DOC OF AGES
Roy Halladay, at 40, enters Canadian shrine (with Vlad Guerrero and more) — Cooperstown should complete the set down the road.
The glass doors pushed open and into the downtown ballroom strode 1971 Cy Young Award winner and Chatham, Ont., native Ferguson Jenkins. A member of both major baseball halls of fame, Fergie quickly looked around the crowded room and quietly eased one step to his left, trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible.
Of course he did. That’s the Canadian way of handling fame.
Thursday’s meet-and-greet was the first official event of the 2017 Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame induction weekend. Avoid notice? No such luck. Jenkins, at 74 years old, still has a presence that’s hard to ignore.
The spot where Jenkins had unknowingly come to rest upon entry happened, coincidentally, to be right next to fellow Canadian hall of famers and Toronto sports icons Pat Hentgen and Roy Halladay, who were deep in conversation, probably talking about family and glory days. Three former major-league starting aces with four combined Cy Youngs. The current Jays could sure use one of those now.
If there are any parents with a family of young baseball fans looking for a fascinating afternoon of baseball memories for themselves and their children, then St. Marys, Ont., on Saturday at 1 p.m. is the place to be.
The induction ceremony will in- clude a group of five: Halladay; former Expos star outfielder Vladimir Guerrero; the Canadian team that won Pan Am Games gold in 2015; Ray Carter, longtime president of Baseball Canada; and members of the family of late west coast umpiring pioneer Doug Hudlin. Voting for the Canadian hall has been conducted annually since 1983.
“Each member of this year’s class has had a tremendously positive impact on baseball in Canada,” hall of fame director of operations Scott Crawford said. “I’m excited that we will not only be celebrating the careers of two of the greatest professional players ever to suit up for the Blue Jays and Expos, but also two highly respected grassroots leaders and a gold-medal winning national team that made history on home soil.”
Also expected to be on hand for Saturday’s celebration, along with Halladay and Guerrero, for fans seeking autographs will be former major-leaguers Jenkins, Hentgen, Tom Henke, Duane Ward, Paul Spoljaric, Bill Atkinson and Dr. Ron Taylor, plus others who simply love being part of the annual event. The town of St. Marys is about a twohour drive west of downtown Toronto, north of London.
There exists an impressive overlap of hall of famers between St. Marys and Cooperstown. The list of uniformed famers enshrined in both museums includes Jenkins (the only Canadian-born player at Cooperstown), Jackie Robinson, Robbie Alomar, Gary Carter, Andre Dawson and Tim Raines. Guerrero will likely be enshrined in Cooperstown in 2018, while Halladay is not yet on the ballot.
Other notable baseball icons with residency in both halls are Sparky Anderson, Tommy Lasorda, Pat Gillick, Tom Cheek, Dave Van Horne, Tony Kubek, Howie Starkman and Bob Elliott. Cooperstown’s weekend is set for July 28 to 30.
Halladay, now 40, pitched 12 years for the Blue Jays after being the 17th player selected in the June 1995 draft. With the Jays, he was 148-76 with a 3.43 ERA and 1,495 strikeouts over 2,0462⁄ innings. Halladay won
3 the 2003 Cy Young at age 26, and finished second in 2008.
Halladay won a second Cy after being traded to the Phillies in December 2010. He had requested the trade upon being told the Jays were going into a rebuilding mode. He also tossed a playoff no-hitter against the Reds in 2010.
Guerrero, now 42, was signed by the Expos as a 16-year-old out of a tryout in the Dominican Republic, after arriving on the back of a moped with no shoes. In eight major-league seasons in Montreal, the flamboyant right fielder hit .323 with 234 homers, 123 stolen bases and an on-base plus slugging mark of .978. He won the AL MVP with the Angels in 2004 and is only a handful of votes away from being elected to Cooperstown. Both players are well deserving of eventually being included in both halls.
What about the other three honourees on Saturday? The 2015 Pan Am Games champions shocked the Americans on home soil in Ajax with the dramatic win.
Carter, as president of Baseball Canada from 2000-16, was the primary voice of reason that helped propel the national teams to promi- nence, along with Greg Hamilton.
The highly respected Hudlin, who passed away in 2014, was born in Victoria, B.C. in 1922 and umpired amateur ball from 1953-92. He was the first non-American to be chosen to work the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa., in 1967.
This is the highlight of the year for the town of St. Marys. However, the future of the hall of fame at its current site was cast into doubt in December 2016, when by a vote of 6-1 the town council rejected a request for a one-time capital contribution of $550,000, plus $150,000 in annual funding to upgrade the museum as a summertime, must-see tourist attraction.
That no vote may have been shortsighted. The primary reason given by the St. Marys mayor was the burden it would place on taxpayers already struggling to make ends meet. The fact is that if not for the baseball museum, St. Marys would otherwise be most renowned as the site of the country’s first Eaton’s department store, the burial place of our ninth Prime Minister Arthur Meighen, and a great place to buy cement.