*** Welcome to piglix ***

Érik Bédard

Érik Bédard
Érik Bédard on July 31, 2013.jpg
Bedard with the Houston Astros
Pitcher
Born: (1979-03-05) March 5, 1979 (age 38)
Navan, Ontario, Canada
Batted: Left Threw: Left
MLB debut
April 17, 2002, for the Baltimore Orioles
Last MLB appearance
July 12, 2014, for the Tampa Bay Rays
MLB statistics
Win–loss record 71–82
Earned run average 3.99
Strikeouts 1,246
Teams

Érik Joseph Bédard (pronounced [eʁik beˈdɑʁ] baydar; born March 5, 1979) is a Canadian former professional baseball pitcher. He pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles, Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, Houston Astros and Tampa Bay Rays. With Baltimore, Bédard was the staff ace, setting the franchise single-season strikeouts per nine innings record at 10.93 in 2007.

Bédard was born on March 5, 1979 in Navan, Ontario, a suburb of Ottawa. A Franco-Ontarian, Bédard began his baseball career in the Orleans Little League and the Ontario Baseball Association. He was a pitcher on the 1992 Orleans Junior Red Sox team which beat Glace Bay in the 1992 Canadian Championship. Bédard did not play high school baseball, which is common in Canada due to the short season.

Although 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m) and 120 pounds (54 kg) as a senior, he grew seven inches and gained 30 pounds (14 kg) during the summer between graduating from high school and beginning college. He accompanied a friend to a tryout at Norwalk Community College in Norwalk, Connecticut, and made the baseball team as a walk-on.

While in college, he added 10 miles per hour to his fastball, gained another 30 pounds (14 kg), took the "lowest level" non-credit English language course to enhance his knowledge of the language, and became a junior college All-American.


...
Wikipedia

...