2010 Most influential Canadians in Baseball
*1B Joey Votto (Etobicoke, Ont.) grabbed the NL MVP award, the Lou Marsh, the George Gross and the most influential Canadian in baseball.
Can a ball player have an influence after the season ends?
Tell us what you think.
"Growing up, looking out across the border, I saw the bright lights, stronger arms, stronger bats, players who had more exposure than we did, more TV coverage, more support from their communities. All we heard as kids was how everything was better in the U.S., when it came to baseball.
"Hearing that all those years, I couldn't help but feel inferior. Some Canadian kids have that feeling because we spend so much time on hockey. It's important young kids understand that - and no disrespect to an American player's talent - kids from here can make it in baseball. They need to be to told that."
The speaker is Joey Votto.
The Etobicoke first baseman was named the National League MVP winner in Baseball Writers of America Association voting.
Votto said he made a mistake during his conference call with writers after being named MVP.
"I said it was difficult for Canadians to make it due to weather," Votto said. "I shouldn't have said that. Canadians need to know they can make it. Kids from Minnesota, Michigan and New York make the majors. There's no reason Canadian kids can't."
Wielding a potent bat and strong words, Votto is an obvious choice as the most influential Canadian in baseball on our fourth annual list of movers and shakers.
The George Gross/Toronto Sun sportsperson of the year, QMI sportsman of the year and the Lou Marsh award winner played for the Bloordale Bombers, the Etobicoke Rangers and the Canadian Thunderbirds before being selected in the second round in 2002 after impressing at TeamOne and Perfect Game showcases in Florida.
"Look at Russell Martin or Shawn Hill or any of the other Canadians from eastern Canada in the majors," Votto said. "Derek Jeter is from Kalamazoo, Mich., and tons of kids from northern states in the majors.
"Just because I'm from Canada doesn't make me a better or worse player. It just means I'm from a different country."
Votto's words will be heard by a generation of teenagers' ears.
Next they'll be asking if they can warm up the car for ma or pa in order to make another trip to an indoor facility to work on their game for the summer months.
In garnering his most recent honour, Votto knocks off Blue Jays president Paul Beeston, who held the No. 1 spot in our poll the two previous years.
Paul Godfrey, former Jays CEO, and Greg Hamilton, director of Baseball Canada teams, shared top honours in 2007.
We have apples, oranges, pears, apricots, cherries, peaches - and even a few lemons - who exerted influence, good or bad, on the industry or their teams this past year.
Our top-to-bottom list, with 2009 ranking in brackets:
1. Joey Votto: First baseman, Reds (28)
An MVP award can turn people's heads. Votto did that with 36 doubles, 37 homers, 113 RBIs and a .324 average. He led the NL with a 1.024 OPS. Votto will also turn heads as an inspiration to young Canadian players. An MVP's datebook fills quickly. Votto had committed to the annual national teams awards banquet and fund-raiser on Jan. 15, at the Renaissance Toronto Hotel long before he won. He is still coming to spread the word.
2. Pat Gillick: Senior adviser to the president, Phillies (5)
Gillick became only the fourth Hall of Fame electee primarily a general manager (Ed Barrow, Branch Rickey and George Weiss were the others) when he was the lone person to get the required 75% from the 16-man Expansion Era committee composed of eight Hall of Famers, four owners and four writers at the winter meetings. He will be inducted into Cooperstown July 24, 2011. At his press conference in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., Gillick said: "When I started with the Houston Astros, I thought a player should be judged 70% on ability, 30% on character. The longer I'm around, I think it's 60% ability and 40% character." Three days later, MLB Network spliced together interviews with GMs and managers and all used the word "character" while describing their new acquisitions.
Gillick led the Jays, Orioles, Mariners and the Phillies to post-season play 11 times in 22 seasons, while the Jays, O's and M's are a combined 0-for-36 making post-season play since he left.
3. Paul Beeston: President, Blue Jays (1)
Beeston gets credit for the rookie year of Alex Anthopoulos, the tribute to departing manager Cito Gaston after 12 seasons and the move of the Jays' rookie-class team from Auburn, N.Y., to Vancouver.
The trouble spot: While TV ratings for the Jays remained high, it is the gate that is the biggest concern for the Welland, Ont. native. The home opener had a TV audience of 796,000. A Red Sox visit in April were viewed in 525,000. The night before, opposite a Habs-Capitals playoff game, the Jays did 351,500. This was before the Sportsnet One disaster.
The Jays saw their attendance drop from 1,876,129 million to 1,495,482 in 78 home games - an average of 19,173. It was the Jays lowest total since 1982 at Exhibition Stadium in Year 6, when they won 78 games.
4. Doug Melvin: GM, Milwaukee Brewers (4)
As seasons go, it was one to forget for the Chatham, Ont., native. Nearly every move the Brewers made - Gregg Zaun, LaTroy Hawkins, Doug Davis and Carlos Gomez - broke down, the pitching did not improve (14th in the NL) and manager Ken Macha was fired.
Then, the off-season began and Melvin added Shaun Marcum, the Jays' opening-day starter from 2010, and then acquired former Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke and Yuniesky Betancourt from the Royals for talented shortstop Alcides Escobar, outfielder Lorenzo Cain and right-handers Jake Odorizzi and Jeremy Jeffress.
5. Alex Anthopoulos GM, Blue Jays (3)
All it took was an MVP winner, a Hall of Fame inductee and a Greinke deal to knock the Montrealer down from 2009. As rookie seasons go, Anthopoulos assembled a team which was expected to win 71 games, but won 85. The kid GM signed free-agent catcher John Buck and Alex Gonzalez, then dealt Gonzalez for Yunel Escobar as well as moving Brandon League for Brandon Morrow.
Kyle Drabek, obtained in the Roy Halladay deal and pitcher of the year in double-A Eastern League, now ranks behind only Ricky Romero, Brett Cecil and Morrow.
Outfielder Anthony Gose did not progress as they had hoped and Travis D'Arnaud (also in the Halladay deal) has been bothered by a bad back.
6. Greg Hamilton: Baseball Canada (2)
Facing a must-win situation, Team Canada, put together for manager Ernie Whitt by Hamilton, hammered host Puerto Rico 14-6 at Hiram Bithorn Stadium. The win wrapped up fifth place for Canada, securing a berth at next year's Pan Am Games in Guadalajara. and the World Cup at a site yet to be determined. Canada will be in the Pan Ams for the first time since Winnipeg in 1999.
No one evaluates as many players, putting together the Pan Am qualifier, the juniors and the Mizuno camp for high-schoolers, a feeder system for the junior national team. The Peterborough, Ont., native deals with GMs, farm directors, pitching coaches and agents.
7. Tony Viner: President, Rogers Media (7)
Viner was responsible for approving budgets of the Jays, Rogers Centre, Sportsnet, The Fan, publishing, digital media, and The Shopping Channel until stepping down Aug. 17.
Viner talked Beeston into taking the CEO job on a permament basis and gave the green light for Anthopoulos to double the scouting department and beef up player development.
Nadir Mohamed, Rogers Communications CEO, and Viner may not have been the face of the product at the Rogers Centre, but they deserve the credit/blame.
8. Larry Walker: Coach, Team Canada (14)
Maple Ridge, B.C., slugger is on the Cooperstown ballot for the first time. He's short on the automatic ticket: 500 homers or 3,000 hits with 383 homers and 2160 hits.
