Born on March 5, 1979 in Navan, Ont., Érik Bédard grew up in Orleans, Ont., where he honed his pitching skills and helped lead the Orleans Little League Junior Red Sox to a Canadian championship in 1992. After being named a Junior College All-American at Norwalk Community Technical College in 1999, the Canadian left-hander was chosen in the sixth round of the MLB draft by the Baltimore Orioles. He quickly developed into one of the best pitching prospects in the O’s organization and was selected to play in the MLB Futures Games in 2001 and 2002. In the latter year, Baseball America named him the Eastern League’s best pitching prospect.
In 2004, Bédard joined the Orioles’ starting rotation. Two years later, he enjoyed a breakout season when he set career-highs in wins (15), starts (33) and innings pitched (196 1/3). He followed that up with his finest big-league campaign in 2007 when he went 13-5 with a 3.16 ERA and registered 221 strikeouts in 182 innings in 28 starts. That strikeout total remains the highest in a major-league season by a left-hander born in Canada. His 10.929 strikeouts per nine innings that season led all American League starting pitchers. For his efforts, he finished fifth in the American League Cy Young Award voting.
In February 2008, he was dealt to the Seattle Mariners where he’d record a tidy 3.31 ERA and fan 249 batters in 255 1/3 innings in 46 starts over parts of three seasons prior to being dealt to the Boston Red Sox at the trade deadline in 2011. He completed his major league career with one-season stints with the Pittsburgh Pirates (2012), Houston Astros (2013) and Tampa Bay Rays (2014). In all, Bedard finished with 71 wins and a 3.99 ERA in 241 major league appearances (230 starts).
Bédard remains the leader among Canadian big-league left-handers in starts, innings pitched (1,303 2/3) and strikeouts (1,246). He also ranks in the top 10 among all Canadian major league pitchers in several statistical categories, including third in strikeouts, fourth in starts, sixth in innings pitched, seventh in WAR (17.4) and 10th in wins.
On the international stage, Bedard pitched for Canada at the 2006 World Baseball Classic.
*Photo credit: Baltimore Orioles
