Over the weekend, longtime broadcaster Clayton Dreger was inducted into the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame.
Dreger retired in January of this year and he says it's been everything he thought it would be. "Awesome," he says with that well known smile. "That's the word I've told everybody who's asked, it really is. When 7:30 p.m. rolled around and you knew that it was time to go to bed because the alarm goes off at 2:00 a.m. No, it's just so amazing to stay up till 11:30 and wake up at 6:50, plan your day, do whatever, yeah, it's been pretty special."
Finding out he had been inducted was an interesting situation for Dreger, who jokes that it worked out well since he was going to be there anyways. "Day before my birthday, October 1st, Dan Giesbrecht called, I was in my studio at the radio station, and he phoned and says 'Clatyon, Dan, congratulations, you're in. You're in the Hall of Fame." He continues and says the press conference is on such-and-such a date, I kind of knew when that was because I was going to be there anyway. It was just 'wow'. That was amazing to hear that from Dan personally."
Covering baseball for four decades, Dreger says it's been very humbling as he's thought about how many people have made an impact on the sport and now his name will be there in with them. "There's no words to describe it, it's the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame. You think back through the rich history of the sport in our province, and you're amazed that you're now apart of it, but you wonder why you're apart of that and it's because it's what we do. We cover sport, we cover baseball, every league from one border to the other border, to minor ball. We do it year in and year out, we have people's voices on the air, get them online and the thought is, well, it's just my job. Then for Baseball Manitoba, my dear friends there to say, oh by the way we're nominating you, and you're going well, you do know that's what I do and then they tell you that yes, we do know that but you do it better than anybody. That really hit home. All you can say is thank you because it's hard to follow that up."
The year 1985 was the first Dreger spent covering ball and he says he can't remember the first articles he did because there was just so much going on. "We covered everything, there was the Redboinne Senior Baseball League, Manitoba Senior, Border East, Border West, Santa Clara, Manitoba Junior, Southwest Baseball League. We covered that and kudos to our night staff back in the day, they were the ones who got the scores. They wouldn't get the scores unless coaches, managers either called the station or Renald and Don got a hold of them and got us the scores. And they did. That was the special part about it, because they all knew what we did and of course they wanted their scores on the air and whatever info we could do, as well. That was the fun part about doin that. Actually going to games and covering finals, provincial finals, that was always a ton of fun, too, putting a microphone in front of someone who just won a gold medal at a provincial championship or league championship, that was a lot of fun."
Through it all, Dreger says there are a few events that stand out to him, but the real highlights came from covering minor ball and seeing the heart and passion from players to communities. "The Pan-Am games back in 1999 was cool, just because the stadium, the ball park has really just been built. But, minor ball was always the fun one. With what we do with South Central, Carillon, Oil Dome, when you find out one of those teams won and you track down a coach, and they're just so excited, so passionate. They reflect on the weekend and how everything came together, the excitement when the last out was made, the coaches, the players, the parents, they're all just enjoying a memory that they'll have forever. So to hear that excitement, get that on the radio so our listeners can hear that and the get the feedback 'yeah, I heard such-and-such talking about winning the provincials in wherever', that was the most fun getting them on the radio."
As he stood in the presence of other greats, Dreger couldn't help but appreciate all that so many have given to have baseball be so rich throughout Manitoba and he talked about people who came to mind as he took in the moment. "The job Joe Wiwchar did way back in the day to get this kick started and then continue on, and with what Jim Mutcheson is doing with help from Thomas Didkowski. Murray Zuk told me tonight, he said that this is the envy of every province in Canada, it's right there with Baseball Canada's museum and what they have. It's pretty special compared to other sport in the province who are desperately trying to be at this level that the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame is."
His heart will always be with minor ball and for Dreger who's talked to countless players, coaches, manager and umpires, he believes at it's core, it's all about giving back to the community. "Always give back. Once you've reached a certain age, you go through the whole minor ball system and then you're really good so you're playing AAA ball. Then you're back in your community playing senior ball once your done. That's not when they stop, they have children and they're at the ballpark seven days a week or they're umpiring. That's a big one, talking to Baseball Manitoba, you got to have umpires, there's no baseball if there is no umpires and more people are getting into that to stay in the game. It's not like hockey, summer goes by pretty quick, so enjoy it while you can and carry on. It's such a great sport."
From Baseball Manitoba announcement of his nomination on November 5th, 2024:
CLAYTON DREGER (1960- ), WINNIPEG.
The Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame does not have a separate media category. If it did, Clayton Dreger would be in it. For four decades, he has been baseball's most important media advocate in southern Manitoba. He grew up in Morris playing baseball and other sports. As a young man, he got his start in radio with Radio Southern Manitoba in 1985, and he has never left. He covered all major sports and some minor ones, and in the summers, he emphasized the sport of baseball. Over the years, Clayton reported on hundreds of baseball events, all the way back to the MSBL and the Redboinne Senior League starting in 1985. Across all the Golden West stations, he promoted the game with information about schedules, results, tournaments, and personalities. He has been the master of ceremonies (MC) of the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame banquet on 22 occasions. He has also been MC of the Baseball Manitoba Awards night every year since 2013. When there is a story to be told, Clayton is there to get the interview. After a long and successful career, Clayton will be retiring from Sports Journalism in January of 2025.