Baseball fancies itself as a red, white and blue game. And so it was once again on Sunday, albeit with a different tone and texture.
Canada, the Toronto Blue Jays and Puerto Rico had their day in the baseball sun on an afternoon when the heat wave in the East finally seemed to break and a gentle breeze ruffled three flags on a green field next to the Clark Sports Center.
The first inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame with a Toronto Blue Jays cap on his plaque, and only the third Puerto Rican-born player to enter the Hall, Roberto Alomar said afterward that "my heart is half Puerto Rican and half Canadian." His induction speech, delivered partially in Spanish, coupled with that of Pat Gillick, architect of the Blue Jays' back-to-back World Series championships, to highlight a weekend that had Canada written all over it.
"Thank you, you guys from Canada … it's pretty special," Gillick said in his acceptance speech, which was striking for its personal tone, relying on first names as Gillick thanked executives and office staff from his nearly 50-year career in the majors, including 20 as a general manager in Toronto, Baltimore, Seattle and Philadelphia. Gillick also made special mention of late scouts Al LaMacchia, Bobby Mattick and Mel Queen, all of whom were instrumental in the Blue Jays' success.
On Saturday, Dave Van Horne, the long-time voice of the Montreal Expos, was given the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcast excellence. Roland Hemond, a tiny, white-haired gentleman who was a three-time executive of the year and mentor to several general managers, was named winner of the Buck O'Neil Award for "extraordinary efforts to enhance baseball's positive impact on society." He helped build winning franchises in Chicago, Baltimore and Arizona but he has French-Canadian roots: his mother was Québécoise, and the family didn't speak English in their home until he was six years old. Hemond sprinkled French words throughout his acceptance speech on Saturday.
And Minnesota Twins pitcher Bert Blyleven, the third member of the Class of 2011, spent four years in Saskatchewan after his family immigrated from Holland. It was upon entry to Canada, in fact, that the spelling of the family name was changed from 'Bljleven' to 'Blyleven.'
Alomar, who mentioned Roberto Clemente and Orlando Cepeda as the Hall's contingent of Puerto Rican-born members, was a 12-time all-star and 10-time Gold Glove winner. His speech focused instead on family (his father Sandy, a former Major League player and coach, and brother Sandy, Jr., a former teammate and current first base coach with the Cleveland Indians, were both present) and his Puerto Rican roots and days in Toronto. The Puerto Rican flag was in evidence all weekend in this village – no surprise since it is a three to four-hour drive from New York City.
Sandy, Jr., shared an anecdote on a video presentation preceeding the formal introduction, saying the brothers shared a one bedroom apartment in Double-A that had just a bed and a couch and whoever had the most hits on any given night would get the bed. "I spent all year on the couch," Sandy said, "and I hit .300 that year." In his speech, the younger Alomar reminded his brother that at least he didn't have to do the laundry. "I did all the laundry because I was the youngest," Alomar told a crowd estimated by the Hall to be 17,500, just slightly above the estimated average for these ceremonies and well off the estimated 75,000 for the induction of Cal Ripken, Jr., and Tony Gwynn in 2007.
Alomar's speech was interrupted by chants of 'Robbie, Robbie, Robbie,' when he said: "I am proud to represent you as the first Toronto Blue Jay inducted into the Hall of Fame." It appeared as if there were as many Puerto Rican fans as there were Blue Jays fans, and when the time-worn song 'Centerfield' by John Fogarty was played before the induction, a lusty version of 'La Bamba' broke out among Puerto Rican fans on the edge of the field.
Alomar saved special thanks for Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston and club president Paul Beeston. Gaston did not attend the ceremony because of back issues. "Thank you for teaching me how to be a professional," Alomar said.
Alomar is widely-regarded as the best second baseman of his generation. His Hall o Fame plaque opens with: "Set the standard for a generation of second basemen with a quick, powerful bat, a smooth, steady glove and seemingly endless range."
In fact, Hemond, the long-time baseball executive, said that when he was pushing the case for legendary Yankees second baseman Joe Gordon to be put in by the Veteran's Committee, he told committee members who hadn't seen Gordon play that he was "acrobatic, like Robbie Alomar … and not many people know that Gordon was a really good gymnast (in college.)" Now Alomar can say he is like Gordon: a Hall of Famer.