Bédard was born on March 5, 1979 in Navan, Ontario, a suburb of Ottawa. A Franco-Ontarian, Bédard began his baseball career in the Orleans Little League and the Ontario Baseball Association. He was a pitcher on the 1992 Orleans Junior Red Sox team which beat Glace Bay in the 1992 Canadian Championship.\n', 'Bédard did not play high school baseball, which is common in Canada due to the short season.\n', '

Although 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m) and 120 pounds (54 kg) as a senior, he grew seven inches and gained 30 pounds (14 kg) during the summer between graduating from high school and beginning college. He accompanied a friend to a tryout at Norwalk Community College in Norwalk, Connecticut, and made the baseball team as a walk-on.\n', '

While in college, he added 10 miles per hour to his fastball, gained another 30 pounds (14 kg), took the "lowest level" non-credit English language course to enhance his knowledge of the language, and became a junior college All-American.\n', '

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