Larry Irving may be gone, but his contributions to baseball in Chemainus will never be forgotten.
The district of North Cowichan confirmed that last week when it announced it was renaming one of the fields at the Chemainus Ballpark Larry Irving Field.
Irving, who passed away in November at age 71, was legendary in Chemainus for his dedication to youth sports.
“I think Larry may have been born holding a baseball bat. He is a baseball lifer,”Mayor Jon Lefebure said.
“As a youth and an adult he played the sport, coached, and was a dedicated volunteer with the Chemainus Baseball Association. We are incredibly grateful for the important contribution he made to the community.”
This is the latest in countless tributes for Irving that poured in following his passing.
“Larry Irving, you are a true ambassador of baseball and I cannot honestly sit here and believe the opportunities that I have had with this sport would have been remotely possible if it weren’t for you,” Rob Watt, a past player of his and an assistant coach at Mt. Olive University in North Carolina wrote in a Facebook post.
Known as Mr. Sports Page, Larry Irving devoted over 50 years of volunteer service to the Chemainus and Duncan Baseball Associations contributing his talent to coaching and volunteering as an umpire, statistician, groundskeeper, and equipment manager.
As a coach, his teams won championships, and participated in local, regional and national tournaments including the Youth World Series, and the California and Pacific Northwest Championships.
Mr. Irving was inducted into the North Cowichan/Duncan Sports Wall of Fame in 2013.
“He was one of the all-time great guys,” said Ernie Mansueti, North Cowichan’s director of parks and recreation. “He was in it for all the right reasons.”