From 1994 to 2002, Walker hit .339, the only big leaguer with a better average during that stretch was Tony Gwynn. He averaged 31 homers a season, more than Andre Dawson and Jim Rice, plus his career .565 slugging percentage ranks 14th all-time, ahead of Stan Musial, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays and Hank Aaron. With a .965 career OPS, he sits 16th on the career list ahead of Mel Ott, Ty Cobb and Mays.
9. Dan Shulman: Broadcaster, ESPN (8)
The Thornhill resident heads ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball three-man broadcasting crew of Orel Hershiser and Bobby Valentine. Shulman replaces Hall of Fame play-by-play man Jon Miller. Sports Illustrated named Shulman national play-by-play man of the decade.
He also lends insight to Bob McCown's Prime Time Sports on The Fan 590, as the show's most insightful baseball guest, where Shulman began his career.
10. Justin Morneau: First baseman, Twins (6)
A concussion restricted Morneau to 81 games. Morneau slid into second at Rogers Centre attempting to break up a double play and John McDonald's knee accidentally hit him in the noggin.
Morneau handled a half season of "when are you coming back? How are you feeling? Will you play against the Yankees?" with grace.
When Votto led the NL in hitting before the break, Morneau led the AL for the same three days. If not for the concussion, there may have been two Canadian MVPs.
11. Jerry Howarth: Broadcaster, Jays (10).
The late Tom Cheek worked 4,306 consecutive games with class and dignity. His partner, the frenetic, little guy in the booth energetically surpassed Cheek's total and somehow the moment, came, went and no one noticed. Howarth is like the good ump: You listen to him paint pictures, your spirits rise and fall. You complain about a reliever, or a man popping up with two men on ... you never moan about Howarth. The Etobicoke resident became a Canadian citizen in April of 1994 and by our count, has worked more than 4,720 regular-season games - 29 seasons, plus 25 games in 1981 along with Early Wynn and Cheek. Never once did Howarth have a 'hey look-at-me!' approach.
12. Fergie Jenkins: Hall of Famer (17)
The only Canadian-born player in Cooperstown will have his 59-cent stamp done in February. The stamp shows a young Jenkins pitching with the Cubs, behind a modern photo of Jenkins on the Canadian Walk of Fame in Toronto in 2001. His Order of Canada medal hangs between the images.
A 284-game winner, Jenkins may live in Phoenix, but the national treasure can be found at banquets and golf tourneys from Calgary to St. Catharines.
13. Rob Thomson, third base coach, New York Yankees (12)
Thomson could have moved way up the charts had Anthopoulos hired him to replace manager Cito Gaston. He was interviewed by the Jays GM and assistant GM Tony LaCava in October. Once your name is in the managerial pool, more interviews will come ... and then a job.
Thomson will stay as Yanks' third base coach in the Bronx. The Corunna, Ont., native waved home 859 runners and shook a bunch of hands on a 95-win team. He enters his 22nd year with the Yanks and now has five World Series rings, the first four as minor-league field co-ordinator.
14. Claude Delorme, VP stadium development, Florida Marlins (11).
The Marlins will open 2012 in their new stadium. The Sturgeon Falls, Ont., resident was responsible for getting approval, hiring a contractor for the stadium and the countdown to opening of stadium, owned by Miami-Dade County, went under the 500-day mark on Dec. 16. The new yard, with a retractable roof, natural grass and 37,000 seats, including approximately 3,000 club seats and 60 private suites, sits on 17 acres of the 42-acre Orange Bowl site in the Little Havana section of Miami.
15. Walt Burrows, Canadian director, MLB Scouting Bureau (13).
If you can play -- whether Lambrick Park in Victoria or Sussex Corner, N.B. -- Burrows has seen you perform. The Brentwood Bay, B.C. resident's job is evaulating Canadian high schoolers.
He instructed at MLB's scout school, scouted at the Dominican Republic in the fall for the Major League Scouting Bureau and is Canada's advance man at WBC time.
Only Murray Zuk (Padres) of Souris, Man. and Claude Pelettier (Mets) of Ste-Lezare, Que. have scouted Canada longer. Canada ranks tied for 13th of 53 draft areas (50 states, plus Puerto Rico, D.C. and Canada) over the past six years. California leads the way averaging 264.6 players per year. Next are Florida (160.6) and Texas (134.3) followed by 4. Georgia (62.4), 5. North Carolina (57.2), 6. Arizona (53.4), 7. South Carolina and Tennessee (42.2) each; 9. Illinois (39.4), 10. Oklahoma (38.4), 11. Alabama (35.8) 12. Louisiana (35.6) and 13. Canada and Virginia (33) each.
16. Arlene Anderson, CEO SAM BAT (-).
Anderson and husband, Jim, purchased controlling interest from Sam Holman and runs the Ottawa maple bat company on a day-to-day basis, earning the highest-ever ranking for a woman on our poll. SAM Bat is also partly owned by J. Paul Balharrie and Holman. Arlene attended Carleton, worked at KPMG and Thorne Riddell before taking over SAM BAT, which ranks third in sales of the 30 authorized bat makers by Major League Baseball. If you saw homers flying there was a good chance they came off a SAM BAT. Jays' Jose Bautista, Tigers' Miguel Cabrera and Rockies' Carlos Gonzalez all used the maple clubber for season highs in homers. Bautista hit a major league best and club-record 54, Carbrera hit 38 and Gonzalez 34 homers.
17. Keith Pelley, president, Rogers Media (-).
Pelley only ran the Jays for the final six weeks of the season after taking over for Viner, but he was in on the 2011 planning in which the baseball and business map was set: deciding how much would be spent in salaries, not re-sign free agents Lyle Overbay, Kevin Gregg and Scott Downs and continuing to collect younger players. Pelley, who will rise next season, was most recently executive vice president at CTV and Canada's Olympic Consortium after being president of the Argos from 2004-07 and president of TSN in 2000.
18. Jeff Mallett, part owner, San Francisco Giants (20).
The Victoria, B.C. native is a partner of the Giants and was a full-time celebrant after Game 5 of the World Series in Arlington, Tex. when his club clinched against the Texas Rangers. We asked where he was and former owner Peter McGowan said "I just saw him over there with a bottle of champagne, but he's gone now." Giants clubhouse manager Frank Murphy answered: "I just saw him over there with a bottle of champagne and now he's gone now." Former president and CEO of Yahoo Inc. from 1995-2002 lives in San Francisco. Besides the Giants, he also owns a portion of AT&T Park, the Bay Area's regional sports cable TV network and 25% of Class-A San Jose.
19. Jeffrey Royer, general partner, Arizona Diamondbacks (15).
An investor in the Diamondbacks, the Toronto resident committed $160 million US over a 10-year span. Royer is one of 13 directors on the executive board of the Calgary-based, Shaw Communications cable company. Royer grew up in Wisconsin a fan of the Milwaukee Brewers. He's not the only cable guy in town who owns part of a major-league team.
20. Nadir Mohamed, Rogers Communications CEO (-).
Mohamed spoke to players in spring training at the Bon Appetit restaurant in Dunedin and again in the clubhouse at the Rogers Centre during the final home stand, carrying on a tradition began by Peter Hardy. What do fans want in an owner? The bombastic type like Jerry Jones or Mark Cuban? Or in the background like former Montreal Expos owner Charles Bronfman or the way Rogers does its business. It's easier on employees this way.
