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The Top 10 moments in Canadian baseball
By Melissa Couto From the World Baseball Classic to the MLB post-season, 2013 was an eventful year for Canadian baseball. Though it didn't always go the way fans of the game had hoped, the year was jam-packed of captivating moments from amateur ball to the big leagues. Here are the year's Top 10 most significant events: 10. A feisty WBC For the third straight time, Canada failed to make it past the second round of the World Baseball Classic, but that doesn't mean that the 2013 installment of the tournament wasn't a memorable one. The nation's WBC journey began with controversy when Russell Martin backed out of his starting catching duties eight days before. Though the Montreal native said he would gladly play shortstop instead, neither the Pirates -- who had just signed him to a two-year, $17 million contract -- nor Canada's director of national teams, Greg Hamilton, would allow that. As a result, Dorchester, Ont., native Chris Robinson, who had yet to play his first major league game, filled in, and he became the centrepiece for Canada's most memorable moment of the tournament. With his squad up 9-3 against Mexico, Robinson led off the ninth inning with a bunt single, sparking a benches-clearing brawl when the next batter, Rene Tosoni, was thrown at twice before being plunked in the back. In a tournament weighted by run differential, Robinson's bunt was a legitimate play. Mexico, however, didn't see it that way. Robinson later said the fight "fired up" Canadians at home -- especially hockey fans -- who were suddenly paying attention to baseball. Even Canadian hockey icon Don Cherry aired highlights from the Saturday afternoon melee on that night's segment of Coach's Corner on "Hockey Night in Canada." Aside from Robinson's accidental impact on the tournament, Martin's decision not to play also had ramifications for another Canadian catcher -- 33-year-old John Suomi of Etobicoke, Ont. A career minor leaguer (13 seasons with five different organizations), Suomi was selected as the team's back-up catcher. It was the first time he'd ever represented Canada on the international stage, and it was a moment he'll never forget. 9. Jordan Lennerton gets better with age Langley, B.C., native Jordan Lennerton hadn’t played a single game past the double-A level prior to this season. But in 2013, his sixth year in the minor leagues, he soared to new heights. Lennerton, 27, made both the triple-A all-star game, where he represented the Detroit Tigers’ Toledo Mud Hens, and the future’s game, where he was Canada’s only representative on the World roster. Though the Canadian went hitless in one at-bat at the triple-A all-star game, he had an RBI and a walk in the World team’s 4-2 loss to the U.S. future's squad. The Tigers selected Lennerton out of the University of Oregon in the 33rd round of the 2008 amateur draft. After three years at the single-A level, Lennerton spent the entire 2012 season with the double-A Erie SeaWolves, racking up 133 hits -- including 34 doubles and 21 home runs -- in 139 games. This season, the first baseman made the Tigers’ triple-A squad out of spring training, and hit .278 with a .382 on-base percentage. Lennerton had 143 hits in 139 games for the best performance of his career. Having conquered every level of the minor leagues after this season, only one more level remains. And with Detroit recently trading first baseman Prince Fielder to the Texas Rangers for second baseman Ian Kinsler, Lennerton may get a taste of big league action sometime in 2014. 8. The Vancouver Canadians complete the three-peat It took 11 years for the Vancouver Canadians to win the Northwest League championship, but ever since they experienced their first taste of victory in 2011, they haven’t been able to stop. The Toronto Blue Jays class-A farm team beat the Boise Hawks 5-0 in Game 3 of the championship final this September to take their third consecutive Northwest League title. And to make things even sweeter for Canadian baseball fans, three Canadian-born players contributed to the victory. Right-handed starter Tom Robson pitched 6 ⅓ innings of scoreless ball, giving up just three hits while striking out two. Justin Atkinson of Surrey, B.C., was 1 for 4, and Mike Reeves of Peterborough, Ont., was 1 for 3 with an RBI and a walk. Robson, who grew up less than 30 kilometres away from Vancouver in Ladner, B.C., packed the stands at Nat Bailey Field with over 100 friends and family members. Selected by the Blue Jays in the fourth round of the 2011 draft, the 20-year-old was 3-0 with an 0.94 ERA in seven outings with the Canadians. The team celebrated its victory on the field with a spontaneous rendition of O Canada, which took Robson by surprise. Vancouver defeated the Tri-City Dust Devils for its first championship in 2011, and downed Boise in 2012 to become the league’s first back-to-back winners since 2007. The Hawks beat the Canadians 5-0 in Game 1 of the Championship, but Vancouver bounced back to take Game 2, 4-2. 