ST. MARYS – It was a special day for the Baseball Canada community on June 24th with former Baseball Canada President Ray Carter along with the entire 2015 Canadian Men’s National Team inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.
The 2017 induction class featured a pair of names that had a big impact on Blue Jays and Expos fans for many years as former Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay and former MVP Vladimir Guerrero headlined the inductees. Longtime amateur umpire Doug Hudlin was inducted, posthumously.
Team Canada Manager Ernie Whitt, now a three-time inductee into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, addressed the capacity crowd in St. Marys with stories of the National Teams’ run to gold at the 2015 Pan Am Games.
“We don’t play for the name our on our back, we play for the name on the front (of our jersey),” said Whitt when addressing the onlookers in St. Marys. “The players we bring together, the staff we have – we all have one common goal and that’s to win.”
Members of the Pan Am squad that attended the ceremony in St. Marys included Skyler Stromsmoe, Chris Robinson, Jeff Francis, Brock Kjeldgaard, Jasvir Rakkar and Tim Smith along with staff members Greg Hamilton, Dave Blatz, Bernie Soulliere and Keith Sanford.
It was fitting for longtime Baseball Canada President Ray Carter to take his rightful spot in the Hall of Fame alongside the 2015 National Team, a program that was near and dear to him over his 16-year run in presidency role.
Carter’s reign at president began in 2000 and lasted until 2016, which is the longest run in Baseball Canada’s 53-year history.
Carter told the crowd his journey in baseball, which began as a volunteer in his home province of British Columbia
Some of the programs that flourished and were implemented under Carter’s reign included the Women and Men’s National Teams program, the Rally Cap initiation program and Challenger baseball.
Carter also took the time to thank many of the people that played a role in his successes including family members, Baseball Canada staff and many friends made along the way.
“I was not the best player in the province. I was not the best player in my area. I wasn’t even the best player on my team,” said Carter. “But I loved the game.”
