Rob Ducey

Rob Ducey was born in Toronto and moved to Cambridge, Ontario in 1973.

Ducey’s career in baseball started in Cambridge in 1981. His team won Inter County Championships in 1981, 1982 and 1983. In 1984, he signed a professional contract with the Toronto Blue Jays Organization. He won the MVP award in his first year of professional baseball with the Medicine Hat Blue Jays and in 1986 he won the Canadian Player of the Year award.

Ducey began his career in the major leagues in 1988. His career spanned thirteen seasons, the longest major league career of any Ontario-born player in fifty-two years.

He played on three division championship teams with Toronto and one with the Seattle Mariners. He has a World Series ring from the 1992 Toronto Blue Jays. He was awarded the most unsung player award while playing with Seattle in 1997. Ducey set an all-time team record for pinch hitting appearances with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2000, with 73 pinch hitting appearances.

In 1995 and 1996 he played in Japan and hit a total of 51 home runs including a league record of 8 lead-off home runs.

Ducey is married to the former Yanitza Gonzalez; they have three children, Thomas, Aaron and Jenaka. Ducey resides in Tarpon Springs, Florida where he serves as a youth baseball instructor.

Photograph courtesy of the Toronto Blue Jays.