![\"Ryan](\"https:\/\/baseballhalloffame.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Ryan-Dempster-886x1024.jpg\")
For Gibsons native Ryan Dempster, the time\nhad finally arrived and he was poised to be inducted into the Canadian Baseball\nHall of Fame. It was much anticipated as\nhostess Hazel Mae, and most of his fellow inductees, including Gord Ash, Rob\nThomson, and fellow BC native, Jason Bay, marvelled at the speech they would\nhear from Dempster. It was a speech\nfilled with his true sense of humbleness and exuding with humour. According to Dempster \u201cGetting into any Hall\nof Fame, as a player, you take great pride. You appreciate the Jays and Expos\nand to be sitting here, at the Hall of Fame, is humbling and something to be grateful\nfor!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before receiving his Hall of Fame jacket, Mae\nread a message that was sent from the Cubs Tom Ricketts, Executive Chairman of\nthe Chicago Cubs, and Theo Epstein, who applauded Dempster\u2019s induction into the\nCanadian Baseball Hall of Fame. The note\nread \u201cThe Cubs organization joins the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in\nhonouring the remarkable career of Ryan Dempster. Ryan\u2019s tireless work ethic\nand sense of determination were key in making the journey from a small town of\nGibsons, BC, to a long and successful major league career. A true All-star both\non and off the field we thank Ryan for being a wonderful ambassador for the\nCubs organization and our beloved sport. \nIn true Dempster fashion he always brings unmatched class and character to\neverything he does. We are proud to call\nRyan Dempster, a member of our Cubs family and celebrate this outstanding\nachievement with him as well as his family and many fans!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As he was introduced, Dempster was thrilled\nto have his jacket put on by fellow Canadian and long-time Chicago Cub, Fergie\nJenkins. Dempster was sincere in telling\na story of when he was recovering from Tommy John surgery and met Fergie on the\nfield. \u201cI was in the back fields and didn\u2019t know how to throw a changeup,\ncoming off of surgery. Fergie Jenkins\ntook the time to show me and I went on to have the best years of my career as a\nChicago Cub.\u201d After honouring his\nmentor, Dempster added in a serious voice \u201cYou appreciate stats after you stop\nplaying \u2013 Fergie led in Wins\/Games Started\/Strike Outs, I finished second to\nthe greatest pitcher our country has ever seen. \nI thought that\u2019s not fair, he didn\u2019t have all those, so I started diving\ndeeper.\u201d He paused as though in deep\nthought and said \u201cI beat you in walks, hit by pitches, and you didn\u2019t even\ntouch the 12 grand slams I gave up.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Much of Dempster\u2019s 25 minute speech had the\ncrowd laughing yet he was also quick to add a more serious tone alluding to the\ndiscipline, hard work, and good baseball people that he met along the way.\n\u201cProfessional players aren\u2019t born, they are made\u2026something or someone helps\nfacilitate that at some point whether it is a coach or family member, they\nsteer you in that direction. For me it was my papa, Cliff Dempster who sat me\non his lap and taught me about baseball, and then I started playing Slopitch\nwith my parents who gave me a glove and stuck me in the outfield.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In no time he was back to \u201cWork ethic and\ndiscipline make your breaks. When\nopportunity knocks you don\u2019t crack open the door, you kick it down.\u201d It was definitely going to be a serious take\non his philosophy but then he added more \u201cAccording to Mike Tyson, discipline\nis doing hard work you don\u2019t want to do, and doing it with enthusiasm. He also\nhas a tattoo on his face and bit a guy\u2019s ear off in the ring, I\u2019m not sure how\nto trust him. But seriously discipline is\nto do a six am workout, when I could have slept in, or go for that run, instead\nof sitting on a bike.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dempster\u2019s message throughout his speech\nshowed so many traces of being humble, being a proud Canadian and having a\nstrong work ethic. As he reflected on\nwhat he envisioned his career would be like he mentioned \u201cTo get to the big leagues\nthat would be great, you look back and realized you did it for that long. It\u2019s pretty special, anything that I did\nwrong, they were learning moments in my life that helped me get better for the\nnext year, and the next year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Did he achieve the goals he sought out\noriginally? \u201cFor sure, it would have\nbeen nice winning a Cy Young award and playing for 20 years. I always wanted to\nplay 20 years but I came up a little short. \nI wanted a career in baseball and not just a job playing baseball.