Gallagher: Nifty work by Canadian ball hall exec brings Pedro to St. Marys
2018 Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Pedro Martinez will be in St. Marys, Ont., on Saturday to be honoured. Photo: Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame
June 16, 2022
By Danny Gallagher
Canadian Baseball Network
The distinguished Expos broadcaster Jacques Doucet had to bow out of his Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony June 18 due to health reasons but a good replacement will show up.
Expos great Pedro Martinez.
The great Pedro was unable to attend his induction event back in 2018 for health reasons but made it known recently he would be willing to come this year to St. Marys.
Some neat backdoor work by Scott Crawford, the Hall of Fame's director of operations, helped make it all possible.
It's a coup to have Martinez come. He's a celebrity and public figure, who is busy beyond busy with many requests and time for his services.
"We kept in touch with Pedro and his foundation on social media and when we told him about the 2022 induction weekend, Pedro’s foundation reached out to us and mentioned interest in attending,'' Crawford said in an email interview. "We worked through logistics and timings. He arrives Saturday morning and leaves after the events Saturday.
"It will be great to honour Pedro for his amazing Expos career.''
Due to ''scheduling issues,'' Crawford said Martinez will not be able to stay after the ceremony to accommodate autograph seekers with the other inductees: Duane Ward, Jeff Francis (North Delta, B.C.) and Justin Morneau (New Westminster, B.C.).
All four will be available at a media-only news conference at the Hall of Fame's museum, beginning at 9:30 a.m. Saturday.
Martinez spent four exceptional seasons with the Expos, compiling a 55-33 record and captured a Cy Young award win in 1997 when he went 17-8 with a miniscule ERA of 1.90 and 13 complete games.
Doucet, 82, notified the hall of fame a few weeks ago he couldn't attend.
Former Expos personalities Steve Rogers, Billy Atkinson (Chatham, Ont.) and Dave Van Horne will be on hand for autographs along with Fergie Jenkins (Chatham, Ont.), Lloyd Moseby, Pat Gillick, Bill Humber (Bowmanville, Ont.), Allan Simpson (Kelowna, B.C.), Gord Ash (Toronto, Ont.), John Axford (Port Dover, Ont.) and other special guests.