Halladay, Guerrero in Canadian class of ’17
• Roy Halladay and Vladimir Guerrero stared each other down 33 times over their 16- year major league careers.
Neither man would describe those confrontations as comfortable.
“We always used to talk about him in hitters’ meetings,” said Halladay, the exBlue Jays ace who turns 40 years old this spring. “They said, ‘ if you bounce it, he’ll hit it. If it’s two feet inside or off the plate away, he’ll hit it. He didn’t need the strike zone. Sometimes, your best shot is to throw it right down the middle.
“He might swing and miss.”
On Thursday, Halladay and Guerrero were named as 2017 inductees to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
They’ll go in together with longtime Baseball Canada president Ray Carter, late B. C. umpire Doug Hudlin and the Ernie Whitt- managed 2015 Canadian Pan Am gold- medal winning senior men’s team, which includes Dorchester’s Chris Robinson, Londoner Brock Kjeldgaard and ex-major league starting pitcher Jeff Francis.
The induction ceremony will be held Saturday, June 24 in St. Marys, Ont.
Soon enough, the righthander named ‘ Doc’ and ‘ Vladdy,’ t he ei ght- year Expo, will be linked once more with inevitable calls to Cooperstown.
“Being able to ( officially) retire with the Blue Jays, then this honour, it feels like everything’s come full circle,” Halladay said in a conference call. “I’ ve always considered Toronto to be home. My eldest son (Braden) goes around telling everybody he was born in Canada and he’s very proud of that. His friends call him Canadian.”
Halladay pitched 12 seasons in Toronto and became one of the American League’s most dominant starters. He was selected to eight all- star games and racked up 203 wins.
His .659 winning percentage is 19th all-time.
He called his Cy Youngwinning 2003 season, when the Jays finished 10 games over .500 and Carlos Delgado delivered a four-homer game, the most fun atmosphere in his Toronto tenure.
“It was the closest thing I had at that point to the playoffs with the excitement of the city and the team and everything else,” said Halladay, who went on to toss a perfect game and the first no- hitter in National League post- season history with the Philadelphia Phillies. “That was the ultimate of what I always dreamed of ( for Toronto). One of my favourite ( memories) is coming in as a visiting player and getting the reception I got there.
“It really meant a lot to me.”
Halladay, who has been coaching his sons’ teams, has plans to get back into baseball, but isn’t sure with what team or capacity.
“I really enjoy working with younger pitchers,” he said. “That whole area really entices me.”
Guerrero belted 38 home runs with Montreal in 1998 and made the first of four straight all-star appearances a year later. In 2000, he became the first Expo to record 30 homers and 30 stolen bases in the same season.
The nine- time all- star is Montreal’s franchise leader in batting average (. 323), home runs ( 234), slugging percentage (. 588) and OPS (. 978).
“I was surprised and excited to hear that I’m being inducted,” he said. “I knew that I would need to wait at least one more year to join the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, but I’m very pleased to join the Canadian ( hall) since I was given my first opportunity to play major league baseball in Canada.”
Carter, president of Baseball Canada from 2000-16, helped raise the profile of the game in this country and spearheaded an era of unprecedented international success.
“When I first started, it felt like (baseball) was a filler sport,” he said. “You played it between hockey and soccer to give the kids something to do for a couple of months. We made it a longer season and spent a lot of time on coaching and development to put these athletes out there, expose them ( to opportunities and competition) and get them to love the game the way we did.”
Hudlin was the first nonAmerican to work games at the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa., in 1967. That was a highlight in 40- plus years spent behind the plate.
He passed away three years ago.
“He would be walking on air,” Hudlin’s stepdaughter Judy Messerli said. “He loved baseball and the kids he worked with. He would be so happy.”
I’VE ALWAYS CONSIDERED TORONTO TO BE HOME.