Long before they were Major League Baseball stars, Jeff Francis and Justin Morneau remember sharpening their skills at Mackie Park in Delta, BC, where they would sprint between the foul poles for extra cardio after weekend double headers.
Morneau, a catcher at the time, was an up-and-coming prospect from New Westminster looking for a place to play youth ball. It was Francis, a pitcher from Vancouver, who recruited him to the North Delta Blue Jays, a relatively new club a short drive from both of their homes.
“Some of my favorite memories are days off when we’d have optional batting practice,” Francis recalled. “It would be Justin and I and maybe two or three other guys on a hot summer day, and I’d watch Justin hitting balls off the school. (I have) a lot of good memories of battling with Justin, … pitching to him and really learning how to play baseball at a high level.”
The pair ended up spending two important years with the team, rooming together during road trips before embarking on their individual paths to the big leagues.
Morneau was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in 1999, right out of highschool. Francis, meanwhile, went on to play three years at the University of British Columbia before he was drafted ninth overall by the Colorado Rockies in 2002.
“We had some good teams (in Delta),” Morneau said. “I think seven guys went on to play college. All three catchers ended up being drafted. (Francis) didn’t throw as hard then, but he was still the best pitcher in our league. I think he lost one game in two years. It was a special group of guys.”
After keeping tabs on each other during their careers, Francis and Morneau have now come full circle 25 years later. They were together again in St. Marys on Saturday, this time as inductees into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame alongside pitchers Duane Ward and Pedro Martinez.
“To think we’d end up in the same place as two Canadian baseball players is really just crazy to even think about,” Morneau said.
Their inductions weren’t actually supposed to line up so neatly. Mourneau was elected with Ward in 2020, but the pandemic has stopped the Canadian ball hall from holding in-person induction ceremonies over the past two years. They joined Francis Saturday along with Martinez, a favorite son of the Montreal Expos who wasn’t available to attend the annual ceremony when he was first elected in 2018.
“For us to be sharing the stage I think is fitting,” Francis said. “It’s a testament to the kind of coaching staff we had, the kind of teammates we had, … the kind of program they run to this day. There’s a lot to be proud of in North Delta.”
Francis, who moved to nearby London with his wife Allison in 2003, pitched 11 seasons for the Rockies, Royals, Red, A’s, Yankees and Blue Jays. He recorded 72 wins (second-most by a Canadian left-hander) and ranks fifth in starts, seventh in wins and eighth in strikeouts and innings pitched among Canuck hurlers.
In 2007, he propelled Colorado to the National League pennant and made three postseason starts, becoming the first Canadian pitcher to start the opening game of the World Series (the Rockies were swept by the Red Sox) and only the second to start in a World Series at all. Francis also won a gold medal with Canada at the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto.
Morneau, now a Twins color commentator, was moved to first base during his journey through the minor leagues before making his MLB debut in 2003. A four-time All-Star who also played for the Pirates, Rockies, and White Sox, Morneau ranks among the top-five all-time Canadian players in hits, doubles, total bases, and home runs.
Morneau has also been a frequent member of the Canadian national team, including at four World Baseball Classics between 2006 and 2017.
Jeremy Diamond, chair of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame’s board of directors, said Saturday’s ceremony was an especially important one for Canadian baseball fans.
“There’s a lot of baseball lovers and enthusiasts in St. Marys and around southern Ontario that have waited to do the pilgrimage to the hall of fame,” he said. “It’s wonderful to be back together, it’s wonderful to be celebrating baseball, and we’re just glad we’re doing this again.”
A tent set up outside of the ball hall was packed with influential members of the Canadian baseball community, including plenty of Blue Jays alumni. Fergie Jenkins, the legendary former Chicago Cubs pitcher from Chatham, summarized his role handing out blazers and plaques to this year’s inductions.
In their speeches filled with thanks to family, teammates, and supporters, each inductee spoke briefly about their unique connections to Canada.
Martinez, a draft pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers who blossomed with the Montreal Expos before he was traded to the Boston Red Sox in 1998, described his career-changing years north of the border.
“I’m extremely proud and believe me, I’m in Cooper’s Town too and this is as meaningful as the (hall of fame) in Cooper’s Town,” he said to applause. “Like a good son, you always come back home, so I feel like I belong to Canada. My success, a lot of it, or most of it, belongs to Canada.”
Ward brought smiles when he reminisced about his legendary run as a dependable late-inning reliever with the Blue Jays during the franchise’s two World Series-winning seasons.
“You cheered for me. You booed me. We had a love-hate relationship, but I think in the end you wanted me with that baseball in my hand,” he said, acknowledging the team’s fans. “We had this whole country jumping in unison.”
The legacy of that team continues to be felt in St. Marys and across the country. While touring the Canadian ball hall and museum earlier on Saturday, Morneau said he remembered cheering for the Jays as a kid in BC all those years ago.
“Walking through the museum this morning it was kind of surreal,” Morneau said. “I watched Duane Ward pitch. I watched these guys on TV and dreamed that one day I might get to play major league baseball and then all of I sudden, I walk in that room and it took everything I had not to choke up because of what it means to be Canadian and play baseball in this country. This truly is a special place.”