Former major leaguer, Jays doctor Ron Taylor dies
TORONTO – Dr. Ron Taylor, a two-time World Series-winning pitcher and longtime Toronto Blue Jays team physician, has died. He was 87.
The Blue Jays confirmed Taylor’s death in a statement Monday. A cause of death was not provided.
Taylor, who was born in Toronto on Dec. 13, 1937, played 10 seasons in the majors from 1962 to 1972 after signing with the Cleveland Indians in 1955.
He threw 11 scoreless innings at Fenway Park in his big league debut on April 11, 1962, before surrendering a 12th-inning grand slam in a 4-0 defeat.
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He joined the St. Louis Cardinals in 1963 and helped them win a World Series the following year.
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He was a key member of the 1969 “Miracle Mets” championship team. He earned a win out of the bullpen against Atlanta. Louis in the National League Championship Series, then surrendered no hits in 2 1/3 innings with a save in two appearances in the World Series against the favoured Baltimore Orioles.
Taylor also pitched with Houston and San Diego. He had a career 45-43 record with a 3.93 earned-run average, 464 strikeouts and 74 saves.
After retiring in 1972, he returned to Toronto and received a medical degree from the University of Toronto in 1977.
He joined the Blue Jays as team physician in 1979 and earned the nickname “Dr. Baseball” as he served in the role for 30 years, a span that included the team’s World Series titles in 1992 and 1993.
Taylor was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985, Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1993 and the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2010. He was appointed to the Order of Ontario by Lieutenant Governor James Bartleman in 2005.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 16, 2025.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
TORONTO – Toronto Blue Jays utilityman Ernie Clement suffered a “very small” hairline fracture to a small bone at the base of his left middle finger, manager John Schneider said.
Clement was not in the starting lineup for Toronto’s home game against the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday night but was available if needed.
“I don’t think it’s going to get worse or heal any differently if he was playing or not,” Schneider said in a media availability before the rubber game of the three-game series.
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Clement was hit by a pitch in the hand in the opener on Monday night. He stayed in the game and had a run and a hit in Toronto’s 10-4 win.
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Clement had two hits in the Blue Jays’ 7-5 loss on Tuesday night. A CT scan after the game revealed the fracture, Schneider said.
“It’s pain tolerance,” he said. “Just giving him a day to day and hopefully tomorrow (he can return).”
Clement also needed 10 stitches in his left shin after he was spiked while making a tag at third base on Tuesday.
He has a .274 average with nine homers and 40 RBIs in 130 games this season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 27, 2025.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
A parks and forestry manager in Stratford, Ont., is asking residents to stay on the lookout as five of the city’s iconic swans remain at large.
Quin Malott says he first noticed the dwindling number of swans two weeks ago, when he went to feed the usual six floating on Lake Victoria in the city’s centre.
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He says all six swans were missing when he returned to the same area the following day, leaving no trace — not even feathers.
Malott says he doesn’t know if the birds were taken, but it is a possibility since they’ve become accustomed to being fed by humans.
He says close to a dozen Stratford residents called to report they had spotted one of the fugitive birds in the city’s north end earlier this week, and there are plans to recover it on Thursday.
Malott says the swans are not tracked with devices and asks anyone who sees one on the run to give him or the city a call.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
Construction on Premier Doug Ford’s marquee Highway 413 will kick off in the coming months, the government said, even as the overall costs and completion date for the project remains a tightly guarded secret at Queen’s Park.
The Ford government announced two construction contracts — to upgrade Highway 10 in Caledon and the 401/407 interchange in Mississauga — have been awarded, paving the way for the premier’s long-promised 52-kilometre highway connecting drivers from Milton and Halton to Vaughan.
When pressed for construction timelines and overall cost estimates for the highway project, however, the government offered few details.
“What I have been told, this is going to start in the next few days. And the other the other interchange is going to start in the next couple of weeks,” Ford said.
Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria said the project falls under the government’s overall 10-year, $30 billion public infrastructure capital plan but declined to give a specific number citing the process of awarding contracts.
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“Over the next couple of years, you will see the contract has been broken up into many different pieces. That enables more workers to get to work quicker,” Sarkaria said.
“We’ll continue to work with, those in the industry to accelerate it and get it done as quickly as possible,” Sarkaria said.
Ford confirms effort to shift 413 Route
Ford also confirmed his efforts to shift a significant portion of the highway to accommodate a request from a Canadian developer looking to save a planned housing project in the area.
Global News revealed Ford was considering a “developer proposed alignment” which would have shifted the 413 by approximately 600 meters in Caledon to prevent it from cutting though the development.
At a news conference, Wednesday, Ford confirmed the effort and called it “common sense.”
“You’re taking away over 3,000 homes and good jobs and so on and so forth,” Ford said, adding the project could be saved “if they just moved it up 600 metres.”
Documents obtained by Global News showed the premier was warned by ministry officials that realigning the highway would trigger a two-year delay because portions of the project would require a new environmental assessment.
Any realignment from the current “preferred route” would have also impacted other road construction projects, regional infrastructure plans and home construction as well.
After Global News reached out to the government after the confidential document, the Premier’s Office said the route change was no longer under consideration.
“They’re saying it would take two years,” Ford said of the briefing he received. “They were giving me every excuse in the world for why it can’t be done.”
Caledon Mayor Anette Groves said the request from the developer “isn’t unusual” and had been considered by the town council as well.
“But as the premier said … if it’s going to delay projects and it can’t be done, it just can’t be done,” Groves said.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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