By Danny Gallagher

Canadian Baseball Network

He's zany, outspoken, flamboyant, a free spirit -- so much so that Canadian baseball fans and media can't help but love him.

He's one of Canada's revered treasures.

He's easily one of the most popular players in Expos history. In the top five or top 10. We're talking Bill Lee here. Spaceman. He has become an adopted Canadian.

Not only did he pitch for the Expos for the equivalent of three seasons but Spaceman has travelled to many parts of Canada to pitch competitively in the amateur ranks. He didn't stop playing the game he loves. He didn't drown in his sorrows when it became apparent major-league teams wanted nothing to do with him after he was released in May of 1982 for walking out and heading to a bar to protest the axing of his close friend, second baseman Rodney Scott.

Even though he was dumped by the Expos, never to play again in the majors, he didn't stop playing the game he so dearly loves. The decision by major league teams to avoid signing him was akin to collusion. He compromised by playing in Canada's amateur ranks. Not only did he pitch solidly but he was a pretty gall-darn good hitter.

We're bringing him up here because it's about time that the selection committee for the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in St. Marys, Ont. gave Lee serious consideration, providing that someone has already nominated him. Now all that has to happen is for the voters to elect him.

Just think, for almost 40 years, Lee has been pitching here and there for Canadian teams, going back to 1979 when he started throwing for the Expos.

I knew that Lee had pitched for the Moncton Mets of the New Brunswick Senior Baseball League in the 1980s but I didn't realize until recently that he actually pitched four seasons for Moncton, helping the Mets win three consecutive league championships.

One time after he hit a moonshot home run at Wanderers Grounds in Halifax, an elderly man went up to Lee and told him it was one of the longest balls he had ever seen hit at that stadium.

Lee also has pitched for Quebec's Longueuil Senators, B.C.'s Comax Expos, Ontario's Windsor Chiefs, Saskatchewan's Regina Red Sox, and teams in Altona, Man., Sydney, Nova Scotia and Qu'Appelle Valley in Saskatchewan, to mention a few. There have been numerous barnstorming teams that have enjoyed Lee's presence.

When the Canada-Cuba Goodwill Tour made its way across Canada in the summer of 2016, Lee was front and centre dealing with and coaching youngsters from both countries.

Not only does Lee keep active on the diamond but also off the field. He's a regular participant in many fundraising efforts, including many organized by Exposfest. He attends charitable dinners, tournaments like the annual Fergie Jenkins Golf Classic in St. Catharines, Ont. and participates in baseball camps in different parts of the country. He receives an appearance fee for most or all of his gigs so it's not like he's doing things for free but he's a willing participant. He doesn't stay at home in Vermont that much.

A few days before Lee was to suit up in the starting lineup for the Ottawa Champions' independent team on Labour Day weekend, Past Pros co-organizer Colin Greer summed up Lee's popularity by declaring, "The weekend will be a celebration of Bill.'' It sure was.

On the Friday night of the long weekend, Lee delivered pizzas for charity. On the Saturday afternoon, he was the centre of attention as the Clocktower Brew Pub in Ottawa concocted a beer in honour of him called The Wrong Stuff Hemp Ale. Then on Labour Day, he was the designated hitter for the Champions when they battled New York's Rockland Boulders. He received a standing ovation when he came to bat in the second inning and when he hit into a double play, he received another Standing O.

His appearance in the game at age 71 against pitchers 30 and 40 years his junior was truly amazing. His appearance also continued his streak as the oldest player to perform in a professional baseball game. The fact that a few thousand people showed up for the Champions' game was testament to Lee's drawing power. The guy is a magnet.

Sandwiched around all of these appearances, Lee spends quality time with his Calgary-born wife, Diana Donovan, and for years, he has been an analyst on Mitch Melnick's popular drive-home show on TSN 690 in Montreal.

So there, if all of this activity on Lee's part in Canada going back to 1979 doesn't warrant induction into St. Marys, then someone has missed the boat. I have nominated other former Expos for St. Marys and I am waiting for their selections to come true but this story is about Lee. I wholeheartedly support anyone's nomination for Spaceman.

"Bill Lee is the real deal, the genuine article when it comes to living life to its fullest,'' Mark Lidbetter, a veteran scribe for Montreal's Suburban weekly newspaper, told me. "I think that Bill’s love of baseball and his love of Canada do wonders for the game in Canada. He has barnstormed and played in every province where he never refuses a request for an autograph, a photo or a moment of his time.

"Watching him with kids is an amazing scene to see, asking who they play for, what position, genuinely interested with each interaction. He is always at the ready with a quip or a story or to answer the call to pitch in and help a good cause. When Montreal returns to the Majors, I think the first signing needs to be Lee as the club’s national ambassador.''

Lee is so popular and widely known that the Trudeau Liberals approached him and iconic rapper Snoop Dogg some time ago to seek their advice on how they should handle the sale and distribution of recreational cannabis. Isn't that something? In a top-secret meeting that apparently has never been publicized, Lee and Snoop Dog, both known users of cannabis, also sampled various scents of marijuana for the government in anticipation of the announcement that the drug would be legal to consume Oct. 17.

Danny Gallagher's upcoming book is called Blue Monday: the Expos, the Dodgers and the Home Run That Changed Everything. It will be released Oct. 13.