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By Earl Seitz

Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame

Former MVP of the Kamloops International Baseball Tournament named to Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame

Feb 4, 2020 | 6:55 AM

KAMLOOPS — Former Toronto Blue Jays first baseman and two-time World Series champion John Olerud headlines the four-man class that will be inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame this summer.

Olerud, along with Justin Morneau, former Blue Jays pitcher Duane Ward and Montreal sportscaster Jacques Doucet will be enshrined in a ceremony in on June 20.

Olerud, who suffered a near-fatal brain aneurysm in college in 1989, went on to play 17 seasons in the major leagues, including eight years in Toronto.

He was an integral part of both of Toronto’s World Series championships in 1992 and 1993 and won the American League batting title in ’93.

Before going to the big leagues Olerud was the most valuable player in the 1988 Kamloops International Baseball Tournament while playing with the Washington State Cougars.

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He was also the home run leader of the 1988 KIBT and led Washington State to the tournament championship.

In an interview I did with Olerud at a Toronto Blue Jays game in Seattle in 1992 he said he had fond memories of the Kamloops tournament.

He said what stood out to him the most was that the team camped out at Knutsford, and that was the first time he had ever gone camping.