21. Andrew Tinnish, scouting director, Jays (34).
Pre-draft talk was the Jays would spent $16 million in bonuses. They didn't get there, but they spent $11.6 million, third-highest in draft history, handing out 20 six-figure bonuses, including $2 million for first-rounder Deck McGuire and $1.5 million to Dickie Joe Thon. Tinnish picks Asher Wojciechowski, Aaaron Sanchez and McGuire made Baseball America's Top 10 prospects list.
The Ottawa native had more scouts, an additional nine picks the first three rounds and go-ahead from management to spend. Baseball America ranked the Jays farm system 28th before the Roy Halladay deal, 19th afterwards and now No. 4, highest ranking since they were No. 4 heading into the 1999 season under Tim Wilken. The Jays went over slot on 13 players. On the international scene the Jays signed Cuban shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria ($4 million), righthander Arodis Cardona ($2.8 million) and third baseman Gabriel Cenas ($700,000).
22. Gord Ash, assistant GM, Brewers (23).
The former Jays GM and Toronto native ,who grew up watching the Triple-A Maple Leafs with Eli Grba as his favorite player, is Melvin's right-hand man in Milwaukee. Melvin leans on Ash to handle contract talks and keeping tabs on the team. They take turns accompanying the team on the road and both played a part in adding Marcum and Greinke. Under Ash and Melvin the Brewers were Canada's team in the June draft, selecting more Canadians than any other team for five years until the previous two Junes. The Brewers and the Jays shared the lead for the most Canucks in their respective minor-league systems, 12 apiece.
23. Keli McGregor, president, Colorado Rockies (9).
McGregor never worked a day in Canada. Yet, the son of a St. Lambert Que. resident was originally chosen by Beeston as the man the Jays wanted as their new CEO. McGregor declined and Beeston took the job. McGregor died April 20, 2010 in a Salt Lake City hotel room on a business trip, due to a heart ailment. McGregor's name surfaced a year ago but after his death it came to light he'd been asked by Rogers to run the Jays, Rogers Centre and "bring the Buffalo Bills to Toronto."
His father, Brian played for the Montreal Alouettes (1959-61).
24. Ryan Dempster, Chicago Cubs (21)
Four seasons ago, Dempster was the Cubs closer and so many Canadians had brighter futures on the mound: Erik Bedard of Navan, Ont., Jeff Francis of North Delta, B.C., Georgetown right-hander Shawn Hill, Rich Harden of Victoria, B.C., Adam Loewen of Surrey, B.C. and Langley's Scott Mathieson.
All went down with injuries. Dempster, the Gibsons, B.C. native returned to the rotation and won 17, 11 and 15 games, pitching more than 200 innings a season, including 215 at age 33.
Dempster is a loyal supporter of Baseball Canada program, raising almost $35,000 with his tours and tickets of Wrigley. Next set up for grabs is the annual Baseball Canada banquet and fund raiser at the Renaissance Hotel in Toronto. The packages include a trip for four to Chicago to see a four game series at Wrigley Field, three nights hotel stay, two meals, Cubs bat boy for a game, pre-game batting practice and clubhouse tour with Dempster and autographed jerseys. For info, see the Baseball Canada website.
25. Jason Bay, outfielder, Mets (19)
Bay had the same year Morneau had crashing into the fence at Dodger Stadium and sidelined for the remainder of the year due to concussion-like symptoms. Aaron Hill returned. So will Bay and Morneau.
Bay appeared in 95 games before losing his battle with the fence and is entering the second year of four-year, $66 million deal with the Mets. A vesting option based on plate appearances could bring the total worth to five years at roughly $80 million, making it the sixth richest deal for a left fielder. He had only six homers and 47 RBIs, his lowest total in both categories after six seasons of 21-or-more homers and four 100-or-more RBI seasons.
26. Allan Simpson, Perfect Game cross-checker (26).
The Kelowna, B.C. native grew up reading The Sporting News. He thought a better job could be done on the minor leaguers. The result? He founded Baseball America, driving across the border to Blaine, Wash. to mail his issues. The highly respected trade paper has replaced TSN and Simpson has moved on to a new world as national co-ordinator for the Perfect Game scouting service which college recruiters and pro teams depend on year round. His site rates the best players in every age group.
27. Farhan Zaidi, Director of Baseball Operations, Oakland A's (25).
Born in Sudbury, Ont., Zaidi provides statistical analysis for evaluating and targeting players in the draft, free agent and trade markets. He's the No. 3 man in the A's operation behind Billy Beane and David Forst, and still has relatives in Calgary and Toronto.
After graduating from MIT and University of California-Berkeley, he worked in the fantasy sports division of The Sporting News. Now, he assists on arbitration cases, minor league contracts and examines data from advance scouting reports.
28. Paul Quantrill, coach Team Canada (50)
The Port Hope resident was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in June for pitching in more games (841) than any other Canadian. Jenkins pitched in 664 games.
Quantrill is a pitching coach for the Ontario Terriers 17U, his son Cal's team.
29. Dave McKay, coach, St. Louis Cardinals (23).
The first base coach and original Jays infielder is in his 15th season with the Cards and 25th under manager Tony La Russa. The Vancouver native is a respected voice of reason when the Cards sit down to talk about the makeup of their 25-man roster. Mark McGwire is on LaRussa's coaching staff along with McKay, as when all three were together with the A's in the 1990s.
30. Dr. Ron Taylor, Jays club physician (29).
Taylor is a busy man tending to millionaires at the Rogers Centre one night and amateur athletes the next. Besides being a regular in the Jays clubhouse the Leaside doc and runs the S.C. Cooper sports medicine clinic at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Toronto. Taylor sees one and all: the elite player and the rec player. In both cases the goal of the former two-time World Series hero is to get the athlete back on the diamond as quickly as possible.
31. Phil Lind, vice-chairman, Rogers Communications (33).
When MLB stages its quarterly ownership meetings either Lind or Beeston represent the Jays. Lind obtained a CRTC license for the baseball channel, whether it be the MLB Network North or the Canadian Baseball Network it has yet to hit the airways. He's the man who, along with Godfrey, who talked the late Ted Rogers into buying the Jays.
32. Russell Martin, catcher, Yankees (22).
Expos fans didn't follow the Washington Nationals when their team headed to D.C. They stayed up late and followed the Los Angeles Dodgers. Not because their Royals were a triple-A team, but because Montrealer Martin became the Dodgers all-star catcher. Now, the Quebec fans will be rooting for the Yanks, after Martin signed a one-year, $4 million contract (with an additional $1.375 million in performance bonuses) to play in the Bronx. Martin was born in East York, raised in Chelsea, Que. and grew up in Montreal.
33. Mike McRae, coach, Canisius College (27).
When it comes to recruiting in Canada, McRae is the master. No one bats 1.000, but the only Canadian coaching an NCAA Div. I team has the highest average of any college coach.
The Niagara Falls, Ont. turned down a chance to be pitching coach at Virginia Tech to stay with the Golden Griffs in Buffalo, who lost to Rider in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament final. The Anaconda Sports MAAC Coach of the Year has won 117 games the three previous seasons and he'll have 12 Canucks in the spring, with the arrival of Brian Bardis of St Constant, Que., London's Jon Fitzsimmons, Alex Tufts of Kentville, N.S. and Shane Zimmer of St. Albert, Alta.
