Elliott: Josh Naylor remembers from whence he came on wedding day
Former Ontario Blue Jays and Junior National Team 1B Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) and wife Chantel on their wedding day.
January 15, 2025
By Bob Elliott
Canadian Baseball Network
Josh Naylor’s longest consecutive-game streak with the Cleveland Guardians was 34 games in 2024.
Not Cal Ripken by any means.
Yet, Naylor was the Ripken of the annual Baseball Canada annual fundraiser. He made his debut in 2012 and was at every banquet until Saturday night at the downtown Marriott. At age 27, some thought he might make a run at the longest-running streak of attending Canadian baseball’s social event of the winter.
Naylor missed it for a good reason -- the former Ontario Blue Jay and Junior National Team player was on his honeymoon. He wed Chantel the previous Saturday.
“It was like going to a see the Ontario Blue Jays play in either 2014 or 2015,” said one wedding invitee. “Josh did not forget where he came from or who he played with.”
Naylor’s former Ontario Blue Jays teammates were on hand for Naylor’s big day.
The wedding party of nine included former Blue Jays teammates Troy Daring (Brampton, Ont.), Conner Morro (Cheltenham, Ont.), AJ Padmore (Toronto, Ont.), Darren Shred (Brampton, Ont.), ex-coach Brandon Dhue (Toronto, Ont.) younger brother Myles Naylor, a first rounder in the Athletics system, plus his new brother-in-law Junior Collado and Aaron Civale, now with the Milwaukee Brewers.
Bo Naylor was Josh’s best man -- and now a former teammate since the Guardians moved Josh to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Bo and Myles gave a speech to the wedding party.
Josh, who attended St. Joan of Arc Catholic Secondary School in Mississauga, wed Chantel a former high school friend, and now a professional Latin singer. Ex-teammates from his days with the Miami Marlins, San Diego Padres and Guardians, including RP James Karinchak, OF Steven Kwan, RHP Triston McKenzie, RP Matt Strahm, RHP Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.) and RP Nick Wittgren, were at the wedding ceremony.
Former Ontario Blue Jays on hand were J.D. Williams (Brampton, Ont.), ex-coaches Kyle DeGrace (Mississauga, Ont.) and Pat Visca (Mississauga, Ont.) and others ... you know who you are ... we don’t.
The Naylors are a special family in the sense that it is only the second household in North America to produce three first-rounders.
There was the Drew household of Valdosta, Ga. and there was the Naylor household. The Drew homestead produced OF J.D. who went to the St. Louis Cardinals, fifth in the 1998 draft, INF Stephen, Arizona Diamondbacks, 15th in 2004 and RHP Tim Drew, Cleveland, 28th in 1997.
The Naylors went in this order: Josh, 12th overall in 2015 to the Marlins, Bo, 29th in 2018 to Cleveland and Myles 39th as a compensation pick to the A’s in 2023. On Saturday night, Bo presented teammate Cade Smith (Abbotsford, BC), a strong weapon out of the Guardians bullpen, with a Baseball Canada Special Achievement Award.