February 2nd was the announcing of the newest 2022 Canadian Baseball Hall of Famer, Jeff Francis who will be inducted in June alongside four others inducted in the class of 2020 who unfortunately had to wait due to the pandemic.
Francis was drafted 9th overall in the 2002 draft to the Colorado Rockies. He now holds many pitching records and is at the top of most pitching stats. Francis was the first ever Canadian pitcher to start game one of the World Series.
Francis has settled down in London Ontario with his wife and kids. He is coaching his daughters softball team and his sons baseball teams. He has also been coaching Canada’s Jr national team.
“The 2017 team is the most memorable Rockies team even if they win a World Series” said Francis when talking about career highlights.
Former highschool teammate to Francis, Justin Morneau was inducted in the 2020 class and participated in the induction meeting. Francis and Morneau said they faced each other 6 times in their career and their moms were always attending the games and sat together and they both happened to presume the outcome of each at bat between the two of them every time with Francis winning most of their battles.
Another 2020 class inductee was Duane Ward. He was a Jays pitcher who was on the back to back world series teams. Ward really wanted to share what it’s like to attend a Canadian baseball hall of fame as he has been on a few occasions with some other Toronto Blue Jays players. He shared that with all the festivities, the community with open arms bringing many fans and the golf with dinner, it’s the best weekend in June.
John Olerud is another former Jays pitcher attending the back to back world series wins who was inducted in the 2020 class. He shared that one of his favourite moments in the MLB would be facing big name guys like David Ortiz. Olerud went to the Jays spring training camp not sure whether they were taking him as a position player or a pitcher as he was an all star in both. During the camp, the team ended up taking him as a position player where he almost hit .400 on the season which is a remarkable achievement.
Lastly to be inducted to the 2020 class hall of fame is broadcaster Joques Doucet who is a former Expos announcer who moved to the jays when the Expos left the league. Doucet says his favourite memory was broadcasting the MLB All Star game in Montreal which was the first ever All Star game outside of America. When Doucet got the call he was being inducted into the Hall of Fame he said “it’s a very, very big honour and didn’t expect it”. He also was very confused and said “are you pulling my leg”. Doucet is not ready to retire as his partners in the past like Dave Van Horne who have now retired. Doucet is ready for upcoming seasons.
