There is a uniqueness to Bob Elliott that is both memorable and endearing.

The veteran Toronto Sun columnist from Kingston, Ont., is being honoured Saturday by the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. as the J.G. Taylor Spink Award winner for his “meritorious contributions to baseball writing,” a fitting reward for 33 years of work in a class of its own.

The first Canadian to be so recognized, Elliott has made countless friends across the game with his generosity, wit and knowledge, each no doubt encountering his lengthy pauses in conversation, seemingly never-ending phone calls, and meandering stories that always end right on point.

Soft-spoken, perennially sipping on Diet Coke, and often with a cellphone glued to his ear, Elliott’s vast array of contacts make him one of the most connected baseball writers around, stumping for the sport at all levels in Canada at the same time.

For many amateurs on their way up he’s been a sounding board and source of advice, with a genuine interest in seeing others succeed.

On a personal note, I am indebted to Elliott for showing an early interest in my career, and for all the conversations that helped shape my development.

One conversation in particular sticks out. At one point h told me, “I’ve been doing this for 20-odd years and what I’ve learned is how much there is about this game that I don’t know.”

That humility and respect for the experience of others left a lasting impression, because if he felt that way, I certainly should, too.

So, many thanks Bob, and congratulations on your well-deserved and long overdue entrance to Cooperstown.

It will be a proud moment for all of us ink-stained wretches when Bob Elliott gets the Spink Award Saturday. Welcome, great friend

— Peter Gammons (@pgammo) July 19, 2012

Below is a collection of stories, anecdotes and descriptions of the Bob Elliott experience:

“He’s a lot like a ballplayer because he remembers innings and pitches and situations, nicknames of everybody. He still calls Jimmy Key Peewee. ‘Hey, remember when Peewee did this?’ We used to call him Peewee all the time. But the biggest thing for me was I could never hear him because he was always whispering. ‘Got one for you,’ mumbling like he’s Deep Throat. He’s good. What impresses me is how much he loves the game, he wants to emphasize the Canadian players, and he’s always digging for those guys. That’s the beauty of what he does.” - Buck Martinez, Sportsnet broadcaster and former Blue Jays player

—

“He’ll ask a question with a little bit of an unknown ending to it, to kind of see which direction you’ll take it. Maybe that’s a talent of his and over the years it’s what been able to pull things out of the person he’s interviewing, asking a leading question and leave it at that and see which way he goes with it. There are some dramatic pauses in there, the way he presents himself, which is in a classy way, yet there’s a little bit of a mystique there where you’re not quite sure where he might want to take a certain conversation. It’s almost like playing tennis, he’s going to lob it back in your court, then see where you go with it.” - Blue Jays manager John Farrell

—

“An interview with Bob is kind of like a rain delay — it’s slow developing. It’s like, what do you want, what do you want, and sometimes he won’t come out and say it. He comes up to you, ‘Hey kiddo, how you doing?’ Sometimes he’ll talk to you for five minutes but he never asks a question. Just ask the question, I’ll answer any question you got. Great guy, super nice guy.” - Blue Jays reliever Jason Frasor

—

“Whispering Bob, that’s what we used to call him. He called me on the phone and I couldn’t understand him, couldn’t hear him. ‘This is Elliott, give me a call, this is my number,’ so I never called him back because I didn’t know who it was. He’s always whispering about everything.” - Pat Tabler, Sportsnet broadcaster and former Blue Jays player

—

“In spring training we were just talking and he knew about my artistic talent so he started asking me about how did I get involved, who were some of my teachers, so I got him in touch with some of the people in Cleveland that helped me out with my art and my sculpting, and all of a sudden he had this story built up. It was pretty cool, he came with the story in the newspaper all ready. He’s very intense, he wants to get to the bottom of the story, he wants to really dig in and ask you about everything in the whole process. It’s very good.” - Blue Jays infielder Omar Vizquel

—

“He’s always been around, especially Team Canada, he’s always at the Baseball Canada banquets, he’s a well-respected reporter and he’s good at what he does. He’s laid back, he’s been doing it so long he’s got a good beat on things and knows how to do it right.” - Blue Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie

—

“He’s not scared to tell you a story about how it was in the early ’90s or late ’80s. There’s one about Fred McGriff and I can’t remember the other guy and somebody stole one of their gloves, something along those lines, and it was funny because neither one of them would admit who stole it. I heard quite a few of those old time stories.” - Blue Jays first baseman/DH Adam Lind

—

“We’ll pass by each other at the batting cage and he’ll be like, ‘Hey kiddo’ and then he’ll start asking me, did you hear about so-and-so and the juniors? I’ll be like, ‘Bob, I don’t know who that is, I’m 40-years- old and I don’t know these 19-year-old kids anymore, man.’ He’ll be like, ‘He had a good week.’ He’s got that Canadian pride, all of us do, for me too. I always like reading about Canadian kids doing well, the more the better.” - Blue Jays bullpen catcher Alex Andreopoulos.