Howard Birnie

Howard Birnie

• Born 1937 in Toronto, ON CAN

Biographical Information

Howard Birnie was an amateur player, umpire, coach and executive in the Toronto, ON area for seven decades. As a coach between 1958 and 1988, he won seven city championships and one Canadian national amateur championship with the Toronto Leaside All-Stars in 1964.

He became president of the Leaside Baseball Association starting in 1973 and was president of the Ontario Baseball Association in 1991 and 1992. During that time, he also worked tirelessly as an umpire for 34 years, including officiating at six national championships, at the World Junior Championships in 1986 and 1987, and three times at the Pearson Cup between the Montreal Expos and Toronto Blue Jays.

He was inducted in the Ontario Baseball Hall of Fame and in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2024.