UPPER DECK XV -- Jays Double A follows Team Canada

Sept. 20, 2009

UPPER DECK XV -- Jays Double A, Alex Anthopoulos, follows Team Canada ... Adam Loewen drives in Brett Lawrie with winner as Canada edged Chinese Taipei 5-3 ... Jamie Richmond pitches five, win to Trystan Magnuson in relief ... Rene Tosoni homers ... Two doubles by Cole Armstrong ... BOX SCORE ... Emmerson Frostad hits game-winning slam in seven-run 7th as Canada rallies to beat Italy 16-7 ... 13 runs in its final two at-bats ... Three hits, five RBIs for Chris Robinson ... Three hits for Adam Stern, Jimmy Van Ostrand ... Chris Kissock picks up win ... BOX SCORE. ... Team Canada stats after two rounds.

BOB ELLIOTT

Alex Anthopoulos spends countless hours surfing the net each day.
One spot the Blue Jays assistant general manager has been clicking regularly this month has been the 38th World Cup.
Team Canada avenged it’s World Baseball Classic loss to the Italy with a 16-7 win last night in Reggio Emilia Italy last night.
A slam dunk, right?
Wrong.
Trailing 6-3 in the seventh Canada scored 13 times in it’s final two at-bats to clinch a third-round berth.
Left fielder Adam Loewen (Surrey, BC) knocked in three runs. Reliever Trystan Magnuson (Vancouver, BC) has pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings in the tournament. Both are Jays farmhands.
“The fact of the matter,” said Anthopoulos before watching his Jays meet the Tampa Bay Rays, “is the better Team Canada does, the better it is for baseball in Canada.”
It’s good that the Jays are talking up Canadian ball but they drafted the best collegian in James Paxton (Ladner, BC) and high schooler Jake Eliopoulos (Newmarket, Ont.) in June and failed to sign either.
“We made strong competitive offers,” Anthopoulos said. “Unfortunately it didn’t work out. That won’t deter us from our interest in Canadian players next June.”
Being good corporate citizens is a one reason to support the program, another is “we want to help Greg Hamilton,” Anthopoulos said.
Hamilton runs Baseball Canada’s national teams and played an important role when the Jays signed free-agent Loewen last fall.
“Adam sought Greg’s counsel, but Greg’s priority is his relationship with his player,” Anthopoulos said. “Greg trusts us, believes in us.”
The Jays placed normal pitch restrictions of Magnuson and asked he not pitch on back-to-back days.
“We wanted Loewen to go, we promised him as many at-bats as possible,” said Anthopoulos. After the World Cup Loewen heads to Arizona Fall League.
Loewen is hitting .286 with a homer and 10 RBIs, while Magnuson has two wins.
Anthopoulos is familiar with the international stage scouting the 2002 World Juniors in Sherbrooke, Que. working for the Montreal Expos and doing advance work for Greece at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
“In Sherbrooke, the U.S. had future big leaguers Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Ian Stewart, Delmon Young, Chad Billingsley and Jeff Allison,” Anthopoulos said. “We had Loewen and Chris Leroux who made the majors, Chris Emanuele, Jamie Romak and Shawn Bowman, who all signed.”
Matt Tosoni (Whitby, Ont.) beat gold-medal winning Cuba as the Canucks finished fourth.
The assistant GM followed Canada upset second-ranked Korea 9-1 thanks to eight runs in the seventh, beat the Netherlands Antillies 15-0 and Sweden 19-1 in Sweden.
Canada lost 8-0 to Team USA and 5-3 to Australia in 10 innings in second round play in Italy. Then wins over Mexico 4-2, Japan 3-2 in 11 innings, the Netherlands Antillies 19-2 and Italy. Now, they move on to the third round in The Netherlands.
Rene Tosoni (Coquitlam, BC) scored the winning run cracking the catcher knocking the ball loose. The catcher had to be carried off the field.
“Don Cherry would have been proud of the hit,” a Canadian player emailed us from Italy.
Tosoni was the most valuable player of the Futures Game in St. Louis in July and was signed by the late Jim Ridley (Burlington, Ont.).
“As a first year scout you are a nobody,” said Anthopoulos. “It’s like first day of school. The new kid walks into the cafeteria and is standing there with his lunch tray looking for a place to sit.
“I was that guy, I wasn’t accepted. Jim Ridley was the guy who came over, put his arm around me and said ‘here son, sit at our table.’”
Ridley told Anthopoulos what hotels to stay at, where the park was, what sandlot coaches were the straight shooters. “He was the only guy who helped.”
Of course, after the 2003 draft when Anthopoulos selected lefty A.J. Wideman (Mississauga, Ont.) in the 11th and Jamie Lehman (Brampton, Ont.) in the 29th, he was accepted.
And Anthopoulos is accepted now.

