ST. MARYS-Ernie Whitt addressed the large crowd gathered on grounds of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame on Saturday as the 2011 Senior National Team was inducted into this year’s Hall of Fame class along with Rheal Cormier (Moncton, NB), Doug Melvin (Chatham, ON) and Rusty Staub.
“I want to ask the family members of players and staff that are here today to stand and be recognized for the sacrifices they make, while we’re away,” said Whitt in his opening remarks.
Team Canada was on the road for the better part of a month last October where they captured the bronze medal at the IBAF World Cup in Panama before striking gold at the Pan Am Games in Mexico.
Whitt, a 2009 CBHOF inductee, was joined on stage by players Mike Johnson (Edmonton, AB) and Brock Kjeldgaard (London, ON) along with Coach and Director of Baseball Canada’s National Teams Greg Hamilton (Ottawa, ON), Third Base Coach Tim Leiper, Business Manager and fellow member of the 2009 Hall of Fame class Bernie Soulliere (Windsor, ON), Equipment Manager Keith Sanford (Windsor, ON) and Athletic Therapist Dave Blatz (Winnipeg, MB).
“A motto we’ve had since day one is that we’re never going to let anything beat us,” said Whitt as he explained his team’s journey to winning two medals in a two-week period. “There are a lot of different elements that you have to deal with at these events and our guys rose above it.”
Whitt went on to explain how Canada had come so close to winning at international events in the past, but never was able to stand atop the podium and hear the Canadian anthem played.
“So many times we’ve been third down the line or out of the medals,” he explained. “Well I’m going to tell you that this year-it was the greatest.”
The crowd at the Hall of Fame erupted as Whitt smiled with tears streaming down his eyes, bursting with emotion as he recounted the finest moment in Canadian international baseball history.
“We (coaching staff) stood in that dugout in Mexico and we watched our kids get up on that podium and listened to the Canadian National Anthem,” he continued. “I’m so proud of these kids it’s unbelievable.”
Whitt went on to tell how the events unfolded at the Pan Am Games which led to a showdown with the United States for the gold medal. Canada had defeated the United Sates two weeks earlier at the World Cup which gave the team some confidence knowing that they could compete with the favoured squad.
“We all knew that we had a chance and it ended up being one of the most well played games of the tournament.”
Canada trailed the United States 1-0 before Jimmy Van Ostrand’s (Richmond, BC) double to right field scored two runs in the top of the sixth to give Canada the lead. The second run scored when the right fielder double-clutched and threw the ball to second base. Whitt credited the run to some smart coaching from Tim Leiper at third base.
“Leip was on top of the game and waved that run in and all of a sudden we’re in the lead,” he remarked.
Scott Richmond (Vancouver, BC) came in after a solid performance from starter Andrew Albers (North Battleford, SK) and recorded seven consecutive outs to secure the win.
“We had our closer warming up for the ninth, but as a staff we said let’s let him roll,” noted Whitt. “He was hot and got the job done for us.”
Whitt concluded his speech by explaining that many of the team members will never make it to the big-leagues and the gold medal victory in Mexico will be the highlight of their careers.
“This championship was like their World Series,” he said. “This wasn’t about an individual or an organization they’re getting paid from-it was about representing their country, their families and you should be proud for every individual that was a part of that team.”
Before wrapping up, Whitt praised the efforts of National Teams Director Greg Hamilton who was largely responsible for assembling the bronze and gold medal winning team. Hamilton was presented with a Hall of Fame jacket which is normally reserved for individual inductees.
“He knows the type of players that will be successful and I just can’t give Greg enough recognition,” said Whitt. “He’s the architect of Baseball Canada.”
