Moncton born athlete played professional baseball and with Team Canada at the Olympics
A plaque honouring New Brunswick baseball player Rheal Cormier was unveiled Sunday at the CN Sportsplex in Moncton. The plaque was unveiled by Cormier's widow, Lucienne Cormier, Moncton city councillors Bryan Butler and Marty Kingston, Butler's grandson Niall McLaughlin, and John Hunter representing Moncton Minor Baseball. CITY OF MONCTON
The City of Moncton has honoured New Brunswick baseball hero Rhéal Cormier with a plaque at the CN Sportsplex baseball field, and the naming of a street.
The plaque was unveiled was unveiled Sunday by Cormier’s widow, Lucienne Cormier, Moncton city councillors Bryan Butler and Marty Kingston, Butler’s grandson Niall McLaughlin. and John Hunter representing Moncton Minor Baseball. The new Rhéal Cormier Drive intersects with Russ Howard Drive. Howard is a Moncton curler who won an Olympic gold medal in 2006.
A new street sign honouring New Brunswick baseball player Rheal Cormier was unveiled Sunday at the CN Sportsplex in Moncton. CITY OF MONCTON
Rhéal Cormier was born in Moncton in 1967 and raised in Saint-André-LeBlanc in western New Brunswick.
“The left-handed pitcher played 16 Major League Baseball (MLB) seasons from 1991 to 2007, making 683 appearances among five teams: the Boston Red Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Montreal Expos, Philadelphia Phillies, and St. Louis Cardinals,” the city said in a news release.
“During his career peak with the Phillies in 2003, Cormier achieved an 8-0 win-loss record and a 1.70 ERA. He completed his MLB career with 71 wins, a 4.03 ERA, 1,221 innings pitched, and 760 strikeouts alongside 317 bases on balls.”
Cormier also represented Team Canada at the Summer Olympics in 1988 in South Korea and in 2008 in China, the 2006 World Baseball Classic, the 1987 Pan-Am Games and the 1987 Intercontinental Cup.
The city said Cormier was proud of his New Brunswick roots and supported several school programs in the province and was a spokesman for teenage anti-suicide and anti-drug campaigns. He also supported charities in each of the communities where his MLB teams were located.
He was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2012, the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame in 2014, and the Moncton Sports Wall of Fame in 2019. He died of pancreatic cancer on March 8, 2021.
