The baseball life can be an interesting one, full of wacky twists, turns and about-faces you'd never expect.
One day, you could be calling balls and strikes. The next, you might be fixing players' bumps and bruises.
That's what happened to Harold (Doc) Younker in 1953 in British Columbia. He had been an umpire in the old Western International League before jumping on as trainer of the Vancouver Capilanos, a team in the Class AA league he had been officiating.
It turned out to be a slick move -- the 83-year-old Langley, B.C., resident was deemed good enough to be inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in St. Marys on Saturday along with Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Dave Stieb, Montreal Expos pitcher Steve Rogers and classical era infielder Charles (Pop) Smith.
Everyone who has played high-calibre sports knows the importance of a quality trainer. The Memorial Cup champion London Knights have Don Brankley and Baseball Canada had Doc Younker.
"The one thing you can say about Doc is there wasn't anybody who met him who didn't like him," Baseball Canada president Ray Carter said from Vancouver. "Cody McKay (who played for St. Louis and is the son of Cardinals first-base coach Dave McKay) always gave Doc a hard time. Over the years, Doc had every prank imaginable pulled on him and he always took it in stride. He always said that he was going to get even, but he never would."
Few have had their passports stamped more than Younker, always among the first choices when the Canadian baseball team had an international assignment.
He had worked at the Canada Summer Games, Commonwealth Games, Pan Am Games, world championships and was there when the national team took its first trip to the Olympic Games in 1988 in Seoul, South Korea.
He contributed his years of expertise and hustle to the National Baseball Institute and most recently helped out the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds program, which included Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Jeff Francis.
"What you have to remember about Doc is for so many years, he was a volunteer trainer," Carter said. "He did it because he loved it. He has a passion for the game and in 57 years, he has seen a lot of it."
Younker loved to help out at the grassroots level, but he also climbed to the heights of the profession.
After his stint with the Capilanos, Younker found a home with the Vancouver Mounties of the Pacific Coast League. One of the Mounties players was a sure-handed future star named Brooks Robinson.
In 1961, Younker moved up to work with the expansion Los Angeles Angels. In those days, the Angels played in Wrigley Field at Los Angeles, which considering the Cubs played at a different Wrigley Field, would've provided the same sort of confusion that exists today on whether the Angels officially belong to Anaheim or Los Angeles.
From 1976-85, Younker was with the San Diego Padres. He was part of the club's National League championship in 1984, but the World Series dreams ended in five games against the mighty Detroit Tigers.
A few years later, he returned to B.C. and was a big part of the Canadian program. Few of Canada's big league players have passed through the national team system without an encounter with Doc.
Younker wasn't really a doctor -- that was just an old-time trainer nickname -- but he did teach first aid and physiotherapy, which many of his students still practise today.
When told of his induction a couple of months ago, the veteran of 50 baseball seasons was overcome with emotion and said the honour "completes my circle of life".
He plans to attend the ceremony along with Mary, his wife of 64 years, and his three children -- Bev, Pat and Vicki.
CANADIAN BASEBALL
HALL OF FAME
What: 2005 induction ceremony
Inductees: Dave Stieb, Steve Rogers, Charles (Pop) Smith, Harold (Doc) Younker
When: Saturday, 10 a.m. at Hall and Museum site in St. Marys; autograph line ($10) starts at 1:30 p.m.
More information: Phone (519) 284-1838 or go online at www.baseballhalloffame.ca
