Usher has been seating people at Nat Bailey for four decades
Airlines may sell the same seats twice, but not at Nat Bailey Stadium they don’t.
So when two groups of fans claimed the same seats behind the third baseline a few days ago at the stadium’s Scotiabank Field for a Canadians nooner, Hans Havas sprang into action and politely guided one party to where their rightful seats were, making both parties happy.
“Just doing my job,” Havas said, with his ever-present smile.
“Look at those pale legs,” one patron joked as he passed by, pointing at the shortswearing Havas’s pins.
“Yes,” Havas said. “I’ve gotten to know a lot of the fans over the years.”
Havas also knows the players. He and wife, Katharine, were a billet family right up to a couple of years ago.
The first player the pair billeted was Jeff Yurak, who played five Major League Baseball games in 1978, for the Milwaukee Brewers.
It wasn’t something they had really considered, until one sunny day they were sitting on a hillside at Queen Elizabeth Park listening to Jim Robson call a Triple-A Canadians game and appeal for player housing.
“We went down to the ballpark and I became the coordinator for housing the players and their families,” Havas, 69, said. “The rest is history. I’ve never looked back since. It was great having billets, it was great for my kids to grow up with ball players in the house.”
One of Havas’s sons works over the summer changing the scores on the board at centre field, one of the few remaining manual scoreboards. It’s a great job. On this day, 14-yearold Henry Bull — who is in his third season doing the same at the 67-year-old ballpark — is working the numbers.
“It’s a great atmosphere, it’s lots of fun watching the game and being part of history like when the Canadians won the championship last year,” the West Point Grey Academy student said.
He watches the game either through the centre field scoreboard, or the one on the roof
beside the press box for the benefit of fans sitting in the “hey y’all” porch behind left field.
Bull’s parents drop him and his sister Charlotte, who works in the children’s play area, off at around 6 p.m. He stacks his numbers for inning scores, runs, hits and errors to get ready for first pitch at 7:05.
“I watch through a peephole,” he said. “When I see a hit, I throw the number up. If there’s an error, they radio me by walkie-talkie.
“Honestly, I find there’s a better atmosphere with a manual scoreboard than a digital scoreboard. It’s more inclusive for the fans, it makes for a better overall experience.”
Bull is part of a rotation of kids who work the Nat Bailey boards.
“Watching the game is the biggest perk,” Bull said. “And for the night games, the view of the city is beautiful.”
For the veteran Havas, the last 11 years under the current ownership group have been the best years, he said.
“They make you feel comfortable, feel wanted, feel part of a family and I think everyone who works here feels the same way. I’ve had a great 40 years, I look forward to 41 and many more to come. I’ll be here as long as they want me here. I hope they carry me out of here.”