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When asked about the best memories during\nhis career, he reflected on his 2013 World Series run and added that \u201cHow we\ncame together from the first week of Spring Training when we were a bunch of\noutcasts. We turned around real quick. \nWe played together for one year and it felt like we had been playing\ntogether for 10 years.\u201d He focussed on the 2013 season in Boston, and concluded\nthat Boston was sad, and something that was lacking in the city, and that the\nbaseball team would later become a beacon of hope for the city. It was the year that bombing occurred during\nthe Boston Marathon. \u201cThrough tragedy\ncame triumph, and we had this great responsibility and this amazing honour to\nprovide a place where people could go to get away from something so tragic and\nhorrible, and lift those spirits up. \nPain and suffering for so many people will never go away but we got to\nbe a part of something really special and that\u2019s an entire city being Boston\nstrong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his speech Dempster made note of all of\nthe coaches and scouts who helped along the way from the early coaches of the\nNorthshore Twins, scout Tim Holgren of the Texas Rangers, and Pitching Coach\nBrad Arnsberg, Jim Leyland, and Dusty Baker who cared for me more as a \u201chuman\nthan a player,\u201d all of whom had an impact, one way or another at different\nstages along his career path in the majors. He also spoke clearly of the impact and faith\nthat bench boss, John Farrell of the 2013 Boston Red Sox had in him. As well, his fond memories of some of the\npeople he played baseball with in the minors \u201cWe pushed each other to get\nbetter. I never wanted for anyone to do bad so I could go up, I wanted them to\nreally well so that I could do better \u2013 push each other to do the best you can\nand push your teammates the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ryan had nothing but admiration when he\nspoke of Jim Hendry, former General Manager and Vice-President of the Chicago\nCubs. Dempster spoke of Hendry being the most honest man that he has ever met\nin the game of baseball \u201cHe always told it as it was. Sometimes you didn\u2019t want\nto hear it but that\u2019s the way it was. He brought me to Chicago, recovering from\nTommy John Surgery, broke and unable to pitch. \nHe gave me an opportunity, signed me to a contract and I\u2019ll forever be\ngrateful to that. He gave me a three year contract, he gave me a four year\ncontract, he gave my family financial security for a lifetime and for that\nalone, I\u2019m so grateful.\u201d He was also very thankful to come back to the Cubs to\nhelp them win a World Series after 108 years, which was truly incredible. \u201cThey\ntreated me like a player on the 60 DL, with no chance of a rehab assignment.\nI\u2019m forever grateful and thankful that Theo treated me that way. With so much\nrespect and welcomed me with open arms.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With Dempster\u2019s perspective on things he\nhad nothing but good things to say about Theo Epstein, the manager who would\neventually trade him to the Texas Rangers. He mentioned how his 10 and 5 rights\ngave him the luxury of picking the team that he could be traded to that would\ngive him a shot at a championship, while at the same time give the Cubs some\nopportunity to stockpile some young players as a core to rebuilding. According\nto Dempster, they tried trading him to nice teams, all of which he turned down\nincluding \u201cThe Yankees, and shave my beard, no way!\u201d He reminisced about his\nbiggest goal of winning a World Series, something he continually thought about\nwhile playing in Chicago. When Dempster\nanalyzed the package that he would be traded for his positive demeanour allowed\nhim to evaluate that \u201cTwelve starts for the Texas Rangers brought the Cubs 11\nyears of Kyle Hendricks and a World Series win!