Gregory Joseph O'Halloran (born May 21, 1968) is a Canadian former professional baseball

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

. O'Halloran attended a high school in

Mississauga, Ontario Mississauga is a Canadian city in the province of Ontario. Situated on the north-western shore of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, it borders Toronto (Etobicoke) to the east, Brampton to the north, Milton to the northwest, ...

which did not field a baseball team; he instead played baseball in competitive summer leagues. As a child, he thought of baseball simply as "something I did in the summer when I wasn't playing hockey." O'Halloran played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

Orange Coast College Orange Coast College (OCC) is a Public college, public community college in Costa Mesa, California, Costa Mesa in Orange County, California. It was founded in 1947, with its first classes opening in the fall of 1948. It provides Associate of Ar ...

in California and accepted a scholarship to continue his college baseball career at

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. In advance of the 1988 Major League Baseball draft, he told all interested teams, except for his childhood favorites, the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

, that he intended to play at Illinois even if drafted. With their pick in the 32nd round, the Blue Jays selected and signed O'Halloran. In 1988, he played for the

Canada national baseball team The Canada national baseball team represents Canada in international baseball. They are overseen by Baseball Canada, the governing body of baseball in Canada. Canada was an inaugural member of the World Baseball Classic, making its debut in th ...

at the

Baseball World Cup The Baseball World Cup (BWC) was an international baseball tournament for national teams around the world, sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF). First held in 1938 as the Amateur World Series (AWS), it was, for most of its ...

and

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

. In November 1993, following the inaugural season of the

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. The team plays its home games at LoanDepot Park. The ...

, the Blue Jays sold O'Halloran's contract to the Marlins. At the time, he was the fourth player on their catching

depth chart In sports, a depth chart, primarily in the United States, is used to show the placements of the starting players and the secondary players. Generally a starting player will be listed first or on top while a back-up will be listed below. Depth chart ...

behind

Pat Borders Patrick Lance Borders (born May 14, 1963) is an American former professional baseball player and current minor league manager. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball from to . He was the Most Valuable Player of the 1992 World Series ...

, Randy Knorr and

Carlos Delgado Carlos Juan Delgado Hernández (born June 25, 1972) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball primarily as a first baseman, from 1993 to 2009, most prominently as a member of the Toront ...

. He played for the Marlins for 12 games during the 1994 season, serving mostly as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter (PH) is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, A ...

. His son, Connor, was selected by the

in the fifth round of the

2023 Major League Baseball draft The 2023 Major League Baseball draft took place on July 9–11, 2023, in Seattle. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. For the first time, a draft lottery was used to set a portion of the draft order. The first six selections ...

References

External links

1968 births Living people Baseball players from Toronto Canadian baseball coaches Canadian expatriate baseball players in the United States Cardenales de Lara players Canadian expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Duluth-Superior Dukes players Dunedin Blue Jays players Florida Marlins players Canadian sportspeople of Irish descent Knoxville Blue Jays players Langosteros de Quintana Roo players Major League Baseball catchers Major League Baseball players from Canada 20th-century Canadian sportsmen Orange Coast Pirates baseball players Portland Sea Dogs players St. Catharines Blue Jays players Canadian expatriate baseball players in Mexico Baseball players at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic baseball players for Canada {{canada-baseball-catcher-stub