They'll join Simcoe's Sean Jamieson, Drew Pettit of Fonthill, Ont., Shane Davis of Belmont, Ont., Nathan Linesman, of Ariss, Ont., Mississauga's Billy Martin, Benson Merritt of Smithville, Ont., Kitchener's Brian Burton, Chris Cox of St. George, Ont. and Josh Marshall, of Saskatoon, Sask.
34. Jacques Doucet, broadcaster (30).
His Expos fled south but he still remains in the booth working Quebec Capatiles games, taking his patented excited home runs calls and passion with him. The French-language voice of the Expos, finished third in Hall of Fame on-line fan balloting for the Ford C. Frick Award with 2,714 votes, behind the late Jays announcer Tom Cheek (11,661 votes) and Oakland A's Bill King (4,758).
Doucet's 34 years and fan voting helped get him on the final ballot for the Frick selection as Dave Van Horne, former Expos broadcaster, was elected to the media wing for contributions to broadcasting.
35. Jameson Taillon, right-hander, Pirates (-).
How good was Taillon, or how good were his agents Alan and Randal Hendricks? Well, the high-school right-hander, a Canadian citizen, chosen second over-all in North America in the draft, was given a $6.5 million signing bonus, a larger bonus than No. 1 pick Bryce Harper.
His mother, Christie Kormendy was born and raised in Lawrence Park, while dad Michael Taillon grew up in St. Andrews West, Ont., near Cornwall, Ont. The Woodlands, Tex., resident has a chance to pitch with Team Canada before Team USA internationally.
36. Ray Carter, president, Baseball Canada (37).
From start to finish, the Tsawwassen, B.C. resident is in his 35th year in amateur ball and his 11th year as president of Baseball Canada. He was formerly the president of Baseball B.C., B.C. Minor and minor ball in Tsawwassen. Carter helped bring together the Ottawa staff of Jim Baba, Greg Hamilton and Andre Lachance, which helped produce into this golden era of Canucks in the majors.
37. Doug Beeforth, Sportsnet (31).
The president of Sportsnet oversaw production of all 162 Jays games, although a free were on the preview station and then there was the messy September were more than 20 games -- returned from TSN -- were carried on Sportsnet One for a few fans to see. Sportsnet One wasn't his decision but he took most of the heat, along with Viner. He beefed up coverage with the popular pre-game show hosted by Jamie Campbell.
38. Charlie Wilson, director, minor league operations, Jays (40)
The Toronto native is back at the Rogers Centre after running the show from Dunedin. Now, in his seventh year at this job, Wilson has input on minor-league free agent signs, moves players from one level to another when someone deserves a promotion or is sidelined by injury and attempts to keep the affiliate teams happy. The Jays own Class-A Dunedin. He also tracks movements of the 13-man, minor-league staff and rovers through the system, as well as the 29 minor-league managers, coaches and trainers.
39. Doug Mathieson, coach, Langley Blaze (46)
A total of 10 Canadians have been drafted in the first round (top 30 picks) and Mathieson now has coached two: Brett Lawrie in 2008 and Kellin Deglan this June to the Rangers. Dennis Springenatic of Fraser Valley Chiefs is the other coach with a pair of first rounders: Adam Loewen in 2002 and Kevin Nicholson in 1997. The former Langley lawyer and full-time coach also had Mark Ellis drafted after his club was the most productive in the 2008-09 drafts. And the top prospect for next June is Tom Robson, a right-hander ... who pitches for Langley, which won its pool at the 85-team tournament in Jupiter in October.
40. Jon Lalonde, pro scout, Jays (47)
The Jays former scouting director moved to assistant, major league operations. Once there he was central command as Anthopoulos and his staff conducted their search for a new manager. The list moved from 150 candidates, to 46, to 19 to five to four, to John Farrell. Lalonde, who moves to scouting in 2011, has drafts like J.P. Arencibia, MVP at triple-A, with the Jays and Jake Marisnick on the Baseball America top 10 list.
41. Denis Boucher, Yankees scout (81).
The former Jays and Expos lefty scouted for years for the Expos and Nationals, but August the Canadian scout handed out the largest signing bonus to a Canadian high schooler: $500,000 to Windsor left-hander Evan Rutckyj. Boucher was the pitching coach for Team Canada under Ernie Whitt as Canada successfully qualified for the Pan-Am Games and the World Cup with a must win over the host Puerto Rico.
42. Tom Valcke, CEO, Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame (41)
The HOF is deciding if it will purchase Central School, which will lead to the expansion in St. Marys. Valcke serves as IBAF technical director at tournaments around the world and coached his son's team, the St. Marys Cement Company minor bantams. In charge of the museum's profile, retaining historical artifacts from coast to coast and administering the annual January election process. He loses points for the Hall's selection of this year's Jack Graney Award winner.
43. Tim Hallgren, scouting director, Tigers. (36)
After 17 years with the Rangers and six years with the Dodgers, where he drafted Cambridge's Jeff Hunt in the 15th round in 2009, Hallgren has moved to the Tigers to take the same position.
Hallgren's pop, Arnie of Victoria, was the first B.C. born player on a 40-man roster of the 1953 Boston Braves.
44. William Humber, Historian (38)
The Toronto native has written about Canadians in baseball, taught the game in his pre-spring training college classes for fans and spoken about them in Cooperstown and St. Marys,
Humber presented a paper on "19th Century Baseball in Canada" for American baseball researchers at the "19th Century Conference" in Cooperstown in April, sponsored by the Society for American Baseball Research.
45. Brett Lawrie, second baseman, Blue Jays (32).
Lawrie doesn't turn 21 until next month and is at a cross roads. The Brewers moved the talented hitter after he refused to report to the Arizona Fall League and became generally fed up with his act. A young man in a hurry, he failed to grasp baseball's apprenticeship of playing in the minors. He's been a pro for two seasons and now wants to stick with the Jays. He played second base this season, but is better suited for left field or third base.
Lawrie is the top-rated prospect of the 103 Canadians in the minors.
46. Alex Agostino, scout, Phillies (44).
Agostino wear many hats: scout, administrator and historic broadcaster. Jeremy Filosa and Agostino worked eight games from the Rogers Centre back to Montreal -- two each against the Rangers, Red Sox, Yanks and Indians -- the first French language broadcasts of the Jays during the regular season, not involving the Expos. Radio CKAC has met with the Jays to do more games in 2011.
The Phillies drafted and signed lefty Ethan Stewart of Campbell River, B.C. The Montrealer is the top man with Baseball Quebec and is trying to get a stadium built in Montreal, which has the Olympic Stadium and then sandlot parks with a few bleachers and nothing in between.
47. Jonah Keri, ESPN (42).
The Montrealer is busy, busy, busy: his new book "The Extra 2% How a Wall Street Strategies Took a Major League Team From Worst to First," on the Tampa Bay Rays comes out in March, he can he found at JonahKeri.com, at @JonahKeri on Twitter and has a Podcast on ESPN. And, he finds time to be a good father to twins Ellis and Thalia while campaigning for Tim Raines to get into Cooperstown.
48. Ellen Harrigan, assistant director, administration, Dodgers (39)
The Agincourt native is busy as GM Ned Colletti's top aide. The former GM of Class-A St. Catharines, one-time Blue Jays and O's employee signs roughly a quarter of the Dodgers' 40-man roster to contracts. Harrigan is responsible for day-to-day administration and contract language. Her added duties this season were creative consultant to the Joe and Ned show ... a video blog on manager former manager Joe Torre and GM Ned Colletti, which featured ice fishing in Saskatchewan the day before the World Juniors gold medal game.
