The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame announced today their 2020 induction class including former National Team player and 2006 American League Most Valuable Player Justin Morneau, legendary radio broadcaster Jacques Doucet and pair of Blue Jays’ World Series champions in John Olerud and Duane Ward.
The quartet will be formally inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in St. Marys, Ontario on June 20, 2020.
“Baseball Canada would like to congratulate National Team alumnus Justin Morneau along with Jacques Doucet, John Olerud and Duane Ward on their inductions into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and for the contributions to baseball in Canada,” said Baseball Canada President Jason Dickson.
Morneau, a native of New Westminster, BC, enjoyed a 14-year career in the big leagues highlighted by the ’06 AL MVP, four All-Star Game appearances, two Silver Slugger Awards and a National League batting title in 2014.
He spent ten of his 14 big league season with the Minnesota Twins, the club that drafted him in the third round of the 1999 MLB Draft, before being dealt to the Pittsburgh Pirates during the 2013 season. Morneau then spent two seasons with the Colorado Rockies before his final big league season with the Chicago White Sox in 2016.
A member of the Junior National Team program in 1999, Morneau represented Canada on six different occasions in international competition including helping Canada qualify for the Olympics in 2003 and participation in all four World Baseball Classic events including 2017 where he played his last game.
“A proud Canadian who took great pride in representing his home and native land throughout his professional career, we are thrilled that Justin will be enshrined in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame - a place where he so deservedly belongs,” said Baseball Canada’s Director of National Teams Greg Hamilton.
Montréal native Jacques Doucet was the sound of summer for fans of the Montréal Expos for 33 seasons and has been broadcasting Toronto Blue Jays’ games in French since 2011.
Doucet was inducted into the Baseball Quebec Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Montreal Expos Hall of Fame in 2003. The following year, he won the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame’s Jack Graney Award, which is handed out annually by the Hall of Fame to a member of the media who has made significant contributions to baseball in Canada through their life’s work.
This past year, he was one of eight finalists for the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s prestigious Ford C. Frick Award.
Olerud and Ward were key pieces of the Toronto Blue Jays’ back-to-back World Series championships in 1992 and 1993 and in doing so becoming household names for many Canadians.
Ward was one of the top relievers in baseball during those years earning an All-Star nod in 1993 while locking down 45 games in the closer’s role for the Jays.
He is still involved with the Blue Jays to this day as a key member of their Amateur Baseball Academy.
Olerud was one of the top hitters in the American League during the early 90’s and flirted with hitting .400 during the ’93 campaign before finishing with a league leading .363 batting average.
Known for a smooth batting stroke at the plate, he was equally as smooth around the bag where he played first base during his 17-year career with Blue Jays, Mets, Mariners, Yankees and Red Sox.
