Club history
The inaugural first pitch was thrown on 18 May 2024 in a sold-out night at Fergie Jenkins Field.
The Chatham-Kent Barnstormers are a professional baseball club based in Chatham, Ontario, playing at Fergie Jenkins Field at Rotary Park. The franchise proposed expansion to the Intercounty Baseball League in July 2019. Team owner Dom Dinelle called Chatham-Kent a no-brainer, citing a baseball community with the lineage of three MLB figures born and raised there: Fergie Jenkins, Bill Atkinson, and Doug Melvin. The club's published community mission is to provide C-K residents with high-level baseball in a great venue providing an affordable family entertainment experience, and to be involved in the community year-round. The inaugural first pitch was thrown on 18 May 2024 in a sold-out night at Fergie Jenkins Field. The league was rebranded as the Canadian Baseball League (CBL) ahead of the 2026 season.
Leadership
- Ferguson Jenkins Honourary Team President
- Bill Atkinson Team Ambassador
- Dom Dinelle Co-owner, President, Founder
- Matt Nahdee Co-owner, Corporate & Regulatory Affairs
- Harry Muir Co-owner, Baseball Operations & General Manager
- Scott Currie Co-owner, Chief Revenue Officer & Community Relations