7. Ryan Kellogg impresses at ASU Whitby, Ont., native Ryan Kellogg’s dreams came true in June 2012 when he was selected by his hometown Blue Jays in the 12th round of MLB amateur draft. But the left-handed pitcher turned Toronto down, choosing to honour his commitment to the Arizona State University Sun Devils instead. And that turned out to be a great decision. The former Junior National team star went 11-0 in 15 starts, becoming the only Sun Devil freshman in ASU history to accomplish that feat, and just the fourth to pick up 11 wins in a rookie season. In March, Kellogg threw ASU’s first no-hitter in 20 years -- against then No.3 ranked Oregon State University. He was two fielding errors removed from a 110-pitch perfect game, and the hat he wore during his no-hitter now resides in the College Baseball Hall of Fame. Kellogg’s only loss of the year came in a 1-0 playoff defeat against Cal State Fullerton, where he gave up the game’s only run in the seventh inning. The southpaw isn’t eligible for the draft again until 2015, after his junior year in college, but Kellogg is already the top-ranked Canadian heading into it. 6. Canadians in the post-season and World Series While Canada’s only baseball team failed to make it to the post-season, at least some Canadian fans were happy with the results this October. In total, six Canadians contributed to their MLB team’s post-season berths, and one -- Ryan Dempster of Gibsons, B.C. -- went home with a World Series ring. Dempster signed a two-year, $26.5 million contract with the the Boston Red Sox following the 2012 season, and went 8-9 with a 4.57 ERA through 32 appearances (29 starts) in 2013. The right-hander pitched three innings out of the bullpen during Boston’s post-season run, giving up four hits and one earned run. But if Dempster and the Red Sox hadn’t won the World Series, another Canadian would have. Sitting in the opposite dugout during those six games was Port Dover, Ont., native John Axford of the St. Louis Cardinals. Axford was traded to the Cardinals from the Milwaukee Brewers on Aug. 30 to help St. Louis finish their eventual 97-win season in first place in the National League Central. Axford worked 5 ⅓ innings in the post-season, striking out 9 and allowing one run on two hits. The Pittsburgh Pirates made it to the National League Division Series with two Canadians on their roster -- Justin Morneau of New Westminster, B.C., who was acquired from the Minnesota Twins late in the season, and Russell Martin of Montreal, who signed a free agent contract with the Pirates last year. Pittsburgh downed the Cincinnati Reds -- and Etobicoke, Ont., native Joey Votto -- in the National League wild card game, while semi-Canadian Freddie Freeman and the Atlanta Braves lost to the L.A. Dodgers in the other NLDS. Though Freeman was born and raised in California, his father was born in Windsor, Ont., and his mother was born in Toronto. 5. Excitement for the Blue Jays It’s not very often that the city of Toronto shows excitement for baseball in January, but that’s the way 2013 began. After Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos pulled off significant trades with the Miami Marlins and New York Mets to bring the likes of Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle, and R.A. Dickey to the city, there was a real hope in Toronto that this team was finally built to contend. That dream unravelled quickly, and the Blue Jays finished dead last in the A.L. East with a 74-88 record. But despite the failed season, there were significant moments in Toronto’s 2013 campaign which may bode well for baseball in Canada. Attendance at Rogers Centre -- 2,536,562 total in 2013 -- grew by more than 20% from 2012 and marked the franchise’s highest total in more than 15 years. Even in their most dismal stretches of the season, the Blue Jays consistently sold approximately 30,000 tickets per game. Not only did fans come out in droves to watch the team in action, they also showed their support by voting one of Toronto’s best relievers into the 2013 all-star game for the first time in his career. Thanks in part to the Jays’ #RaiseTheBar Twitter campaign, fans gave Steve Delabar the American League’s final roster spot, voting him over David Robertson of the Yankees, Koji Uehara of the Red Sox, Tanner Scheppers of Texas, and Joaquin Benoit of Detroit. Delabar joined Edwin Encarnacion and Brett Cecil at Citi Field for their first taste of the Midsummer Classic while Jose Bautista represented Toronto for the fourth consecutive year. 4. Chris Robinson makes his long-awaited major-league debut It took nine seasons and six different organizations, but Dorchester, Ont., native Chris Robinson finally made it to the big leagues. Canadian baseball fans fell in love with Robinson during the 2013 World Baseball Classic when his reputation as a grinder was put on display as the 29-year-old filled in for Montreal’s Russell Martin behind the plate. After being traded to the San Diego Padres from the Baltimore Orioles midway through the season, Robinson got his big break in August when Padres catcher Nick Hundley took three days off on paternity leave. Though Robinson didn’t get a single at-bat during his first brief stint in The Show, San Diego recalled the Canadian from triple-A when rosters expanded in September. On Sept. 25, in his sixth major league at-bat, Robinson picked up his first hit -- a pinch-hit, three-run home run off Arizona’s Eury De La Rosa. As Robinson rounded the bases, Padres broadcaster Dick Enberg, ocalled him a “hockey player from Canada,” adding: “It couldn't have happened to a better kid.” After the game, which San Diego won 12-2, Padres second baseman Jedd Gyorko called Robinson’s home run the “highlight of the year.” Robinson played 634 career minor league games, hitting .276 with a .320 on-base percentage. Through eight games (12 at-bats) with the Padres, he had two hits and three