OTTAWA- Former Major League pitcher Paul Quantrill (Port Hope,ON) will be inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame during the Hall’s induction weekend of June 17-19. The ceremony will take place in St.Marys, ON home of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.
Quantrill’s career spanned 14 seasons and 7 Major League clubs including 6 seasons spent with the Toronto Blue Jays. Some other highlights of Quantrill’s career include an impressive 841 appearances and an All-Star game berth in 2001, while a member of the Blue Jays.
These days Quantrill lends his time to Baseball Canada’s Junior National Team as the pitching coach, his commitment to the program and his induction into the Hall are not lost on Greg Hamilton, Baseball Canada’s Director of National Teams.
“We are very happy for Paul, who richly deserves this honour and for his family,” said Hamilton “In addition to being an exceptional baseball talent, he is an even better person and we are fortunate to have him involved with our national teams program.”
The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame has an entire weekend planned with many distinguished guests in attendance. Some notable guests include: former Blue Jay Roberto Alomar, member of the Baseball Hall of Fame Fergie Jenkins, and Canadian Olympic Gold medalists in Ice Dance, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.
The induction ceremony will take place on June 19th beginning at 11:00am. Other events for the weekend include:
Team Alomar v. Team Quantrill
There will be five major events covering the three days, beginning with a Celebrity Slo-Pitch game at 7:00pm on Thursday, June 17 on Rotary Field. "Team Alomar" and "Team Quantrill" will have numerous celebrities playing, such as Fergie Jenkins, Steve Rogers, as well as several media personalities, including The Fan 590's Mike Wilner, host of the Blue Jays post-game show. Another couple of potential ringers are Linda Ruth Tosetti, the granddaughter of Babe Ruth and reigning Miss Canada Bridget Nickerson. A limited number of raffle tickets are still available at the Hall's administration office for an opportunity to play on Team Alomar.
14th Annual Celebrity Golf Classic
The 14th Annual Celebrity Golf Classic will take place on Friday, June 18th, beginning at 9:00am at the St. Marys Golf & Country Club. The tournament is virtually sold out, but if you are interested, try contacting the Hall's administration office at 519-284-1838 or email baseball@baseballhalloffame.ca. For non-golfers, tickets are available to attend the golf banquet which begins at 4:30pm that day on the Hall's Ceremonial Grounds at 386 Church St. S. Dinner tickets MUST be purchased in advance.
Feature Game featuring Cal Quantrill
At 4:00pm on Saturday, June 19, on St. Marys Cement Company Field, Alomar and Quantrill be the honorary coaches for a Bantam game to be played between Whitby (Quantrill's son Cal plays for them) and the hometown St. Marys Hubbard Pharmacy team. Bronfman will throw out the opening pitch.
Authors' Panel - featuring Roger Kahn
At 5:00pm, in the Ceremonial Tent adjacent to the Hall's museum, the Hall will be hosting its first-ever Author's Panel, featuring Roger Kahn, who wrote the bestselling classic "The Boys of Summer." Kahn is the author of 19 books and hundreds of articles in national magazines such as Esquire, Sports Illustrated, Time and The Saturday Evening Post.
For further details about the weekend, please visit: http://www.baseballhalloffame.ca/
