Children of all abilities now have a safe space to play America’s favourite pastime in Toronto.

Today, the City of Toronto opened its first fully-accessible baseball diamond at Scarborough’s Highview Park, which is near Danforth Avenue and Birchmount Road.

The new field is located near Variety Village, a charitable organization that provides programming to empower children with disabilities to be seen, participate, and feel included. The non-profit plans to run programs there.

Named in honour of late Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Roy Halladay, it features vulcanized rubber for traction as well as wide, double-row dugouts so players in wheelchairs can easily get around. The diamond will be used by athletes who are part of the Jays Care Challenger Baseball program. The Challenger Baseball league, which is run by Little League Canada, Baseball Canada, and Jays Care, is an adaptive baseball program for kids living with cognitive and/or physical disabilities.

“Roy Halladay Field is an impressive, accessible, diverse and inclusive space. I am particularly thrilled that Variety Village, with whom I've worked for a long time, will benefit from the facilities,” Scarborough Southwest Coun. Gary Crawford said in a release.

“It is a place for athletes of all abilities in the community, where they can learn and develop important life skills through the game of baseball.”

The field was named in Halladay’s honour to recognize his commitment to Toronto youth and the impact he made on the city during his time as a Blue Jay.

Back in 2003, Halladay and his wife, Brandy, started inviting children and their families to watch live Jays games at “Doc's Box.” They extended that invitation to families from SickKids Hospital.

Wednesday morning, Halladay’s widow along with their two sons, Braden and Ryan, were on hand to help formally open the new field, which was made possible through a $1 million capital infrastructure investment by the Jays Care Foundation with additional city funding. Construction started in 2019.

A Challenger Baseball game between two local teams took place after a ribbon-cutting ceremony with Halladay’s son Braden tossing the first pitch.

Just over a year ago, Toronto City Council approved naming the field after the former Blue Jay, who died in a 2017 plane crash. Motion 32.32 paid tribute to Halladay’s jersey number.

“The City has been a champion of inclusive youth sports and recreation for a long time. The opening of Roy Halladay Field is a historic day for Toronto, and was made possible because of the partnership with Jays Care,” Mayor John Tory said.

“It means that a lot of young people with unique abilities will be able to play the game of baseball on an incredible field in our city. This is a fitting tribute to the legacy of Roy Halladay and to our shared commitment as a community to ensure everyone has access to sports."