June 13, 2022

By Paul Murphy

Canadian Baseball Network

The 1970 Kingston bantam all-stars recently lost another alumnus when outfielder Danny Esford died in an Ottawa hospice at the age of 67, less than three months after second baseman and teammate Fernando DeSousa passed away in Kingston.

Like DeSousa, Esford was a multi-sport athlete. Esford excelled not only on the diamond - as when he homered in 1970 to help force a deciding game in the Ontario playdowns against Peterborough - but also at the rink and on the gridiron.

Jim Higgins, a teammate of Esford on both hockey and baseball all-star teams in Kingston, remembers Danny as “a fierce and fearless competitor on the ice” and “playing a tenacious outfield, he felt that no ball hit anywhere near him wasn’t catchable.”

Lee McNaughton, a high school football coach at Queen Elizabeth High in Kingston, said, “Danny was our best defensive player … a middle linebacker who loved to hit … a skill you can’t teach. His nickname was ‘Textbook’ because his tackling technique was … well, textbook. During a game, he would usually be in on 90% of the tackles. He was fun to watch.”

Esford played on for the Kingscourt Little League peewee champ Tigers team under ex-pro Arnie (Hickory) Jarrell’s tutelage in 1967, along with Dale Orr, Tom O’Toole, Terry Wagar, Barry Johnson, Peter Shirokoff, Ron Price, Keith Nicholson, Dave Gilroy and Bob Stone to name a few. And many say “at that age we didn’t realize how spoiled we were to have Arnie as a coach.”

Jarrell’s name was in the news this spring when Matt Brash (Kingston, Ont.) made the Seattle Mariners’ opening day roster. Until Brash’s arrival as the city’s first major leaguer, Jarrell was considered the best pitcher that the city ever produced.

The lefty pitched four years of pro ball with the double-A Toronto Maple Leafs and three with the class-C Kingston Ponies. With the Ponies he went a combined 40-22. with a 2.99 ERA in 74 games -- 51 starts -- including going 21-8 with a 2.30 ERA in 1946. Combined he struck out 301 in 520 innings.

Esford was also an outdoorsman - an avid ice-fisherman and hunter - and a golfer with a single-digit handicap. He was an ardent supporter of the Toronto Blue Jays and Toronto Maple Leafs.

Danny was predeceased by brother Marty and leaves behind a daughter, Amanda, and brothers Ron, Gordie, and Michael.

Paul Murphy is a Kingston author, who made good despite playing for the editor of this web site with the Kingston bantam All-Stars in 1970. His first novel, Deadly Links, a murder mystery with a golf backdrop from 2013. His next project — a murder mystery set in minor league baseball in Kingston, The wrking title is: Hit and Run.