Raines, Bell among Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inductees

Tim Raines hit .301 with a .391 OBP and 635 steals with the Expos. (Getty)

The National Baseball Hall of Fame will not induct anyone this summer, but the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame will add five new members this year according to an announcement. Former Expo Tim Raines, former Blue Jay George Bell, former Expo and Blue Jay Rob Ducey, Vancouver baseball activist Nat Bailey and long-time Blue Jays broadcaster Tom Cheek represent the 2013 class.

Cheek was hired by Toronto before the franchise's inaugural season in 1977. He spent 27 years in the booth and called 4,306 consecutive games. He battled brain cancer and died at age 66 in October 2005. Cheek received the Canadian hall's Jack Grainey Award for lifetime media achievement in 2001.

Raines played 13 seasons with the Expos, hitting .301/.391/.437 with 635 stolen bases from 1979-90. He sits atop the franchise's all-time walks, runs and stolen-base lists while also ranking near the top in basically every other offensive category. Raines has been on the national hall ballot for six years.

Bell played nine seasons with the Blue Jays from 1981-90. He hit .286/.325/.486 with 202 homers for Toronto, taking home 1987 AL MVP honors following his .308/.352/.605, 47-homer, 134-RBI effort. Bell is the only player to win the award in franchise history, and he hit a walk-off homer in the final game at Exhibition Stadium before the team moved into SkyDome.

Ducey was born in Toronto and played parts of seven seasons with the Blue Jays. He also suited up for the Expos late in his career, becoming the first Canadian-born player in history to play for both franchises. Ducey hit .231/.307/.321 for Toronto and played only 27 games for Montreal.

Bailey was a major supporter of youth and professional baseball in his native British Columbia. He owned the Vancouver Mounties, the city's Triple-A affiliate, in the 1950s and 1960s. Capilano Stadium was renamed Nat Bailey Stadium in 1978, and today it houses the Vancouver Canadians (a Blue Jays minor-league affiliate) and the University of British Columbia baseball team.

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