NORTH BATTLEFORD — On Sunday, June 25, at the Civic Centre number 4 diamond, the Battlefords Minor Baseball Association hosted a ceremony to rededicate the diamond, officially naming it "Al Keller Field". The Keller family was in attendance for the event.
Clint Gieni, past president of Battlefords Minor Baseball, mentioned this is only the third time in Battlefords baseball history that he can recall where a venue has been renamed as a reminder of someone's contributions. The first was the Ken Nelson diamond (player and coach and baseball builder), the second was Ray Hickson, a real supporter of baseball and a true builder of the sport (the building behind known as the Hickson Hut).
Nathan Keller (Al and Vickie's son) said that Al was a player, a coach and an umpire throughout his whole life and he loved the game. This re-dedication means a lot to have his name on this diamond and is a testament to the amount of time he helped with baseball and related activities in this community and others.
Gieni described Keller as a player's umpire.
"He always chatted with the coaches, batters, and particularly the catchers. Al spent a lot of his time as a catcher in his time so he knew how important the outside corner pitch was to the catcher and to the pitcher."
Vickie Keller (wife of Al Keller) said her husband was modest, but that she has a "box of trophies and loads of baseball memorabilia and a scrapbook of stats that would speak to Al's many, many accomplishments as a player and later on as a coach."
He was a team player, she said, who always did everything he could to make baseball the best experience possible for everyone.
Al Keller passed away Nov. 9, 2019, at the age of 50 years.
