By Bob Elliott
Canadian Baseball Network
The night that the Cleveland Indians moved to within a game of the World Series -- their first since 1997 -- a member of that same team was honored in downtown Toronto a short walk from the Rogers Centre.

And not just any ordinary player either.

He happened to be man who put the Indians into the their last World Series with a solo home run off Armando Benitez in the top of the 11th inning giving Cleveland a 1-0 win over the Baltimore Orioles in Game 6 of the best-of-seven American League Championship Series.  

Tony Fernandez was part of a healthy class inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame at the Sheraton Hotel. 

Fernandez played in 120 games his only year for the Indians who went on to lose to the Florida Marlins in extras of Game 7 of the World Series at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami.

The reason he was honored by the OSHOF was not for his time with the Indians but his 1,450 games with the Toronto Blue Jays. As Fernandez was speaking Cleveland manager Terry Francona, received only two bloody outs from starter Trevor Bauer and was patch working together a six-man Johnny Wholestaff win as Cleveland took a 3-0 lead in the ALCS. The Jays won Game 4 on Tuesday and were eliminated with a 3-0 in Game 5.

Fernandez had four tours of duty with the Jays: 

1. From being signed in San Pedro de Macoris in the Dominican Republic in 1980, to breaking in with the 1983 Jays, to being tabbed the MVP of the 1985 team by Pat Gillick on Toronto’s first post-season venture, to being traded with Fred McGriff for Robbie Alomar and Joe Carter at the 1990 winter meetings.

2. With the New York Mets in 1993, the Jays were suddenly in trouble when starting shortstop Dick Schofield sufferred a season-ending injury. Gillick dealt for Fernandez, who returned to hit .308 in the regular season and .326 in the post season to win the World Series.

3. After the 1997 season, Gord Ash brought back Fernandez to play second and third, his range whittled down, but his bat speed was the same.
  
4. And in 2001 Fernandez signed with the Milwaukee Brewers before returning to the Jays for the final 48 games of his career.

In all, Fernandez played in 1,450 career games with the Blue Jays, retiring as the Jays all-time leader. His final stint with the Jays allowed him to finish 27 games ahead of Carlos Delgado. The rest of the top 10 in games played include Vernon Wells (1,393), Lloyd Moseby (1,392), Ernie Whitt (1,218), George Bell (1,181), Rance Mulliniks (1,115), Willie Upshaw (1,115), Jose Bautista (1078) and Joe Carter (1,039).
    
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Joining Fernandez were inductees hoops star Leo Rautins, former Toronto Maple Leaf Ron Ellis, Philadelphia Flyers great Eric Lindros, former Toronto Argo Chris Schultz and the late freestyle skier Sarah Burke.

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Rautins, the former Syracuse Orange star, observed that he was only the second basketball player inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall. James Naismith, who invented the game, is the other. 

“Man, this makes me feel old, there are only two of us. Dr. James Naismith decided to hang peach baskets inside the gym,” Rautins said, “Well, it was my idea to cut out the bottom out of the peach baskets.”

Rautins explained how he returned from an all-star game in Buffalo at age 16 and his father woke him up since the Canadian basketball team was having tryouts. Rautins didn’t want to attend. He had been cut by the Ontario team. Nope, Rautins would spend the day in bed.

But his father insisted and so Rautins went. After five minutes of the first workout coach Jack Donohue called him over. Rautins thought he was about to be banged since he had been cut from a provincial team, how could he make a national team? Instead Donohue offered him a spot.

“Jack Donohue changed the game in Canada,” said Rautins, “he had us flying high.”

The first Canadian-born player ever selected in the NBA’s first round -- he went to the Philadelphia ‘76ers -- Rautins ended his career in 1993, but took up broadcasting and coaching, and is now a member of the Raptors TV broadcast team.

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Fernandez watched the video of the lithe young shortstop dropping his arm and throwing from the side at Exhibition Stadium, before he started his remarks saying, “I see that young kid up there and I think, wow, he needs some help.”

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Lindros  spoke about all the quality facilities he found growing up in London: indoor rinks, outdoor rinks, ball diamonds and swimming pools. 

He started out playing for Red Circle Minor Hockey and Like Rautins, Lindros attended St. Michael’s College School. He sat alongside his St. Mike’s Buzzers coach Scott McLellan at the banquet. Lindros also thanked his parents, Bonnie and Carl.

Lindros played junior for the Oshawa Generals, winning the 1991 Memorial Cup and was selected first over-all in the draft by the Quebec Nordiques. Traded to the Philadelphia Flyers, he went on to play 13 seasons in all -- eight with the Flyers, then three with the New York Rangers, plus one season with the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Dallas Stars -- his career ending prematurely in 2007 due to head trauma. 
  
He scored 372 goals and had 493 assists for 865 points in 760 games and won both the Hart Trophy and Lester B. Pearson Trophy in 1994-95 season. He will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame Nov 14 along with Sergei Makarov, Rogie Vachon and the late Pat Quinn.

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Fernandez thanked his Blue Jays influences:

Epy Guerrero, the Jays Latin America scout who signed him ... “he was like a father to me.”

Bobby Mattick, regarded as the wisest scout and the top man when in development ... “he was like a father to me.”