RBIs. Read Chris' blog on CBN 3. Andrew Albers makes Saskatchewan proud Before Andrew Albers made his MLB debut for the Minnesota Twins in August, the province of Saskatchewan hadn’t had a major league representative in over 20 years. So when the North Battleford native began excelling on the mound over his first few starts, Rider Nation took notice. Fans flocked from Saskatchewan to Kansas City where Albers made his debut -- 8 ⅓ innings of scoreless ball against the Royals on Aug. 6 -- and a week later, they made the trek to Target Field for his first home start -- a complete game, two-hit shutout over the Cleveland Indians. Back in 2009, less than a year into his professional career, Albers underwent Tommy John surgery and painful rehab which left him wondering if he should give up baseball altogether. Though the left-hander returned to the San Diego Padres camp for spring training the following year, he threw to live batters only once before being cut from the organization that drafted him in 2008. Albers spent the next season playing independent ball with the Quebec Capitales of the CanAm League before a successful tryout with the Twins in 2011 brought him back to the minors. Before earning his call-up this season, Albers went 11-5 with a 2.86 earned-run average through 22 starts with the triple-A Rochester Red Wings. His unconventional road to the big leagues has inspired some of Saskatchewan’s best young baseball players, including 17-year-olds Brayden Resch and Wyatt Schlosser, who represented the province at the Canada Games, and played for the Prairies team at Tournament 12. Read Andrew's blog on CBN 2. Tom Cheek lives on at Cooperstown Twenty years after Joe Carter touched ‘em all in Game 6 of the 1993 World Series, the man responsible for the most iconic call in Blue Jays history was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Tom Cheek was this year’s recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting excellence, after being nominated as a finalist for the award for the last seven years. Cheek, in his unmistakable baritone voice, broadcast 4,306 consecutive Blue Jays games -- including both of Toronto’s World Series victories -- from the club’s first game at Exhibition Stadium on April 7, 1977 to June 2, 2004. The “voice of the Blue Jays” was recognized by the organization in 2005, when his name was added to the Rogers Centre Level of Excellence, and he was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in St. Marys, Ont., in June. Cheek passed away in Oct. 2005, and he was represented at Cooperstown this summer by his wife Shirley, who gave a moving speech thanking Canada’s baseball fans for inducting her late husband into the Hall. (Video here) "After seven years, fans across Canada have never forgotten Tom," Shirley said at Cooperstown. "I've heard from Blue Jays fans from British Columbia to Newfoundland expressing support and congratulations. Each year, Jays fans voted and voted for Tom. From the bottom of my heart, thank you." Read CBN's Special Archive on Tom Cheek 1. The success of the inaugural Tournament 12 For four days in September, the nation’s top young players converged on the Rogers Centre turf in Toronto to showcase their abilities in front of professional and college scouts from across the United States and Canada. Put together by the Blue Jays and Roberto Alomar, the tournament featured 10 teams -- three from Ontario, two from Quebec, one each from B.C., Alberta, the Prairies, the Maritimes, and one future’s team made up of players who are sure to be prominent in the 2015 draft and beyond. The surprising star of the show was the Maritimes team, which beat Quebec Blue 7-4 to take home the inaugural championship. Little known heading into the showcase, the Maritimes’ pitching staff made quite an impression throughout the four-day event. First there was J.P. Stevenson of Hunter River, P.E.I., who pitched five scoreless innings in the first game of the tournament. Two Dartmouth, N.S., natives -- Jesse Borden and Cody Shrider -- allowed one run in six combined innings, while Myles Vincent of Corner Brook, Nfld., gave up three runs in three innings in one game, then pitched six hitless frames in the final. The Maritimes’ most impressive arm, however, belonged to Andrew Case, 20, of Saint John. Case pitched a no-hitter in the semifinal against Quebec White, striking out a tournament-high 13 batters and earning himself a pro contract with the Blue Jays as a result. Read CBN's Tournament 12 Archive Honourable Mention The 2013 MLB draft Though fewer Canadians were taken is this year’s draft (21) than last year’s (26), more Canadians were taken in higher rounds in 2013. By the end of the fifth round, four Canadians had already been selected by MLB teams, with the highest pick coming in Round 2 -- left-handed pitcher Rob Zastryzny of Edmonton, Alta. The first Canadian to go in 2012 was third baseman Eric Wood of Pickering, Ont., who was chosen by the Pirates in the sixth round. Here are the Top 5 drafted in 2013: 1) LHP Rob Zastryzny (Edmonton, Alta.) – Chicago Cubs 2nd Round (41st overall) 2) RF Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, B.C.) – Seattle Mariners 3rd Round (85th overall) 3) RHP Nick Pivetta (Victoria, B.C.) – Washington Nationals 4thRound (136th overall) 4) LHP Travis Seabrooke (Peterborough, Ont.) – Baltimore Orioles 5thRound (159th overall) 5) SS Malik Collymore (Mississauga, Ont.) – St. Louis Cardinals 10thRound (305th overall) Full 2013 Draft List |
