The name David Hastings is synonymous with baseball in Guelph.
He started playing in Guelph Minor Baseball in 1943. He was a key member of many championship teams including the 1949 Junior Intercounty championship squad that went on to win the Ontario championship beating Oshawa in the final. The following year that team was again a finalist for the Ontario championship.
Hastings had a great career in the Senior Intercounty league playing from 1955 to 1968 starring as a left fielder. He wasn’t a power hitter, but could spray balls to all fields. In the field he was extremely proficient at the fundamentals of the game. He rarely missed a cut-off man and his positioning was second to none. It should also be noted that Hastings played through the very competitive ‘pro era’ in Guelph that saw many retired Major League players play in the league. To be a ‘local’ on that team, you had to be a very good player.
Hastings went on to manage the Guelph Junior and Senior team until 1973. He was a Director of Guelph Senior Intercounty teams for various terms over the years and for the past six years had been President and owner/operator. He was also the first Chair of the Guelph Sports Hall of Fame. In 1990 Guelph’s Exhibition Park baseball stadium was named in his honour and forever will be known as David E. Hastings Stadium.
Inducted into the Guelph Sports Hall of Fame – Athlete and Builder categories – on May 15, 2000
