Some well known figures in Canadian baseball history will be enshrined in St. Marys in this year's Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame Inductions.
Jays Legend Carlos Delgado and Canadian stars Matt Stairs and Corey Koskie will join longtime Montreal Expos manager Felipe Alou and journalist Bob Elliot.
Carlos Delgado:
Delgado was signed as an amateur free agent by the Blue Jays in 1988. He evolved into the most productive offensive player in franchise history. On his way up to the big leagues, the left-handed-hitting slugger collected MVP Awards in the Class-A Florida State League and Double-A Southern League, before receiving his first big league call-up at the end of the 1993 campaign.
Delgado became a regular with the Blue Jays in 1996 and would star with the club for the next nine seasons. During that stretch, he had eight consecutive, 30-home run campaigns, was selected to two all-star games and won three Silver Slugger Awards as well as a Hank Aaron Award and was named The Sporting News Major League Player of the Year in 2000. He also finished second to Alex Rodriguez in the American League MVP voting in 2003.
Delgado rewrote much of the Blue Jays record book and is the team’s all-time leader in home runs with 336, RBI's with 1058, and is also the leader in doubles, runs, total bases, slugging percentage, extra-base hits and walks.
After leaving the Jays following the 2004 season, Delgado extended his string of consecutive 30-home run seasons to 10 with the Florida Marlins and New York Mets. He finished his career with 473 home runs and 1512 RBI's
Corey Koskie:
The Manitoba Native was a multi sport star in his teens, even playing goaltender in the provincial junior league. He would eventually focus on baseball and was selected in the '94 MLB amateur draft by Minnesota.
A 6'3 third baseman, Koskie became a regular in the 1999 season with 11 home runs in 117 games, being named to the All-Star Rookie team.
He would go on to become only the third player in his position to have at least 100 runs, 25 home-runs, 100 RBIs and 25 stolen bases. He accomplished this feat in 2001 with the Twins.
Koskie would eventually end up in Toronto, with 11 homers for the Jays in 2005 before a deal sent him to Milwaukee. He would end his career a Brewer due to a concussion he suffered in the 2006 season.
Matt Stairs:
When his dreams of being an NHL'er didn't work out, Stairs emerged as one of the best pinch hitters in baseball to cap off a 19 year career in the majors.
The native of New Brunswick was named the top shortstop at the 1988 Olympics while representing his country. That success led to a contract with the Montreal Expos, making his debut in May of 1992.
Stairs spent the next four seasons split in the minor leagues, Japan and the Boston Red Sox before signing with Oakland in December of '95. He hit 10 home runs his first year and 27 the next, solidifying himself as a big time slugger with another 26 and 38 homers in the following seasons.
After 19 years in 'the bigs', Stairs would go on to play on 10 more teams, winning a world series with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2008. He finished his career with 265 home runs and one of only 4 Canadians to play for both the Blue Jays and the Montreal Expos.
Felipe Alou:
Alou was with the Expos as a player, instructor and manager for 27 of the franchises 36 years.
He had an 18 year career with 19 games in Montreal in 1973. The 3 time all star went on to manage minor leaugue teams before joining the big club in 1979
Alou returned to the minors in 1981 to manage the Expos’ Triple-A Denver Bears to a league title and when the Expos shifted their Triple-A affiliate to Wichita the following season, Alou moved with the team. After another coaching stint with the big club in 1984, Alou joined the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians in 1985 and the Class-A West Palm Beach Expos from 1986 to 1991. Alou was hired as the Expo manager in 1992, making him the first Dominican manager in MLB history.
He would win a club record 691 games at the helm, including a first place standing before the cancellation of the 1994 season.
Alou wrapped up his career with stints with Detroit and San Francisco, becoming the first Latin manager to win 1000 games. He is still going strong in his 60th year involved in pro baseball as a special assistant to Giants manager Brian Sabean.
Bob Elliot:
The Kingston native got his start at age 17 submitting box scores for senior baseball to the local paper.
Another 12 years later Elliot got his first assignment to an MLB game, covering the Montreal Expos home opener in 1978. He rose through the ranks covering the team before moving to the Toronto Sun in 1987 to cover the Blue Jays.
Elliot became known for shining the spotlight on Canadian talent with the creation of the Canadian Baseball Network, a website that tracks homegrown ball players.
Now in the business for nearly five decades, Elliot has wrote 3 books and continues to write for the Sun as a baseball columnist.