by-law was subsequently amended in 1996 to protect and preserve the Majors' clubhouse. As a result both the park and the Roy McKay Clubhouse are designated City of London-owned heritage properties under the Ontario Heritage Act.

During Eddie's ownership of the London Majors, the team contributed many thousands of pounds of food to the London and Area Food Bank and enabled scores of local charities and non-profits to raise more than $115,000 through Majors' ticket sales.

Additionally, many baseball pundits credit Eddie with keeping the Majors' franchise alive in London despite competition from three professional teams between 1989 and 2003 (the Eastern League's London Tigers, the Frontier League's London Werewolves and the Canadian Baseball League's London Monarchs).

Today, Arden Eddie and his family reside just south of Seaforth, Ontario and remain honorary members of The Friends of Labatt Park for their contributions to local/ area baseball and its heritage and the Intercounty Baseball League.

On May 14, the London Sports Council announced that Arden Eddie is one of the four inductees into the London Sports Hall of Fame for 2007. On Sunday, July 6, 2008, the jersey of Arden Eddie (#24) was officially retired by the London Majors.