The Rally: The Ernie Whitt-managed Team Canada was re-living a nitemere against Italy trailing 6-3 with in the seventh. How the winning rally unfolded:
Adam Stern (Port Stanley, Ont.) doubled to left centre on 0-1 pitched and scored when Brett Lawrie (Langley, BC) tripled to centre. With the tying run at the plate, Brandon Camardese took over for Junior Oberto. Rene Tosoni (Coquitilam, BC) reached on an error. Then, Jimmy Van Ostrand (RIchmond, BC) single to right to score Lawrie. Shawn Bowman (Coquitlam, BC) singled to centre to load the bases. Chris Robinson (Dorchester, Ont.) singled to right to tie the score.
Emmerson Frostad (Clagary, Alta.) then hit a grand glam to right scoring Van Ostrand, Bowman and Robinson.
And in the eighth, with one out Van Ostrand singled to right on a 1-1 pitch, Bowman singled to centre on a 2-0 and Robinson reached on an infield hit to knock in a run. After Frostad was walked intentionally, Loewen walked, Jonathan Malo (Laval, Que.) doubled to left to score three runs. Lawrie followed with a double to left centre.

Voting time: Online fan voting for 2010 ballot for Ford C. Frick award, which honors excellence in baseball broadcasting begins Dec. 1.
For the seventh consecutive year, the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum will conduct online fan balloting to help determine the final ballot for the Ford C. Frick Award. By casting votes fans will select three of the 10 names on the 2010 ballot for the Frick award, presented annually since 1978. Online voting runs from Dec. 1 through Dec. 31, and fans can cast votes once per day through December for up to three baseball broadcasters will be posted.

Candidates must have a minimum of 10 years of continuous major league broadcast service with a ball club, network, or a combination of the two, and bios of each candidate will appear on the web site. Results of the fan voting will be announced in January, though updates will not be provided during the voting. The final ballot will be comprised of the three fan selections, along with seven other candidates, determined by a Hall of Fame staff research team.

The 2010 Ford C. Frick Award winner will be announced in February.

The Frick electorate includes all living award-winners and five historians appointed by the Hall of Fame. The voting electorate consists of 20 members, featuring 2009 Ford C. Frick Award winner Tony Kubek, former Blue Jays broadcaster and the other 14 living Frick Award winners: Marty Brennaman, Jerry Coleman, Gene Elston, Joe Garagiola, Ernie Harwell, Jaime Jarrin, Milo Hamilton, Denny Matthews, Dave Niehaus, Felo Ramirez, Vin Scully, Lon Simmons, Bob Uecker and Bob Wolff. Five historians and veteran media members are also part of the electorate, including Bob Costas (NBC), Barry Horn (Dallas Morning News), Stan Isaacs (formerly of New York Newsday), Ted Patterson (historian) and Curt Smith (historian).

More than 615,000 votes were cast during the first six years of online balloting, including a record 145,138 votes cast online in 2008. For the second consecutive year, former Reds broadcaster Joe Nuxhall paced all broadcasters in the fan-voting, totaling 19,547 votes. Former Expos broadcaster Jacques Doucet (10,282) and former Expos and Blue Jays broadcaster Tom Cheek (8,992) also earned spots on the final ballot.

More than 200 active and retired broadcasters are eligible for the 2010 Frick Award, which is named in memory of Hall of Famer Ford C. Frick, renowned sportswriter, radio broadcaster, National League president and Baseball commissioner. The complete list of recipients includes:
1978 Mel Allen, Red Barber.
1979 Bob Elson
1980 Russ Hodges
1981 Ernie Harwell
1982 Vin Scully
1983 Jack Brickhouse
1984 Curt Gowdy
1985 Buck Canel
1986 Bob Prince
1987 Jack Buck
1988 Lindsey Nelson
1989 Harry Caray
1990 By Saam
1991 Joe Garagiola
1992 Milo Hamilton
1993 Chuck Thompson
1994 Bob Murphy
1995 Bob Wolff
1996 Herb Carneal
1997 Jimmy Dudley
1998 Jaime Jarrin
1999 Arch McDonald
2000 Marty Brennaman
2001 Felo Ramirez
2002 Harry Kalas
2003 Bob Uecker
2004 Lon Simmons
2005 Jerry Coleman
2006 Gene Elston
2007 Denny Matthews
2008 Dave Niehaus
2009 Tony Kubek

Never too early to shop for Christmas: The 2010 Justin Morneau calendar is now on sale for $15. Nine dollars of each program go to support Baseball Canada amateur and BC baseball progams.
You can order of the BC baseball website: playballbc.com with all of the key dates for 2010 marked.
We've seen most of the months and the photography is excellent.