49. Rick Briggs-Jude executive producer, Sportsnet (-).
Don't blame Briggs-Jude for the Sportsnet One mess. Camera work, graphics and technology is as good as any other telecast we see on the road and better than most. Briggs-Jude has run the Sportsnet big show since 2003 after starting with the Expos in 1988 and then moved to Jays from 1990-97 before leaving the mobile truck and for a supervisory role first with TSN and now Sportsnet. The St. Catharines native and Beeston helped bring Buck Martinez back.
50. Stephen Brooks, CFO, Jays (-).
A baseball man now counts the Jays beans. He played youth ball growing up in Prince George B.C. And attended the annual World Baseball Challenge in B.C. run by his pal, Jim Swanson, which brings in the best amateur teams from around the world each July. The Jays will help sponsor the event next summer, thanks to Beeston and Brooks.
51. Ron Tostenson, scout, Cubs (43)
The Kelowna, B.C. native was a key decision maker as Cubs scouting director Tim Wilken decided to select their No. 1 pick, right-hander Hayden Simpson from Southern Arkansas. Simpson was given a $1.06 million bonus. Let go by the M's as a national cross-checker -- during a game at the Area Code Games in Long Beach, Tostenson was hired by the Cubs to cover Canada, cross-check before the draft, cover Japan and Latin America. Drafted by the Expos he worked for the Jays drafting Josh Phelps and Mark Hendrickson.
52. Jay Lapp, amateur scout, Brewers (58)
How many scouts drive from London to Mississauga in a snow storm to sign a player and then have the player unseat the all-time saves leader (Trevor Hoffman) as the team's closer and convert 24 of 27 save opportunities? Lapp did. Signing Port Dover's John Axford is why he was named our scout of the year. Lapp also gave Windsor right-hander Joel Pierce a $175,000 bonus and didn't have to drive through a storm to do so.
53. Chris Mears, scout Red Sox (75)
Mears drafted outfielder Jeremy Hazelbaker from Ball State in the fourth round in 2009 and gave him a $191,700 bonus. Hazelbaker stole 63 bases at class-A Greenville, made the South Atlantic League all-star team and was named the organization's best baserunner in 2010. Another Mears draft, right-handed Kyle Weiland, a third-round pick was given $322,000 in 2008, made 25 starts at double-A Portland, striking out 120 in 128 innings. The former Ottawa-Leaside-Victoria resident now lives in Oklahoma and covers Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South and North Dakota. Red The Sox have hired Chris Pritchett, former Vancouver Canadian (1995-98), who lives in Vancouver, to scout Canada.
54. Kevin Briand, scout, Jays (54).
The Montrealer was named Jays pro scout of the year for 2010, winner of the Al LaMacchia award. It was his first year as a pro scouting under Anthopoulos new plan. He scouted the Reds and the Indians from class-A to the majors. Formerly he was the Jays' director of Canadian scouting.
55. Steve Wilson, scout, Cubs (-).
Sal Agostinelli and Jim Fregosi, Jr. of the Phillies walked into Willy's 2nd Base Bar & Grill in Tainan, Taiwan and spotted pictures of Wilson in uniform behind the bar. They hired Wilson as a part-time scout. Cubs scouts Oneri Fleita and Paul Weaver hired Wilson away and he's now in his second year as Pacific Rim scout for the Cubs. The Victoria, B.C. lefty who pitched in 205 games for the Rangers, Cubs and Dodgers, was involved in the signing of free agent shortstop Hak Ju-Lee. Wilson also signed Jae-Hoon Ha, who hit .317 at Class-A Peoria at age 19.
56. Terry McCaig, coach, University of British Columbia (62).
UBC was two wins away from qualifying for the 2010 World Series with a 41-13 season and heads into the spring ranked No. 10 in the NAIA. McKaig's graduated Mark Hardy of Campbell River, B.C. and Toronto's Sammie Starr, grandson of the former owner of the Triple-A Maple Leafs after Jack Kent Cooke left town, to the pros. McCaig has secured another strong recruiting class for next spring: Josh Lowden of Cranbrook, B.C. Jeff Mottl of New Westminister, Tyler Oosterhoff of Chilliwack, B.C., North York's Sean Sutton, Matt Tompkins of Delta, B.C., Alex and Luke Webster of Abbotsford, B.C. And committed for next fall are Kevin Biro of Deep Bay, B.C., Matt Trimble of Port Coquitlam, B.C., Etobicoke's Gabe Mark.
57. Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Times (45).
What's not to like about a guy who wears his blue and red Expos jacket on chilly nights during post-season play? Besides providing wall-to-wall coverage of the Dodgers, the Montreal-born Shaikin did excellent day-to-day job on the Dodgers court room struggles. Co-owners Jaime and Frank McCourt went through divorce proceedings for more than a year whether the prenuptial was legal along with revelations the Dodgers charged themselves rent each year and paid Russian physicist Vladimir Shpunt to bring positive thoughts to the club.
58. John Haar, baseball operations, North Shore Twins (55).
Some say the wisest coach in Canadian baseball -- and no one else can match what the Vancouver native has accomplished: Canada's gold at the 1991 world junior and his induction into the Canadian Hall. This year Haar is working with the organization's younger players, after leading the Twins to five consecutive BCPBL final four appearances and three straight titles. He also took Team BC to a gold in 2007.
59. Jim Stevenson, scout, Astros (-).
Jays homegrown starters won 48 games this season. Only one starter who broke camp was signed by a Canadian scout. Stevenson, a Leaside product, drafted Dana Eveland in the 16th round in 2002 working for the Brewers. Eveland won three games in nine starts. After working for the Indians and the Brewers, he joined the Astros in 2008 scouting the fertile North Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas and Missouri area. He's in his 14th year, signing Yovani Gallardo, Mike Bacsik and Eveland.
60. Joel Landry, coach Academie Baseball Canada 53).
Who ran the best program in Canada at draft day? Well, the Montreal-based ABC and the Ontario Mets each had four current or former players selected: Jonathan Paquet of Ancienne Lorette, Que. went to the Phillies in the 22nd round; Montrealer Jensen Dygestile-Therrien, 36th to the Mets; Tommy Tremblay of Boucherville, Que., 39th to Giants and Francois Lafreniere of St. Bruno, Que., 47th to the Braves.
61. Wayne Morgan, pro scout Blue Jays (51)
Under the Jays new top-to-bottom pro scouting system, pro scouts travelled more and saw complete organizations. Morgan, who lives in Morgan Hill, Calif. had it easier than most covering the Oakland A's and the San Francisco Giants and their farm clubs. He also was involved on amateur players before the draft and special assignments.
The Kindersley, Sask. native was formerly a Jays scouting director.
62. Wayne Norton, scout, Mariners (16).
A year ago the Port Moody, scout who covers Canada and Europe had his name beside five of Baseball America's top 10 M's prospects. This year none: Michael Saunders of Victoria, B.C is with the M's in 2009, Phillippe Aumont of Gatineau, Que. and Tyson Gillies of Langley, B.C. were dealt to the Phillies in the Cliff Lee deal. Italy's Alex Liddi and Dutch outfielder Greg Halman have slipped.
