For most of his life, Sydney Sooners manager Jim “Rico” McEachern has laid claim to the number three, it’s even on his license plate.
“Someone said, ‘Where did you get the number three?’ and to be perfectly honest, I think it was the original hockey team,” McEachern told CTV Atlantic on Friday. “It was what came out of the crate.”
However, it is in baseball where the 77-year-old has made that number count.
Now, after 50 years as a player, coach and manager with the Nova Scotia Senior Baseball League club, McEachern’s number is being retired not only by his team - but throughout the entire league.
“I wouldn’t give back a year, I don’t think,” McEachern said of his career, which dates back to his playing days in the Sooners’ debut season in 1977. “And some people would look at that wide-eyed and say, ‘My God, there were some tough years in there in those 50.’ I don’t remember them.”
Scott Siegfried played for the Sooners beginning in 1987, when he moved to Sydney from the Toledo, Ohio, area not knowing the area or really anyone who lived there.
He is one of hundreds of young men McEachern has influenced over the years.
“You know, they opened up their home to me - he and his late wife Susan,” Siegfried said on Friday.
This week, Siegfried flew in from his home in the Cincinnati area to be at the Susan McEachern Memorial Ballpark Saturday night when his old coach is honoured before a game against the Kentville Wildcats.
“He’s really been, at times, kind of a big brother for me,” Siegfried said. “Other times, he’s my favourite uncle. Still others, really a father figure.”
If good things come in threes, McEachern might soon have one more honour to enjoy to go along with his jersey retirement and Sooners’ 50-year anniversary celebrations.
“I hope that someone nominates Rico McEachern to our Hall, ASAP,” Bruce Rainnie, president and CEO of the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame told CTV Atlantic on Friday.
Rainnie also pointed out how rare it is - even in the professional ranks - for someone to have their number retired by an entire league.
“In the history of pro sports, only three numbers have been retired league-wide,” Rainnie said. “You have #99 in hockey for (Wayne) Gretzky, #42 in baseball for Jackie Robinson and #6 in the NBA for Bill Russell. So, you have to be a true legend, undeniable, to have your number retired league wide.”
Speaking of the big names, three was also baseball legend Babe Ruth’s number.
McEachern said while he never meant to steal The Bambino’s thunder - after all, his jersey number originated in hockey - it will be an honour to watch his own number three be enshrined.
“Totally flabbergasted and again, my word would be ‘very humbled,’” McEachern said.
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