The Toronto Blue Jays paid a special tribute to two young baseball players and their friends who were slain in a roadside shooting in Alberta in December.
A moment of silence was held last night at the Jays home opener against the Boston Red Sox in memory of Mitch MacLean and Tanner Craswell.
Attention was also paid to Tabitha Stepple, the third victim of the murder-suicide.
The sole survivor of the shootings, Shayna Conway, was also in attendance at the ceremony at Rogers Centre.
MacLean and Craswell were promising baseball players from Prince Edward Island before they were killed on December 15 in Claresholm.
The men were in Alberta to train with the Lethbridge Bulls and were on their way to a Calgary airport to fly home for the holidays when they were shot to death by Derek Jensen, a former boyfriend of Stepple's, who then killed himself.
The Blue Jays paid for the flight and accommodations for their families to attend the game.
MacLean's No. 6 jersey and Craswell's No. 13 were both presented in glassed frames to their families at second base during the pre-game ceremony.
Memorial bracelets were sold along with 50/50 tickets, with all proceeds going to a scholarship set up in both men's honour.
The Jays also donated $10,000 to Kidsport in Prince Edward Island to enable more youth to get involved in baseball.
With files from ctvcalgary.ca