Norton and the M's drafted James Paxton in the fourth.
63. Danny Thompson, coach, Intercounty Terriers (65).
The Burlington native, who learned the Erindale way, and pulled off the biggest merger in recent years on the Toronto scene bringing together: pitching coach Paul Quantrill; former national team coach Rick Johnston and his Mississauga facility the Baseball Zone run by Mike McCarthy; Shawn Lynn and Francis Cubos from the Canadian Thunderbirds, coach Bill Byckowski, a three-time national champ as a coach and two-time national champ Scott Van De Valk, to work with his own staff. Thompson batted 1.000 getting his graduating players places at U.S. schools this fall. In all, 62 Terriers landed scholarships, 15 have made the Canadian Junior National Team and 11 have been drafted, including Brantford's Brandon Dailey, who signed with the Reds.
64. Jamie Lehman, scout, Jays (93)
Lehman had a wonderful rookie season. He signed North York outfielder Marcus Knecht to a $250,000 bonus and late-blooming Mississauga outfielder Dalton Pompey a 16th round draft for $150,000. He also signed free-agent, right-hander Zack Breault of Amherstburg, Ont. and 30th rounder Steve McQuail, an American from Canisius. The Jays drafted nine Canadians in 2009 and signed only one. Lehman signed the Canadian collegian and high school position player with the highest ceilings.
65. Danny Bleiwas, coach, Ontario Blue Jays (80).
There isn't a team that gets as much exposure as the Thornhill resident gives his: a summer trip, a fall trip to various colleges and the trip to the annual 85-team Perfect Game championships in Jupiter, Fla. The Jays 18U reached the Connie Mack World Series in Farmington, N.M. North York grad Marcus Knecht, Whitby's Evan Grills and Ajax's Philip Diedrick both went in the draft.
66. Ted Hotzak, president, B.C. Premier League (52).
He succeeded Clyde Inouye and runs the best-run league in the country. Kellin Deglan went in the first round in June continuing B.C. reputation of producing the most high-end talent year after year. Since its inception in 1995, 127 players have been drafted from Bobby Lee Cripps in 1995 to Victoria's Kelly Norris-Jones in June.
Premier Leaguers selected in the first three rounds: Adam Loewen, Jeff Francis, Lawrie, Kevin Nicholson, James Paxton, Aaron Myette, Kyle Lotzkar, Dempster, Morneau and Deglan.
67. Jim McKean, TV analyst (35).
McKean umped 29 years in the majors, began supverising and this year stepped down. He worked ESPN on Baseball Tonight and Sportscenter analyzing umpiring and their calls. He must have been busy.
McKean, former Alouuette quarterback, says he may be in the broadcast booth as a colour commentator come spring.
68. Ted Giannoulas, The San Diego Chicken (-).
He began as the KGN Chicken in 1974 as a mascot at San Diego Padres home games. The London, Ont. native has entertained fans from Portland, Maine to Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. The Chicken has performed at more than 8,500 games and has more than 17,000 total appearances including parades, trade shows, banquets, conventions, TV and radio dates.
69. Bill Byckowski, scout, Reds (59).
The Georgetown, Ont. resident scout gave Brantford infielder Brandon Dailey, a 34th-round pick, a hefty bonus of $100,000. He previously handed out six-figure bonuses to Kyle Lotzkar of Tsawwassen, B.C. ($594,000), Yan Lachapelle of Gatineau, Que., ($185,000), Mark Curtis of St. Albert, Alta., ($135,000), Carter Morrison of Langley, B.C. ($132,000), Pickering's Lee Delfino ($122,500) and Dailey. The Reds have discussed making Byckowski an international scout. For a low-revenue club the Reds opened the bank vault to sign Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman to a $30.25 million, six-year contract.
70. Tom Tippett, information services, Red Sox (-).
Tippett grew up in Scarborough, attended University of Waterloo and headed to Harvard. He began consulting with the Sox baseball operations department in 2003 was hired full time in 2008. He developed the Sox information system and performs analytical work. He spoke on "Using Lineup-Dependent Expected Runs Analysis to Evaluate Baseball Tactics" at the New England Symposium on Statistics in Sports at Harvard in 2009. He was the founder and president of Diamond Mind, Inc., developing its simulation software.
71. Stubby Clapp, manager, class-A Tri-Cities (61.)
As a roving coach in the Astros minor-league system, the Windsor fire plug had influence his first three seasons in the system. Now, Clapp will make his debut managing the Astros with the Class-A New York-Penn league team in Troy, N.Y. in June. Will Canada's most recognizable player on the international stage have his team come out of the dugout doing back flips a la Ozzie Smith, as Clapp did?
72. Jim Baba, director general, Baseball Canada (66)
The big dog in Ottawa is the liaison between Ottawa and provincial associations as well as the rep to Sport Canada and the Pan-Am Games Committee for Baseball Canada.
The Moose Jaw, Sask., native is a member of the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame and according to Stubby Clapp, the only coach to ever cut him from Team Canada.
73. Scott Secord and Paul Pettipiece, Pointstreak (-).
The two Chatham, Ont., entrepreneurs made inroads into the stats market with their scoring application, viewed live via the proper applications whether it is video (some parks have cameras), flash video, game tracker and updated box score. They had agreements with seven independent pro leagues in 2010, Cape Cod and Northwoods colleges, the Baseball Canada nationals to the B.C. Premier League, the Intercounty, the Canadian College Baseball Conference, Eastern Canadian Premier League and the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Penn. Two years ago, they had 32 employees. Now the staff numbers 70.
74. Les McTavish, coach, Vauxhall Academy (48).
The ex-national team pitching coach from Stettler, Alta. had the best high school team in Canada, but now others are sprouting up around the province, as it makes a strong comeback.
Medicine Hat's Chad Hodges committed to South Dakota State University Red Deer's Curtis Mazurkewich is headed to Colby College. The next player to garner a scholarship will be the 50th player to move onto the next level since Vauhall's opened in 2007.
75. Jamie Bettens, coach, St. Boniface Legionaries, MJBL Stars
National championships in Canada usually rotate amongst the Big Three of Quebec, B.C. and Ontario. Bettens guided the Manitoba Stars to the junior title in Trois-Rivieries in unlikely fashion: Elliot Desilets hit a walk-off homer against Newfoundland in the quarter-final, Anthony Friesen, who blanked Saskatchewan earlier, beat favored Ontario 7-1 in the semi-final and Mac Batchelor beat the host Trois Rivieres 6-4 in the final. It was Mantioba's first gold in 28 years and don't think a win like that doesn't have an impact across a province.
76. Murray Cook, scout, Tigers (78).
At the annual Scout of the Year banquet at the winter meetings, Cook was named eastern scout of the year. A regional cross checker, he often follows Team Canada.
The Tigers' deep farm system is due to solid scouting. The Sackville, N.B. resident, former GM of the Yanks, Expos and Reds, is a reason.
77. Andrew Collier, GM, Winnipeg Goldyes (73)
The Goldeyes finished sixth with a 46-53 record. As the season wound down the question was whether the Goldeyes would enough fans to Canwest Park to lead the independent Northern League for an 11th straight year. Not an easy task with Kansas City having a team.
