Trois-Rivières has a rich history in baseball and this is what you can discover by visiting the brand new Fernand-Bédard Baseball Museum, at Quillorama Stadium.
The Fernand-Bédard Baseball Museum, recognized as a charitable organization (NPO), is dedicated to the memory and preservation of the rich history of professional baseball in Trois-Rivières. You can find everything there, including pieces of equipment, photos, commemorative plaques and precious objects.
The main craftsman, Bob McDuff, former general manager of the Eagles who succeeded Marie-Christine Boucher, showed a broad smile this morning, as did his wife, Nicole Girard. They are the ones who began to document the history of baseball in Trois-Rivières, but also to collect professional baseball artifacts over the past three years.
“We are an NPO so we can’t make money. The profits generated by the museum will therefore be used to allow young people from underprivileged backgrounds to have access to minor baseball by providing them with registration fees or the necessary equipment, for example,” he mentioned. .
The museum is divided into nine sections, a nod to the nine innings of a baseball game. It includes the very beginnings of Trois-Rivières baseball at the Séminaire Saint-Joseph, until the transition of the current formation of the Aigles de Trois-Rivières to the Frontier League.
Obviously on site this morning, Fernand Bédard said he was touched only by his name since he was brought back to life again, this time through a museum. We know that before being sold a few years ago, the name of the Trois-Rivières stadium was Stade Fernand Bédard.
As for visitors, several clienteles will be targeted, including school-level students, young minor baseball players, seniors, as well as baseball fans. Please note that the museum will be closed during the Eagles games so as not to interfere with the game. If you want to visit the museum before a match, it is possible to do so, but allow a few hours if you want to visit it completely.
The birth of the brand new Trois-Rivières museum is timely since the 2022 season marks the 100th anniversary of professional baseball in Trois-Rivières.
Did you know that…
- The oldest continuously operating baseball stadium in Canada, and the fourth oldest in North America (after Fenway Park in Boston, Wrigley Field in Chicago and Bosse Field in Evansville, Indiana), is Trois -Rivers.
- No museum dedicated to baseball exists in Quebec. There is a museum dedicated to baseball that is in operation in Saint Mary’s, Ontario.
