5 former Pirates in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame

Érik Bédard 

Bédard, Pittsburgh’s 2012 Opening Day starter, had some good years with the Orioles before he signed with the Pirates after an average 2011 season split between Seattle and Boston. He had previously shown flashes of greatness, particularly during his ‘07 Orioles campaign, in which he went 13-5 with a 3.16 ERA and 221 strikeouts, finishing fifth in the AL Cy Young voting. Bédard grew up in the Ottawa area and went to Norwalk Community College in Connecticut. Baltimore selected him in the sixth round of the 1999 draft.  

His one year with the Pirates didn’t go so well. 2012 was an ultimately heartbreaking season for the Pirates, one which started out so well and ended rather poorly. In 24 starts, Bédard had a subpar 5.04 ERA, 75 ERA+ and 1.472 WHIP. The rotation would look very different just one year later, with A.J. Burnett and Wandy Rodríguez representing the only holdovers. The Pirates released Bédard in August, giving younger arms like Jeff Locke and Kyle McPherson the opportunity to start games. 

After Pittsburgh, Bédard went on to pitch for Houston and Tampa Bay. He performed slightly better on a terrible Astros team that lost 111 games in 2013, seeing some appearances come in relief. His ERA was lower at 4.59, but still well below his previous standard as a decent mid-rotation starter from his years with the Orioles and the Mariners. Bédard began the 2014 campaign with the Durham Bulls, the Rays' Triple-A affiliate. He was called up in April and pitched in the majors to less than stellar results.  

Bédard was DFA’d in late July, then released in early August. He signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers that offseason, but dealt with a back injury that kept him out of action for some time. He started just three games for their Single-A affiliate, the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes before calling it quits that June. Bédard was announced as a member of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame's 2025 class and will be inducted later this summer.