The Goldeyes drew 271,399 fans to lead again. K.C. was second at 264,368 fans. The Portage la Prairie, Man. is a five-time NL executive of the year. No surprise when he averaged 5,654 fans per game. Of the 60 indy teams, Winnipeg averaged more than any team but the Long Island Ducks (6,038).
78. Tom Tango, statistical consultant, M's. (49)
The Montrealer who does not go by his real name, does statistical analysis to evaluate players for major league clubs, including the M's. He's also known as TangoTiger in on-line circles.
He co-authored The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball and was first to come up with the idea to start the Tim Raines advocacy site for the Hall of Fame (raines30.com).
79. Jason Chee-Aloy, director of operations, Toronto Mets (88).
Chee-Aloy's Mets equalled the ABC for having the most players selected in the June draft: Newmarket's Jake Eliopoulos went in the 15th round to Dodgers; Toronto's Sammie Starr, 34th to the O's; Pickering's Brian Smith, 40th to the Cubs and Toronto's Nick Studer, 48th to the Jays.
Chee-Aloy is stepping away from the coaching ranks to concentrate on recruiting, player evaluation and instruction as Ryan McBride guides the Mets 18s.
80. Jason Bryans, scout, Kansas City Royals (63)
The Windsor, Ont. scout drafted outfielder Mitch Maier of Petoskey, Mich. in the first round of the 2003 draft. Maier played 117 games with the Royals this season. Another Bryans' sign, David Lough, has been likened to David DeJesus who starts next season at Triple-A Omaha.
Bryans has also signed Todd Balduf, Ben Norton and Michael Penn -- from Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Illinois but he's light on Canadians.
81. Bill Green, program coach/GM, Coquitlam Reds (71).
Only Harr compares in longevity and integrity when it comes to elite coaches. The outstanding Vancouver coach has run the Reds since 1985 and is a beloved mentor to many former players and coaches.
82. Dennis Springenatic, coach, Fraser Valley Chiefs (87)
Now is in his 22nd year with the Chiefs, finishing second in the Premier league in 2009. His grad have enjoyed success near and far: Adam Loewen making an adjustment to the batter's box at Double-A New Hampshire, Mark Ellis celebrated with his Southern Mississippi teammates after winning the C-USA Baseball championship and Nic Lendvoy doing damage for UBC.
83. Mike Lumley, coach, London Badgers (86).
The Badger family now extends to eight purple-clad teams, all of them working out at Adam Stern's Centre Field Sports, a 12,000 square feet of cages and indoor turf. Also coaches the Western Mustangs. The Badgers hosted the national midget championships and won bronze with 5-2 triumph over B.C. at Labatt Park a year after winning the nationals, the Baseball Ontario eliminations and OBAs.
84. John Ircandia, GM, Okotoks Dawgs (78)
Seaman Stadium, home of the Dawgs, ranks with Winnipeg's Canwest Stadium as the best ball park in Canada. It had 22% attendance bump from to 2010. The increase helped the Dawgs become the fifth highest attended summer league team in 2010 as the average attendance jumped from 1,819 per game to 2,223 fans. His Dawgs won three straight Western Major Baseball League title before Swift Current won. The Dawgs were honoured as the team to win Best Community Project award, with their 'Wear Pink to the Park' event. It raised $80,000 for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.
85. Hazel Mae, MLB Network (64)
The Toronto resident assures us that July 1 is Canada Day in the MLB Network studios when it comes to highlights and features. Mae keeps segments moving questioning insiders, has a smooth delivery and is well informed. Mae started at Sportsnet before working Red Sox games on NESN.
Last spring in Arizona, Mae's ranking on the top 100 led Hall of Famer George Brett to tease Canuck minor leaguers who didn't make the top 100.
86. Dave Wallace, coach, Parksville (91)
One thing about the Royals -- they can pitch. Campbell River's Mark Hardy, a Royals grad, was drafted from UBC and made Double-A San Antonio in the Pirates system, And Ethan Stewart of Campbell River was selected by the Phillies. Bethune-Cookman's Ali Simpson of Campbell River, Paul Barton of Qualicum Beach, B.C. and Langley's Brandon Kaye all had outstanding seasons in college.
87. P.J. Loyello, vice-president, Marlins (70).
The Montrealer in his ninth season as senior vice-president of communications and broadcasting. He's spending a lot of time in Cooperstown, N.Y. overseeing matters: Andre Dawson this year and broadcaster Dave Van Horne next July. Loyello spent 15 years with the Expos and triple-A Ottawa.
88. Gary Cohen, The Baseball Cube site (60)
The Montrealer-based web site gives baseball-reference.com a run when it comes to raw numbers.
It also have features coaching staffs, historical broadcasters (from the beginning of radio to 2010), Olympic stats, NCAA Div. I stats, salaries, spring stats, college Hall of Famers, Japanese and Mexican League stats.
89. Matt Higginson, scout, A's (96)
He signed Welland outfielder Royce Consigli, who led the more than 100 Canadians in the minors in hitting with a .340 mark for the Rookie Class, Arizona A's.
Higginson is Oakland's first full time employee in Canada.
90. Don Cowan, scout, Jays (90)
Now Cowan has games to scout. Unlike the J.P. Ricciardi era _- college players, college players and more college players -- he locates the best the B.C. Premier League has to offer for Lehman to check out. Cowan selected Victoria's Kelly Norris-Jones in the 50th round.
91. Rob Butler, Home Run Academy (92)
The ex-Blue Jay and his brother Rich run a facility in Ajax, Ont. as well as the Ontario Prospects team. They have produced plenty of collegians: Toronto's Jerome Werniuk at St. John's, Pickering's Preston Rauh-Wasmund at New York Tech, Picton's Chris Norman at Mississippi Valley State, North York's Anthony Riccardi at Alabama State, Pickering's Robert Carmen at St. Lawrence, Ajax's Jacob Featherstone at Genesee and Thornhill's Jason Rubinstein at Niagara County to mention a few.
92. Sam Cosentino, Sportsnet (94).
Cosentino adds insight, humor and info into Sportsnet broadcasts and did a good job handling play-by-play duties while Buck Martinez was away working TBS games.
The Etobicoke resident does not have Votto's pop, but he'll likely have a longer career at the major-league level.
93. Paul Hogendoorn, President, OES Inc. (-).
The boss of the London, Ont. company puts up scoreboards. He has 75 blinking ball-strike counts and the score including three of his favorites: Bright House Field, spring home of the Philadelphia Phillies in Clearwater, Fla., Old Dominion University in Norfolkf, Va. and Labbatt Park.
His first scoreboard was in Windsor and at the winter meetings he made three firm on scoreboards.
94. Randall Echlin, Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame (97)
The Toronto Justice rules with an iron hand over the Canadian HOF selection committee.
More than anything, he's a ball fan, be it the Team Canada Fund Raiser, spring training or the Rogers Centre.
95. Jamie Campbell, Sportsnet (-).
Campbell was bumped from the Jays telecasts as the lead announcer and handled it with grace.
He worked the entertaining pre-game show which feature plenty of interviews from Team Canada junior team.
96. Bob Smyth, scout, MLB Scouting Bureau.
Smyth didn't have any signed this year as in the days when he scouted for the Phillies and the M's and others. His voice went hoarse giving interviews from Ladysmith, B.C., when his prize pupil Votto, won one honour after another. The two form a mutal admiration society.
97. Mike Wilner, The Fan-590 (98)
The Radioboy has a head for numbers. Once they are in that noggin, they stay there. As well as being the third man in the booth along with Jerry Howarth and Allan Ashby he runs an authoritative, entertaining post-game show.