Help: Want to write on baseball ... Canadian baseball that is? We have the room, we have the space, all we are is missing is money to pay you. If you want to become a scribe -- Canadians in the minors, Canadians in college, Canadians on the sandlots, whatever, you want to promote Canadian baseball.
Send us your story ideas and suggestions and we’ll consider them all.
See your name up in lights -- just like us -- without the pay cheque.
Contact us at (bobelliott49@gmail.com).

Help I: We're still looking for help on college news and notes. If you know someone mentioned on the school page, please send us the link at (bobelliott49@gmail.com) and we'll post it under In College.

IN YER FACE: The Canadian Baseball Network facebook group is up and running ... and running fast:
Mike Nitsos (Whitby, Ont.) of the Iowa Western Reivers, is the 400th to join.
Grant Kveder (Lethbridge, Alta.) of the Gonzaga Stags is No. 500.
Dan Chappel (Edmonton, Alta.) formerly of the Longview Lakers, the Mayville State Comets, the Southwest Mustangs, the Schaumburg Flyers and the Edmonton Cracker Cats is No. 600.
Drew Parker (Surrey, BC), who has signed a letter of intent to pitch for the Brewton-Parker Barons this fall and former ace of the JUCO World Series champion Chipola Indians, is No. 700.
Andrew Brock (Burnaby, BC) of the Idaho Coyotes is No. 800.
Derek Papp (Windsor, Ont.), who used to pitch for Judson, is No. 900.
Jonathan Lussier (Montreal, Que.), former C-DH with the Les Ailes du Quebec alongside Phillipe Alexandre Valiquette, Alexandre Periard and Mathieu Poirier is No. 1,000.
Ben TInklin (Kitchener, Ont.) of the Canadian Thunderbirds, who is headed to Kaskaskia College, is No. 1,100.
Catcher Curtis Davis (Surrey, BC), who played with the Fraser Valley Chiefs in 2008 and this year will play for the White Rock Tritons and Team BC is the 1,200th to join the group.
Kevin Bowes (Chatham, N.B.) who plays outfield for the Chatham Ironmen and coached the New Brusnwick Selects at the Canada Cup is No. 1,300.
Stephen Holland (Summerside, PEI), who in 2008 played for the Summerside Chevies and was picked up by Kings County for bantam nationals is No. 1,400. He pitched, played first base, and outfield.
Ian Robillard (Montreal, Que.), who coached the Montreal Orioles in junior (LBEQ) play and this year will coach Les Ailes du Quebec (U-17) is No. 1,500.
OF Mark Sleeman (Vancouver, BC), formerly with John Harr's North Shore Twins and who played for the Vancouver Cave Ducks in 2008, is our No. 1,600.
RHP Shawn Hetherington (Tsawwassen, BC), the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds closer, is No. 1,700.
RHP Craig Hucul (Saskatoon, Sask.) of Williston State College, is No. 1,800.
TJ Code (Vancouver, BC), a coach with the Langley Blaze is No. 1,900. Code played with the likes of Kyle Paul, Jordan Lennerton, Jon Hesketh, Matt Lesek, Justin Dyck, Jeff Thompson, Tyson Gillies, Shane Wilson and Jon Syrnk with the Blaze from 2003-05. He began coaching in the fall of 2007.
Our No. 2,000 is Cam Newitt (Barrie, Ont.). Cam's father, Gary Newitt played in Oshawa before joining the Pittsburgh Pirates minor-league system. Cam played for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Intercounty League until he retired and now coaches bantam baseball in Barrie.
Our No. 2,100 is RHP Ryan Oxford (Sussex, N.B.), who pitched for Vancouver Island University (VIBI) and plans on playing for New Brunswick at the Canada Summer games this year.
And our No. 2,200 is Jorhn Kaluzniak (Brandon, Man.) of the Manitoba Youth Selects.
Our group has representation from all 10 provinces led by Ontario, which has 757 members. B.C. has 340, Quebec has 175, Alberta has 127, Saskatchewan 67, Manitoba 47, New Brunswick 52, Nova Scotia 23, Newfoundland 20 and Prince Edward Island 15, plus 35 states led by Michigan, plus nine other countires.

