What do the initials DK stand for on High Park’s new house league hats?

That’s a common question parents and players are asking as we celebrate Opening Day and a return to baseball in 2021. The letters stand for Daniel Keith, who passed away late last summer at the age of 24 after many years playing and coaching at High Park Little League.

Each time a player dons the cap and takes the field, he or she honours the spirit Daniel brought to the park as a team player and caring mentor who helped coach several recent championship teams. In many ways, his contributions weren’t a surprise but rather the continuation of a long tradition of giving back.

Daniel’s story is the latest chapter of one High Park family’s remarkable baseball legacy that extends back two generations to his grandfather – Ernie Keith – for whom the HPLL diamond is named. Daniel’s dad, Matt Keith, a long-time coach with the Athletics and rep teams, recently took the time to recollect how the Keith family story has become so inextricably linked with High Park baseball over the past half century.

Like most kids who find their way to the park, Matt grew up in the neighbourhood. He spent his free time in the mid-1970s playing pickup ball at Lessard Park near Jane Street. A good friend of Matt’s played organized baseball at High Park and suggested he ask his parents if he could join. His father, Ernie Keith was a huge baseball fan and immediately embraced the idea ­— “Let’s go sign up to play ball!”

Matt played three years of Little League and in 1976 tried out for the 12 year-old rep team. That year they won the district tournament in Dundas, provincial playdowns in Rouyn-Noranda (close to Timmins), and went on to the Canadian championships held in Sherbrooke Quebec, where they lost in the finals.

“I still remember the heartbreak of losing that game,” recalls Matt, “but that’s where it all started for my dad. He became close to the coaches, hanging out together after tournament play having beers, and from there he was hooked.”

Ernie started coaching the Orioles in 1977 and stayed with the team for the next 18 years – while also serving as the HP Baseball Association president. Coach Keith was a photographer, and each year ran picture day, charging only the cost of the Kodak prints. After retiring at age 60 he became a fixture at the park, visiting the diamond nearly every day.

“When there was a game at 6 pm, he had already been there in the morning. He chalked the lines and the batter’s box, so everything was all set to go when the teams showed up. Fresh new game balls were waiting for the umpires as the kids took the field,” says Matt. Cancer eventually slowed him, but not entirely. The week before he died in 1994 at the age of 64, Ernie had Matt drive him to the park to drop off baseballs he stored for the league in his garage. “I recall him walking by the pool and he had to hold up his pants because he had lost so much weight from the treatments.”

When the HPLL board members and volunteers decided to renovate the field the following year, the league voted to honour his contribution by naming the main diamond after him – Ernie Keith Field.

After his playing days at HPLL, Matt became the league’s first “second generation coach,” as he took up coaching with his father’s team, the Orioles, before switching to the As for the following decade. He married, and with young kids of his own, had little time left over.

When his son Daniel asked to try out for T-Ball in the early 2000s Matt jumped at the opportunity. He was looking forward to simply being a parent in the stands, but when a board member let one of the coaches know that he was Ernie Keith’s son and pointed to the name on the outfield fence over at the Little League diamond, he was immediately asked to coach – and a new Keith era began.

After T-Ball, Daniel was drafted to the Leafs and then by the A’s. He loved playing at High Park and made the rep team starting at age nine. He played with several talented cohorts all the way through to the age of 12.

Daniel was born in 1995, a year after Ernie’s death, so never met his grandfather. But he heard lots of stories, which fostered his love of High Park baseball. He was especially fond of a treasured old HP hat that was passed down from Ernie, festooned with championship pins his grandfather had collected at tournaments over the years.

Daniel continued to play baseball past his 12^th year, and in his late teens started to give back by coaching with his dad on rep teams, taking great pride in the fact that he was the first “third-generation coach” in the league.

He teased his dad…“Anyone can be a second generation coach!”

Daniel loved mentoring kids and brought a special gift to his craft. Since he had not seen himself as one of the top players on his rep teams, he always paid special attention to help kids on the team who were not the most naturally talented but worked hard, and with additional coaching, could be key contributors.

“The starters would get all the help they needed, but Daniel always ensured that all the players were given special attention and individual help. He never raised his voice – he was the good cop. He would encourage kids by bending down to their level, often putting a reassuring hand on their shoulder, and whispering, ‘You got this.’”

Daniel was part of the coaching staff for the rep 10U team that won the Ontario Little League provincials in 2019, the last time the championships were held prior to the pandemic. He was tremendously proud of the team and as part of the celebrations donned his grandfather’s famous hat of historic pins, deepening the players’ appreciation of being part of a winning tradition at High Park that spanned decades.

The Covid-19 pandemic took so much away from so many people. And for Daniel, the cancellation of the Little League season in 2020 removed an important pillar in his life, one that had been a crucial support for him in a long-running battle with anxiety.

At the same time, last summer’s lockdown cost Daniel his other passion, as the landscaping business he’d nurtured since age 18 was disrupted. His deepening anxiety led to depression.

“Covid was hard for everyone. For Daniel, he couldn’t go out. He couldn’t work and he couldn’t be at the park with the kids, and he missed it,” says Matt. “Coaching might have been one of the things that could have helped him pull out of it. But that was taken away.”

Daniel sought treatment, but it was too little, too late. He died suddenly on August 24, 2020, at the age of 24.

“You learn to live with it, but there’s no closure,” says Matt.

A bright spot ahead for Matt is seeing baseball returning to the park after the lost season of 2020. “I just love coaching kids. It’s fantastic. It’s something I look forward to. High Park is a place where I feel close to my Dad and now it’s also where I feel close to D.”

Daniel’s younger brother, David, continues to help with the Athletics and plans to contribute to the rep team next year when the pandemic restrictions are expected to lift and kids can once again compete at tournaments, adding a fresh new chapter to the Keith legacy.

What is it about High Park that has drawn three generations of Keiths to the HPLL program?

“For me it’s always been about playing and spending time at the park,” says Matt. “Dad shared that same sentiment the year before he died – ‘You know, your 12-year-old year was the best year of my life.’”

The disruptions brought about by Covid have been especially hard on kids. If you or anyone you know is concerned about their mental health, there are excellent resources that can help.