The 2020 class going into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame includes a couple of great hitters, a dependable closer for the Toronto Blue Jays, and a voice that brought Montreal baseball into people's homes for years.
Justin Morneau from New Westminster, B.C., former Blue Jays first baseman John Olerud, pitcher Duane Ward, and longtime Montreal Expos broadcaster Jacques Doucet will be inducted into the Hall in St. Marys in June.
Justin Morneau was selected by the Minnesota Twins in the third round of the 1999 MLB draft and was converted from a catcher into a first baseman in 2000 then made his Twins debut on June 10, 2003. Between 2003 and 2013, he was a four-time all-star, won two Silver Slugger awards, had four 100-RBI seasons and is the only Canadian to be named American League MVP. After a decade with the Twins he played with Pittsburgh, Colorado and the White Sox.
John Olerud was signed by the Toronto Blue Jays and went straight to the majors out of university. He made his debut on Setpember 3, 1989 and singled in his first at bat. Olerud would become the team's every day first baseman in the 1991 season and between '91 and '93 was a key part of three consecutive division-winning squads and two World Series championship teams. And in '93 he batted .363 to become the only Blue Jay to win a batting title. He spent eight seasons with Toronto before he was traded to the Mets and then played five seasons in Seattle, ending his career with stints in New York with the Yankees and in Boston.
Duane Ward pitched in some key games for Toronto through his career and won a World Series in 1992 as the set-up man then followed that up with championship in '93 as the closer. Ward was also a work hourse, appearing in no lest than 64 games per year through five seasons. In a combined eight World Series appearances, he posted a 3-0 record with a 1.13 ERA while striking out 13 batters in eight innings, and also registering two saves.
Born in Montreal in 1940, Jacques Doucet has been calling major league baseball games for more than four decades. Doucet served as a Montreal Expos beat reporter for La Presse from the time the franchise was awarded to the city in 1968 to 1971. He began performing play-by-play for the Expos’ French language radio broadcasts in 1972 and continued for 33 seasons. After the Expos left for Washington following the 2004 season, Doucet continued his broadcast career in his home province, calling games for the independent Can-Am League’s Quebec Capitales from 2006 to 2011. In August 2011, he returned to the big leagues to broadcast select Blue Jays games in French for TVA Sports. He continues to broadcast Blue Jays games.