Bob Ferguson

Robert Ferguson (July 1, 1931 – November 23, 2014) was a Canadian sports journalist and writer. He began in journalism with The London Free Press from 1952 to 1964, and was colour commentator for baseball games broadcast on CFPL (AM). He also served as the official statistician of the Intercounty Baseball League from 1958 to 1966, and owned the London Pontiacs in the same league during the 1963 and 1964 seasons. He later worked for the Ottawa Citizen from 1967 to 1996, and was the paper's first writer assigned to cover the Montreal Expos. He believed in giving angry athletes a second chance at a better quote to avoid making the player look bad, and was a board member for Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. He wrote Who's Who in Canadian Sport, a book of biographies for Canadian sports persons; first published in 1977, with subsequent volumes in 1985, 1999 and 2005. His career was recognized with induction into the Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame in 2009, as a builder in the media category.

Early life Robert Ferguson was born on July 1, 1931, in Windsor, Ontario. His mother worked as a singer, and he sang with an orchestra during the late-1940s. While performing a Doris Day song in Darien, Connecticut, actress Mary Martin invited him to audition for a role in South Pacific. He declined the opportunity to sing in Broadway theatre, completed his high school education by 1950, then worked for C$35 per week as a teller at The Dominion Bank in downtown London, Ontario. In an interview in 1996, Ferguson stated that the highlight of his banking career was "[shovelling] the street corner after a major snowstorm".

Early career in London

Ferguson applied to write radio commercials for CFPL (AM) in London in 1952, and was instead hired on a temporary basis as a sports journalist by its parent company, The London Free Press. In addition to reporting, he served as a colour commentator for baseball games broadcast on CFPL. He was recruited by former Major League Baseball player Frank Colman in 1955, to assist with founding a youth baseball league in London, which became the Eager Beaver Baseball Association. Ferguson recalled that when proposing names for the association, "I said, why not call them, Eager Beavers? They're all eager beavers! And it stuck!"

The Intercounty Baseball League (IBL) named Ferguson its official statistician each season from 1958 to 1966. He recalled becoming the owner of the London Majors in the IBL "by accident" in 1963, after he paid the $50 entry fee on behalf of the Majors, despite that the owner chose not to field a team for the season without telling anyone or attending the meeting. His columns also covered football and basketball for the Ottawa Gee-Gees and the Carleton Ravens; golf, curling, and high school sports. The book was first published in 1977, with subsequent volumes published in 1985, 1999 and 2005. He was the inaugural recipient of the Ernie Calcutt/Eddie MacCabe/Brian Smith Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award, from the Ottawa Sport Award Society in 2005. He was inducted into the Ottawa Sport Hall of Fame in 2009, as a builder in the media category. In 2015, Bob Elliott included Ferguson in his list of the 101 most influential Canadians in baseball, as one of eight people selected in the #101 position.