Billy Smith, a minor league infielder instructor.

And Cito Gaston, who was first his hitting instructor and then his manager: “Cito was like a big brother and then became like a father to me ... I guess I needed a lot of fathers.”

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A former 6-foot-7 lineman, Schultz gave the best speech. The Burlington, Ont., native was recruited by the University of Arizona, was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the seventh round in 1983 and played for America’s Team for three years. He returned to the CFL with the Toronto Argos, dominated for nine years, earning all-star berths in 1987-88, winning the 1991 Grey Cup and was selected to the Argos all-time team in 2007. 

A commentator on TSN’s CFL broadcasts, he spoke from the heart after he praised his TSN table. TSN talent like Rod Black and Rod Smith were on hand. 

He thanked his late father, who he lost recently, and said “Cancer. I hate cancer.” 

“We’re mushy, push right here,” he said pushing below his collar bone, “this award makes me feel mushy.” 

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Fernandez also thanked Jays Hall of Fame general manager Pat Gillick and president Paul Beeston even though “I sometimes thought I was being mistreated, a young player from the Dominican. Later on I understood, it was business.”

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Burke’s life ended far too early in a January, 2012 training accident. Burke was 29 at the time.
Burke won gold in the super pipe competition five times. 

ESPN and the ESPY Awards named her female skier of the year and best female action sports athlete respectively, making her an international celebrity.

A champion for her sport, the Midland, Ont., native, single-handedly put freestyle skiing on the map for women, lobbying ESPN in 2004 to include a women’s division in the Winter X Games. 

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Some Fernandez firsts and lasts:   
   
His first at-bat, Sept. 2, 1983: after entering the game in the sixth, pinch running for Cliff Johnson, he popped up facing Aurelio Lopez in the ninth of a game the Detroit Tigers won 9-8 in 10 innings.   

His final at bat, Oct. 7, 2001: pinch hitting for Luis Lopez, he grounded out to Jake Westbrook in the eighth inning of a 3-2 loss to the Indians. 

His first hit, Sept. 10, 1983: he doubled to right off Tim Conroy in the Blue Jays 7-5 win over the Oakland A’s.

His final hit: Oct. 3, 2001: pinch hitting for Brad Fullmer, he singled off Buddy Groom in a 7-6 win against Baltimore Orioles. 

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Ellis thanked Jim Gregory as a mentor and coach and thanked Gregory for his “timely input.” Playing for the Toronto Marlboros, Gregory had some advice during practice in 1963-64 on the way to winning the Memorial Cup.

“He said he was thinking of a position change for me, thank good news I listened,” Ellis told the crowd. “As a centreman I was probably headed to a college, but on the right wing it increased my numbers greatly. I thought ‘maybe I can play pro.’ So thank you Jim Gregory.”

Ellis pointed to the recently released top 100 Leaf players of all time. 

“I played with No. 14, with No. 1 and No. 4 ... all I had to do was get in the open,” said Ellis, who was voted the 24th greatest Leaf. Red Kelly was listed No. 14, Dave Keon No. 1 and Darryl Sittler No. 4.

Ellis had an 11-year career with the Maple Leafs after graduating from the Marlies. He played in the Canada-Russia Summit Series, and was one of 104 players to start and end their careers with the same team.

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Fernandez had the most hits against Charlie Leibrandt 24, Kirk McCaskill 21, Mike Boddicker 20, Greg Swindell 18 and Mike Moore 18.     

Pitchers who were unable to retire Fernandez as he:

Went 3-for-3 facing Joe Beckwith and Mel Stottlemyre.

And 2-for-2 against Bryan Clutterbuck, Larry Andersen, Kevin Bearse, Denis Boucher, Tim Byrdak, Rod Scurry, Jin Ho Cho, Dennis Cook, Mark Dewey, Tim Hudson, Mike Lincoln, Guillermo Mota, Yorkis Perez, Roger Smithberg and Mike Venafro.

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This year’s award winners _ Syl Apps Athlete of the Year Award: Brad Sinopoli, Ottawa RedBlacks.

The Sandy Hawley Community Service award: Peter Gilgan, one of Canada’s largest home builders with his Mattamy Homes and a great humanitarian. A 21 storey building stands at the corner of Bay and Elm, the Peter Gilgan Centre for Research and Learning, which is part of Sick Kids and his Tour de Bleu cycling event raised $2.7 million for ­Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre

Ferguson Jenkins Heritage award: University of Toronto Varsity Blues football team, winning 1909 inaugural Grey Cup.

Bruce Prentice Legacy award: Frank Selke and Frank Selke Jr. one of hockey’s first families, first with the Toronto Maple Leafs and then the Montreal Canadiens. 

And finally the Brian Williams award went to an old ball writer. As the late great Jim Fanning said one summer at St. Marys "I think I speak for everyone here when I say we'd all rather READ Bob Elliott rather than LISTEN to Bob Elliott."

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A member of the Blue Jays Level of Excellence, Fernandez won four consecutive American League Gold Gloves (1986-89), batting .288 for his career with 2,276 hits. 

“The fans in Toronto and in Canada embraced me,” said Fernandez, “The greatness of a man is not in how he treats others but the greatness of a man is when he realizes that we are all part of God’s creation.”