Claude Raymond

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Claude Raymond

|position=Pitcher

|image=Claude Raymond.jpg

|birth_date={{birth date and age|1937|5|7}}

|birth_place=Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, Canada

|death_date=

|death_place=

|bats=Right

|throws=Right

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate=April 15

|debutyear=1959

|debutteam=Chicago White Sox

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate=September 25

|finalyear=1971

|finalteam=Montreal Expos

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Win–loss record

|stat1value=46–53

|stat2label=Earned run average

|stat2value=3.66

|stat3label=Strikeouts

|stat3value=497

|stat4label=Saves

|stat4value=82

|teams=

Chicago White Sox ({{baseball year|1959}})
Milwaukee Braves ({{baseball year|1961}}–{{baseball year|1963}})
Houston Colt .45s / Astros ({{baseball year|1964}}–{{baseball year|1967}})
Atlanta Braves ({{baseball year|1967}}–{{baseball year|1969}})
Montreal Expos ({{baseball year|1969}}–{{baseball year|1971}})

|highlights=

| hofcolor= #EC1C40

| hoflink= Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame

| hoftype= Canadian

| hofdate= 1984

}}

Jean Claude Marc Raymond {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|CM}} (born May 7, 1937), nicknamed "Frenchy", is a Canadian former professional baseball relief pitcher, coach, and broadcaster. During his 12-year career in Major League Baseball, he played for the Chicago White Sox (1959), Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves (1961–63, 1967–69), Houston Colt .45s/Astros (1964–67) and Montreal Expos (1969–71).{{cite web |publisher=Society for American Baseball Research |url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/claude-raymond/ |title=Claude Raymond (SABR BioProject)}}

Playing career

Raymond pitched in three games for Chicago in early 1959. Although he was traded from the National League West-leading Atlanta Braves to the expansion Montreal Expos in 1969, Raymond remarked this was one of the happiest moments of his life as he was able to play for his home province.

In 12 seasons, he compiled a 46–53 record, appeared in 449 games, started 7 games, recorded 2 complete games, 270 games finished, 82 saves, 721 innings pitched, 711 hits allowed, 338 runs allowed, 293 earned runs allowed, 75 home runs allowed, 225 walks allowed, 497 strikeouts, 28 hit batsmen, 32 wild pitches, 3,048 batters faced, 54 intentional walks, 4 balks and a 3.66 ERA.{{cite web |publisher=Baseball-Reference.com |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/raymocl01.shtml |title=Claude Raymond Career Statistics}}

Post-playing career

After his playing career, Raymond worked as a French-language broadcaster with the Expos from 1972 to 2001. He was also an Expos English-language broadcaster in 2004, their last season in Montreal.

During the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Raymond was the public address announcer for baseball. The International Olympic Committee required that announcements at Olympic venues must also be made in French, which made Raymond, who had previously pitched in Atlanta, well-suited for the job.

Raymond joined the Expos staff as a roving coach in 2002 and served until the team left Montreal after the 2004 campaign to become the Washington Nationals.{{cite web|title=Expos unveil coaching staff|url=http://www.cbc.ca/sports/baseball/expos-unveil-coaching-staff-1.326092|work=CBC Sports|accessdate=May 4, 2015|date=February 17, 2002}}{{cite web |last1=Stevenson |first1=Chris |title=Montreal fans left with sadness, anger |url=https://www.espn.in/mlb/news/story?id=1891931 |work=ESPN |date=September 29, 2004}}

Honours and awards

Raymond was named to the 1966 National League All-Star Team. Raymond was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, located in St. Marys, Ontario, with the Class of 1984 in its second year of operation.

In June 2019 Raymond was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada.{{Cite news|url=https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/16-quebecers-to-receive-order-of-canada-honours|title=Alanis Obomsawin, 15 other Quebecers to receive Order of Canada|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|last=Dunlevy|first=T'Cha|date=June 27, 2019}}

References

External links

{{Baseballstats |mlb=120962 |espn= |br=r/raymocl01 |fangraphs=1010732 |brm=raymon001jea}}

[https://baseballhalloffame.ca/hall-of-famer/claude-raymond/ Claude Raymond] at the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame
[https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/claude-raymond/ Claude Raymond] at the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR BioProject)

Category:1937 births

Category:Living people

Category:Atlanta Braves players

Category:Atlanta Crackers players

Category:Baseball people from Quebec

Category:Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inductees

Category:Canadian expatriate baseball players in the United States

Category:Chicago White Sox players

Category:Evansville Braves players

Category:Houston Astros players

Category:Houston Colt .45s players

Category:Jacksonville Braves players