98. Fred Wray, agent, Octagon.
The Calgary resident represents Mississauga's Chris Leroux of the Pirates and Welland's David Davidson, who is trying to make a comeback. Working out of Octagon's Chicago office, alongside McGill grad Jamie Murphy, his highest pick in 2010 was James Madison University all-American closer, Kevin Munson, who received a $243,000 bonus. Wray also has former No. 1 picks Jason Castro of the Astros, Matt Mangini of the M's, Garrett Richards of the Angels, Kellen Kulbacki of the Padres and Marlins prospect Logan Morrison.
99. Jay-Dell Mah author (-).
The respected broadcaster and reporter has one of the most complete and oldest -- 16 years -- historical web sites going: Western Canada Baseball (attheplate.com/wcbl/) which dates to 1907. For his tireless efforts this summer the Nakusp, B.C. was inducted into the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame. He co-authoured Black Baseball Players in Canada, a Biographical Dictionary, 1881-1960 along with Barry Swanton and Tom Hawthorn. He fell in lover with the game in the 1950s as bat boy for the Lloydminster Meridians in his home town.
100. Kirk Martin, Justin Bye, Cardinal Sports (-).
When former Oshawa NHLer Brent Grieve began his company it was to help get hockey players gain scholarships south of the border. Now, the company has expanded to baseball.
Tillsonburg's Bye has an agreement with the Fraser Valley Chiefs, the Langley Blaze and the Vauxhall Jets in the west, while Martin, of Kitchener, has done the same with the Ontario Terriers and the Toronto Mets.
HONOURABLE MENTION
Alex Andreopoulos, Etobicoke, Ont., bullpen catcher, Jays; Don Archer, White Rock, B.C., scout, Angels, Paul Aucoin, Brantford, Ont., owner, Brantford Red Sox, Curtis Bailey, Red Deer, Alta., scout, Scouting Bureau; Al Bernacchi, Windsor, Ont., coach, Windsor Selects.
Denny Berni, Etobicoke, Ont., Pro Teach; Howie Birnie, Leaside, Ont., Baseball Ontario; Scott Bullett, Welland, Ont., Bullett Proof Academy, Claudette Burke, Hawkesbury, Ont., manuscript archivist, Hall of Fame, Cooperstown; Ray Calari, Montreal, Que., scout, San Francisco Giants.
Don Campbell, Ottawa, Ont., coach, Ottawa-Nepean Canadians; Don Charrette, Ottawa, Ont., College Baseball Connect; Mike Chewpoy, Victoria, B.C. Victoria Mariners; Dr. Michael Chivers, kinesiologist, Vaughan, Ont.; Shi Davidi, Toronto, Canadian Press.
Sam Dempster, Oshawa, Ont., coach, Durham College; Jason Dickson, Chatham N.B., pitching coach, National Junior Team, vice-president, Baseball Canada; Jack Dominico, Toronto, owner, Toronto Maple Leafs, Scott Douglas, Moose Jaw, Sask., coach, Trinidad State College; Dave Empey, North Vancouver, B.C., coach, Vancouver Cannons.
Pete Entwistle, coach, Nanaimo Pirates; Orv Franchuk, Amesbury, Alta., manager, Edmonton Capitals; Mike Frostad, Calgary, Alta., assistant trainer, Jays; A. J. Fystro, Calgary, Alta., coach, Calgary Dinos; Andrew Halpenny, Winnipeg, Man., scout, Scouting Bureau.
Cam Houston, St. Albert, Alta. Prospects Academy; Peter Hoy, Cardinal, Ont., coach, St. Lawrence College; Marc Hulet, London, Ont. Fangraphs; Ian Jordan, Montreal, Que., Scouting Bureau; Brad Jorgenson, Thunder Bay, Ont. owner/GM, Thunder Bay Border Cats.
Sam Katz, Winnipeg, Man., owner, Winnipeg Goldeyes; Chris Kemlo, Oshawa, Ont., scout, Scouting Bureau, coach Ontario Prospects; Randy Knorr, manager, triple-A Syracuse; Mike Kozak, Toronto, assistant trainer, Marlins; Michel Laplante, Val D'or, Que., manager, Quebec Capitales; Andre Lachance, Ottawa, Ont., women's coach, Baseball Canada.
Marty Lehn, White Rock, B.C. scout, Brewers; Ken Lenihan, Halifax, N.S., scout, Scouting Bureau, Todd MacFarlane, Edmonton, Alta., collector; Murray Marshall, Stoney Creek, Ont., Team Ontario; Jean-Marc Mercier, Charlesbourg, Que., scout, Jays.
Ryan Mittleman, scouting co-ordinator, Jays; Tex Montgomery, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., Bullet Proof Baseball; John Milton, Caledon, Ont., scout Jays; Bill Neale, Collingwood, Ont., coach, Bacone College; Nancy Newman, host, YES Network, Mark Orton, Newmarket, Ont., president, Baseball Ontario.
Mel Oswald, Hamilton, Ont., coach, Canadian Thunderbirds; Bill Park, Chatham, Ont., commissioner Great South League summer college loop, Athens, Ga.; Rob Pegg, Flesherton, Ont., coach, Colorado Christian University; Marc Picard, coach free agent; Mike Phinney, Burlington, Ont., director of Cowboys baseball operations, Okalahoma State University.
Todd Plaxton, Saskatoon, Sask., scout, Scouting Bureau; Terry Puhl, Melville, Sask. coach, University of Houston-Victoria/Team Canada; Mark Randall, Edmonton, Alta., St. Francis Academy; Andy Rempel, coach/GM, Abbotsford, B.C., Abbotsford Cardinals; Josh Ridgway, Vancouver, B.C., coach, Douglas College.
Dave Robb, Lac La Biche, Alta. coach, Okatogs Dawgs; Jeff Ross, Montreal, equipment manager, Jays; Jasmin Roy, Longueuil, Que., Scouting Bureau; Neate Sager, Ottawa, Out of Left Field blog; John Silverman, Montreal, equipment manager, Marlins.
Russ Smithson, coach, Port Coquitlam, B.C. White Rock Tritons; Richard Solomon, Windsor, Ont., coach Windsor Selects; Bernie Soulliere, Windsor, Ont., chef de mission Team Canada; Marnie Starkman, Mississauga, Ont., Rogers Centre Jumbotron; Mike Steed, Burlington, Ont., manager, Thunder Bay Border Cats.
Richard Todd, WebBall Baseball Instruction; Randy Town, Calgary, Alta., coach Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges; Cam Walker, Winnipeg, Man., head coach, Indian Hills Community College; Rob Webster, Langley, B.C., coach, Kwantlen College; Mike Wilson, North Delta Blue Jays.
Nigel Wilson, Ajax, Ont., Competitive Edge, Brett Wilson, North Battleford, Sask., owner, double-A West Tennessee.
2012 Most Influential Canadians, No. 1 Paul Beeston
2011 Most Influential Canadians, No. 1 Greg Hamilton
2010 Most Influential Canadians, No. 1 Joey Votto
2009 Most Influential Canadians, No. 1 Paul Beeston
2008 Most Influential Canadians, No. 1 Paul Beeston
2007 Most Influential Canadians, Nos. 1 Paul Godfrey, Greg Hamilton