A special night of baseball and a heartwarming tribute to a dedicated sportsman took place at Cairns field on Friday night, July 12 just prior to the opening pitch between the Saskatoon Cubs and the East Central AAA 18U Red Sox. A ceremony honouring the late Heath Muggli preceded the game with Heath’s Family in attendance to receive an honourary jersey signed by the 2024 Saskatoon Cubs.
Heath grew up just outside of Muenster, and like most kids from the community was a part of many sports teams. He took that spirit of sports participation with him as he left the community to follow a career in media. A long-time voice on Saskatoon airwaves and at the helm of city and cultural publications, Heath always maintained his connection to sports, especially baseball and curling.
At the ceremony, Jordan Frey, coach of the Cubs, spoke. Heath had been affiliated with the Cubs and many provincial teams as an umpire and a strong supporter of baseball in Saskatoon. In a nod to Heath’s ever-present and absolutely infectious sense of humour, Frey said he’ll miss Heath dearly, with one quirky behavioural exception.
“The one thing I won’t miss about Heath being on the diamond is trying to make a lineup change, and him not being able to because he’s requesting music and dancing.”
Garret Korte, coach of the Red Sox, talked about Muggli’s long-time affiliation with baseball and with the Muenster Curling Club. A perennial returnee for the year end Muenster Men’s Closed Bonspiel, Heath commanded the mike at many fundraising auction events, calcuttas, and fundraisers. He was never at a loss for words or antics on and off the ice.
“We could probably tell stories about Heath for days if we had time,” said Korte. “Heath always came home and gave back to our community, whether umpiring some games for us, or as a huge part of our curling club, coming back to fundraise, something that was near and dear to Heath’s mom and dad.”
With great affection, Korte relayed the story of Heath’s dad, Harry Muggli, on the field umping first base, and the more than casual approach to the role which always gave a pause to laugh.
Heath’s son Jace Muggli represented the family, laughing that his dad got into umping purely to experience some element of control.
“Dad loved being at the ball diamond, and I think he’d be pretty pleased that we were using him as an excuse to watch some ball and raise some money for a good cause.”
Through donations of goods and an auction, funds were raised to all head to the St. Paul’s Hospital Urology Unit that took care of Heath during his illness.
The comment was that the picture-perfect Friday evening sky was a wink and a nod from Heath to have fun and “Play Ball!”