Don't forget Delaware: So says Blair Hains. The former Intercounty umpire (1991-2006) worked the memorable semi-final playoff game between the Brantford Red Sox and the Toronto Maple Leafs, after the great power outage in 2003, when the CIty of Toronto couldn't turn the lights on at Christie Pitts. The game was resumed in Brantford, The defining moment came late in the game when three Leafs went down swinging.
Now Hains works NCAA DIvision II and Division III games where the best teams are John Hopkins and West Cheste.
UPPER DECK I -- Rene Tosoni, Futures Games MVP, Best of the four Canucks in St. Louis, plus MLB Scouting Bureau reports ... Looking for Chatham Diamonds ... Final roster for Ontario camp ... R.I.P. Ron Steele.
UPPER DECK II -- Year I, 50 EXTRA BASES blogs ... from Brett Lawrie signing to James Paxton being drafted ... from the Nationals in 2008 to the Mizuno Camp to the World Baseball Classic ... to Canadian promotions to the 40-man (Alexandre Periard) to Canadian promotions to the big league (Chris Leroux). It's all here and more for you to check on ... and links to what has been going on in the Majors, the Minors, in College, with Team Canada and on the Sandlots. Plus in out first year of the site we've had excellent contributions by Kevin Glew, Jonathan Hodgson, Allan Simpson, Bob Broughton, Shi Davidi, Adam Morrissette.
KEVIN GLEW -- David Corrente, eight-year Blue Jays minor leaguer attends HOF ceremonies at St. Marys ... William Bargel helps keep Mississauga North unbeaten at eliminations ... Anthony Ricciardi heads south.!
ADAM MORISSETTE -- Okotoks Dawgs Academy opens this fall ... Rare double for Colin McKean ... Ontario senior eliminations draw ... In the Majors ... Jason Bay shines in limelight ... Pat Gillick involved with Philies ... Erik Bedard to DL ... Mark Teahen like a turkey sandwich ... Avril Lavigne tosses first pitch ... Larry Walker: True Canadian hero ... San Diego Chicken, 35 ... Ron Piche, Canadian HOFer injured in car crash ... Brian Ostrosser, former Met ... In the Minors ... Four Canucks to Futures ... Nick (Eggs) Weglarz ... Brockville's Wayne Amyotte, 1969 Bristol Tiger ... Vancouver Canadians 25 big leaguers and counting ... Erie Gagne rebuilds shoulder, reputation ... Tyson Gillies a burner ... Karl Gelinas shuts down centre of universe ... Justin Randall disappointed with deal ... FA Jeremiah Sammy signs with Rockies ... Kyle Dhanani joins Brewers ... In College ... Chris Bisson leads the Cape in SBs ... Mike Mokriy does it all for Prospects ... Tanner Brotzel coaching Regina ... Adam Reynolds keeps hair ... Team Canada ... World Cup 2009 ... Rowan Wick in the Dominican ... On the Sandlots ... The Legend that is Bill Green ... Vauxhall's 2009-10 roster ... London master plan panned by Mike Lumley ... Riverview's Jon Loughery home from down under ... Kenny McIlroy pitches Kingston to win ... Ron Baron Manitoba HOFer ... Carl Matheson, Nova Scotia legend.
TODD DEVLIN -- Chris Robinson has an Iowa average attractive to the Cubs ... Geoff Wendt's wise men select Ontario Youth Team ... Welland's Royce Consigli signs with A's ... In the Majors ... Russell Martin reason for Dodgers success ... Scott Richmond took the right fork ... Jason Bay becomes dual citizen ... Felipe, Moises Alou back in Montreal ... Matt Stairs opened doors ... Joey Votto candid about absence ... Chris Leroux recalled by Marlins ... In the Minors ... Eric Gagne on comeback trail ... Pete LaForest hits for Quebec cycle ... Nick Weglarz helps Indians to 5th place ranking ... Marc Bourgeois, Twins draft ... In College ... Adam Loewen, Russell Martin, Rene Tosoni ex Chipola Indians ... LSU recruit Chad Stang signs with Milwaukee ... Luis Castillo is all-Nebraska ... Bob Broughton: Okotoks, Swift Current lead divisions ... Andy Williams, Andre O'Conner join Regina ... Team Canada ... Evan Grills, National Junior Team veteran ... On the Sandlots ... R.I.P. Roméo LeBlanc, Canada's 25th GG, Expo fan ... Brodie Ross helps Blue Jays win Heartland ... Alan Cattrysse hits like machine ... Moncton's Serge Vatour leads batting race ... Chris Sorensen slam helps Fredericton beat Chatham ... Taylor Phillips, Kevfin Sawatzky honoured at Campbell River.