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dempster also thanked Craig Landis, who\nalways worked in a father\/son relationship with Dempster, even though he was\nhis agent. According to Dempster he was\nalways allowed to make his own decisions without Landis taking over and making\nbad decisions for him. He made reference\nto Dr. Tim Kremchek of the Cincinnati Reds, who performed Tommy John surgery on\nhis elbow and allowed his career to both continue and flourish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As his speech wound down Dempster saved the\nbest for last. He spoke of 1999 and how his very good friend Mike Redmond was\ndealing with the sudden illness of his father. \nHe clearly remembered Redmond telling him \u201cDemp don\u2019t ever take it for\ngranted that you are going to play another day in the big leagues. I always thought that my Dad would be around\nforever and that my parents would be there. Have them around, have them be\naround. And my parents have been around for the entire journey. I learned that\nfrom Mike Redmond.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Dempster glanced through the crowd he\nfocussed on his kids \u201cand to my kids, Brady, Reilly and Finley, thank you guys\nfor the inspiration you give to me on a daily basis to be the best man and\nfather that I can. I love you so much! Thank you to their mother Jenny for\nbeing there along the journey and for giving me three amazing children.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also made sure to thank his brothers\nTravis and Chris and his sister Sara who always gave unwavering support to\ntheir major league brother. As with his siblings he had nothing for praise for,\naccording to him and Matt Damon, \u201cmy hometown brothers Adam, Evan, Glen,\nShawnie, Chris, Jake and Adam\u2026.Thank you guys for always keeping me humble,\nkeeping me true to myself. I still have all the same best friends as I did\ngrowing up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dempster also thanked his wife Kelly for\n\u201cpushing me to be the best man I can be, for being an incredible partner, on\nthat 2013 season, the one that ended in a World Series Championship, and then\nwe got to ride off into the sunset in a new chapter in our life. Every time I\nchallenge myself with something new your support is unwavering, thank you for\nbeing there in the toughest time of my life and getting through with me, and for\ngiving us the beautiful gift of our daughter Isabella.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In closing his speech Dempster came back\nfull circle and talked about hard work and discipline to do that work. \u201cAs I look out over the crowd here on the\nstage, I can\u2019t think of two people who did a better job of that than my\nparents, Walter and Marnie Dempster. You\nguys sacrificed everything for us three boys. \nMy Mom wore the same pair jeans for an entire year so that we could have\nthat new glove or new pair of cleats. \nYou started out as two young adults, my Mom as a teenager and my Dad in\nhis early twenties. Next thing you know\nyou had three young boys in your twenties. I know it wasn\u2019t easy, I know it was\nhard but you guys worked at it and you fought through the times, when you\nbarely had money and you put food on the table, and you continued to work\nhard. You battled through times when it felt\nlike you surely would never make it but here you are 42 years later. You\u2019ve done an incredible job of raising\nthree boys to be respectful, loving but most importantly, all hard\nworking. When people ask me all the time\nhow does a kid from Gibsons make it to the major leagues, and I say hard work,\nand then they say who taught you that, and I say the answer is easy, \u201cYou guys did.\u201d\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Considering he had the crowd laughing so\nmuch at times it was hard to discern whether the tears in the eyes of the audience\nwere from laughing, or from the sincerity that he had shared with them. In true fashion of his love for the game and\npeople, I watched Dempster moments before he got on stage to be inducted. He\nnoticed a young man in a wheelchair with an Orioles shirt on. As he got closer Ryan bent over to say hi and\nbefore you knew it he had pulled off his World Series ring, put it on John\u2019s\nfinger and the two of them were posing for a picture. That alone, not just the merits of statistics\nor World Series rings showed why Ryan Dempster should be donning the Canadian Hall\nof Fame jacket and honour.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Deryck Kissoondath For Gibsons native Ryan Dempster, the time had finally arrived and he was poised to be inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. It was much anticipated as hostess Hazel Mae, and most of his fellow inductees, including Gord Ash, Rob Thomson, and fellow BC native, Jason Bay, marvelled at the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":20099,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"current":[],"class_list":["post-20129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n