Former Rockies, Blue Jays P Jeff Francis Elected to Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame

Jeff Francis will join Justin Morneau and others at the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony this June

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Another former Toronto Blue Jay will join the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame this summer.

Former Colorado Rockies ace and Blue Jays left-handed pitcher Jeff Francis was announced as the Hall's lasted elected member on Wednesday. 

Born in Vancouver, Francis pitched for six MLB teams across 11 big league seasons. The lefty logged over 1,000 innings for the Colorado Rockies, rocking a 4.96 ERA and striking out 742 batters. He finished his career with the Jays, pitching 22 innings out of the bullpen in 2015 during his age-34 season.

“Jeff Francis is one of the greatest left-handed pitchers to come from Canada,” a statement from Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame chair Jeremy Diamond said. “He was the ace of the Colorado Rockies on their National League pennant-winning team in 2007 and is considered one of the best pitchers in Rockies’ history. He has also answered the call to play for his country whenever he has been available and is a wonderful ambassador for baseball in our country.”

Drafted ninth overall out of the University of British Columbia in the 2002 Major League Baseball draft, Francis joined fourth overall pick Adam Loewen (from the same draft) as the highest selected Canadian baseball players at that time.

Francis represented Canada internationally at the 2006 World Baseball Classic and as a member of the gold-medal-winning 2015 Pan American Games Canadian squad.

“There's nothing like playing for your country,” he told SaskToday last year.

Francis will be formally inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in St. Marys on June 18th, alongside the 2020 induction class of Justin Morneau, Duane Ward, John Olerud, and Jacques Doucet.