UPPER DECK III -- Lansing scholarship offers collapse -- must read if your son is headed off to school.
UPPER DECK IV -- London Badgers waltz past Tecumseh Thunders to win OBA midget eliminations in Sarnia ... Windsor Stars beat Leaside twice in London to take seniors ... Georgetown scores late to beat Windosr Stars at Mississauga ... Jeff Hutton big deal at NBC World Series with game-winning double in the 8th.
JONATHAN HODGSON -- WMBL playoff wrap.
UPPER DECK V -- Canada Cup goes to BC ... Canada Cup award winners ... National Junior Team selections.
UPPER DECK VI -- Steven Inch signs with Phillies ... Chris Bisson all-conference ... Deadline looms for James Paxton, Jake Eliopoulous and other unsigned Canucks ... Brian Smith pitcher of tourney at NABF juniors ... Cory Pappel wins NY State college honours.
SHI DAVIDI -- Baseball Canada adjusts focus with Olympic ouster.
UPPER DECK VII -- Jays go 1-for-9 signing Canuck draftees, James Paxton, Jake Eliopoulos unsigned, head to school
UPPER DECK VIII -- Quebec beats Ontario II at junior nationals.
UPPER DECK IX-- Ontario, represented by London Badgers beats Quebec 7-1 to win midget nationals.!
UPPER DECK X -- Ontario wins boys bantams, Quebec takes girls bantams ... MVPs, all-star team ... Medal standings ... Saskatoon wins peewee West ... Chris Bisson ranked 39th best prospect in Cape Cod League ... Jay Johnson, Corey Pappel, Nathan Forer also ranked by PG after their summers ... Aaron Dunsmore and Aaron Johnson help Rochester Honkers win Northwoods League title ... Marlins farmhand Chris Leroux interviewed.
TIM SMITH BLOG -- Day one with Team Canada, by Rangers minor-league OF Tim Smith.
TIM SMITH BLOG -- Day two with Team Canada, by minor-league OF Tim Smith, dealt to Kansas City Royals ... Adam Loewen 2-for-3, Nick Bucci leaves with lead, Canada loses opener to Team USA by 6-4 score in exhibition ... Box score ... Vince Perkins, Matt Kniginyzky join team, Philippe Valiquette injured.
UPPER DECK XII -- Blue Jays honour late Jim Ridley ... Brett Lawrie homers, Shawn Bowman has two hits, Chris Kissock, Vince Perkins, R.J. Swindle have scoreless outings in 11-2 loss to Team USA ... Box score ... Jonathan Malo has three hits, Trystan Magnuson, Bryan Dumesnil, Jamie Richmond, Vince Perkins, Jim Henderson have scoreless outings in Canada's 6-5 loss to Team USA ... Box Score ... Three hits, including home run by Cole Armstrong, Tim Smith triples and singles as Canada loses 7-4 to USA ... Brewers recall John Axford from triple-A Nashville.
KEVIN GLEW -- Canadian Ball Hall lands historic Jackie Robinson ball.
SHI DAVIDI -- Canada set for World Cup opener in Sweden.
UPPER DECK XIII -- Canada upsets Korea with eight in the 7th for 9-1 win in World Cup lid lifter as Nick Bucci, Jamie Richmond, James Henderson and Chris Kissock combine on five hitter ... DH Tim Smith singles and hits three-run HR in 8th ... Venezuela upsets Team USA ... Japan edged Great Britain ... Nicaragua, Cuba, Mexico win ... Canada thunps Neterlands Antillies by 15-0 score ... Matt Kniginyzky tosses six scoreless. Homers by Brett Lawrie, Rene Tosoni, Jonathan Malo ... Canucks mercy Sweden in 19-1 romp ... Rene Tosoni knocks in five runs, Tim Smith, Jimmy Van Ostrand, Adam Loewen go deep ... Brooks McNiven pitches four innings for the win ... Second round begins with 8-0 loss to Team USA in Italy ... Chris Begg takes loss. Chris Robinson has sole hit.
DEVON TEEPLE -- New GBL Champs: Calgary Vipers Expect More Than A Title ... Team Canada ... Jimmy Van Ostrand collects four hits in 19-2 win over Netherlands Antillies ... Canada 3-2 in second round of World Cup ... Homers by Shawn Bowman, Brett Lawrie and Van Ostrand ... Brooks McNiven gains win ... Emerson Frostad delievers clutch single as Canada edges Japan 3-2 in 11 innings at the World Cup ... Rene Tosoni cracks catcher to score winning run, catcher taken off on stretcher ... Jimmy Henderson gets win working three innings ... James Paxton tabbed as seventh best college prospect heading into 2010 draft by Baseball America ... Jeff Lounsbury has successful recruiting class at Brock ... Jason Rubinstein tosses three scorelss for the Niagara County College win ... Know any BMOCs?