Severn Sound: A Big Leaguer Comes to Port McNicoll

In the summer of 1932, Cincinnati Reds Manager Dan Howley sent his star slugger, Chick Hafey, to recuperate from a nasty bout of influenza and to escape a brutal Midwest heatwave. Hafey and his wife Bernice traveled to Port McNicoll, Ontario, a Great Lakes grain, passenger, and freight shipping hub. The Hafeys stayed at the home of Jim Shaw, an old fishing buddy of Howley’s from his days managing the minor league Toronto Maple Leafs.

In the two weeks Hafey spent in the small Georgian Bay town, he rediscovered his health, and went on to play in more games over the next two seasons than he did at any other point in his career.

Readers’ praise of D.M. Fox’s first book, On Account of Darkness: the Summer Ontario Baseball Broke the Colour Barrier:

＂A well-researched piece of literature that uses a reporting technique of newspaper clippings and interviews to recount the story of the 1934 all-Ontario Baseball final series between the Penetanguishene Spencer Foundry Rangers and the Chatham All-Stars in a 2 out-of-3 series of games. A must-read for any baseball fan!＂

RTAP, Vancouver Island

＂Doug did an amazing job telling this story. He was thorough and thoughtful in the way he recounted this historic time period. His work is factually based and very well researched. This is a must read for any baseball buff in North America＂

Brent Cardy, Ontario