BWDIK: Anderson, Axford, Clapp, Harden, Paxton, Welke
Photo Credit: Pacific Coast League
By Kevin Glew
Cooperstowners in Canada
My weekly observations and notes about some Canadian baseball stories:
· Congratulations to Windsor, Ont., native Stubby Clapp for leading the triple-A Memphis Redbirds to a Pacific Coast League championship for a second consecutive season. The Redbirds defeated the Fresno Grizzlies on Sept. 16 to capture the title. Clapp then led the Redbirds to 14-4 win over the International League’s Durham Bulls in the triple-A National Championship Game on Tuesday. These championships topped off a very successful month for the 45-year-old Canadian. Earlier in September, he was named the Pacific Coast League’s Manager of the Year for the second consecutive season. Before coaching, Clapp enjoyed an 11-year professional playing career that included four seasons with Memphis (1999-2002) and 23 games with the big league Cardinals in 2001. He is now in his 12th season in the professional coaching ranks. This fall, he will manage the Arizona Fall League’s Surprise Saguaros, a club that will consist of top prospects from the Cardinals, Kansas City Royals, Pittsburgh Pirates, Texas Rangers and Toronto Blue Jays organizations. It’s no wonder then that USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (Tweet below) is reporting that Clapp is “attracting strong interest” from major league teams searching for a big league manager for next season. If Clapp were to be named a major league manager, he would be the first full-time Canadian skipper since Canadian Baseball Hall of Famer George Gibson (London, Ont.) managed the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1934.
· The Los Angeles Dodgers activated Canuck reliever John Axford (Port Dover, Ont.) off the disabled list on Monday and he pitched 1/3 of an inning in the Dodgers’ 8-2 win that same day. The 6-foot-5 right-hander had been out of action since August 12 when Colorado Rockies outfielder Gerardo Parra’s hard-hit grounder ricocheted off his right leg in the eighth inning, leaving him with a fracture in the tip of his fibula. He was making just his third appearance with the Dodgers after being acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays at the trade deadline when the injury happened. Axford had posted a 3-1 record and a 4.41 ERA in 45 appearances with the Blue Jays prior to being swapped to the Dodgers. He is in his 10th major league campaign and he had previous stints with the Milwaukee Brewers, Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Pirates, Rockies and Oakland A’s.
· When I wrote in August that Ladner, B.C., native James Paxton just can’t seem to catch a break, I wasn’t joking. After he returned from his second stint on the disabled list this season on Sept. 1 (this DL stint occurred after he took a line drive off his left forearm), Paxton made just two starts before being sidelined with what’s been diagnosed as a combination of pneumonia and influenza. Rather than shut it down for the season, however, Paxton, even with the Mariners all but eliminated from the AL wild-card race, wants to return. “I’m really hoping to get two starts in and get the opportunity to get to the 160-inning mark,” Paxton told Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times. “That would set me up well to go 200-plus innings next year. If I do make two starts, they’ll probably both be at home in that last week. It would be great to get those starts at home and try to win some games for our fans and show our appreciation for their support all season.” The Canuck southpaw has posted an 11-6 record with a 3.83 ERA and has struck out 194 batters in 150-1/3 innings in 26 starts this season.
· Long-time Toronto Blue Jays scout Don Welke passed away on Thursday at the age of 75, just two days shy of his 76th birthday. Welke was a highly respected talent evaluator under Pat Gillick’s regime with the Blue Jays from 1977 to 1995. Among the players Welke scouted and advised were Pat Hentgen, Willie Blair and Dave Stieb. He also served as the advance scout for the Blue Jays during their World Series years. In his close to 50 years in the professional baseball ranks, Welke also scouted for the Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals, Baltimore Orioles, Los Angeles Dodgers, Texas Rangers and San Diego Padres. If you haven’t read Canadian Baseball Network editor-in-chief Bob Elliott’s moving article about Welke, please take the time to read it here.
· Congratulations to Victoria, B.C., native and former big league pitcher Rich Harden who will be inducted into the Victoria Sports Hall of Fame on October 27. Selected by the A’s in the 17th round of the 2000 MLB draft, Harden pitched parts of three seasons in the minors before making his big league debut on July 21, 2003. He toed the rubber with Oakland for parts of six seasons prior to being dealt to the Cubs. His 2008 campaign was his best in the majors. In a combined 25 starts between the A’s and Cubs, he posted a 10-2 record, a 2.07 ERA and struck out 181 batters in 148 innings. The 6-foot-1 right-hander was on the mound again for the Cubs in 2009 before spending injury-shortened seasons with the Texas Rangers (2010) and the A’s (2011). In all, in nine big league seasons, he posted a 59-38 record and a 3.76 ERA.
· How tough is the American League East division? The Tampa Bay Rays are 86-68 this season. That record would put them in first place in the AL Central (tie) and NL West divisions. In the AL East, they are third, 18.5 games back of Boston and nine games back of the Yankees.
· Thirty-four years ago today, Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Sparky Anderson led the eventual World Series champion Detroit Tigers to their 100th win of the 1984 season. With that victory, he became the first major league manager to guide teams in two different leagues to 100-win seasons. He had previously led the Cincinnati Reds to 100-win campaigns in 1970, 1975 and 1976. Prior to his big league success, Anderson had his first professional managerial gig with the International League’s Toronto Maple Leafs in 1964. Anderson also played for parts of two seasons with the triple-A Montreal Royals in 1956 and 1958 and parts of four campaigns with the Leafs from 1960 to 1963.
· Happy 66th Birthday to former Toronto Blue Jays reliever Dennis Lamp! As I’ve stated before, the 1985 Blue Jays were the team that made me fall in love with baseball, and Lamp was sensational for that club, going 11-0 with a 3.32 ERA in 53 appearances (one start). In all, Lamp pitched three of his 16 major league campaigns with the Blue Jays. He also toed the rubber for the Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Oakland A’s, Boston Red Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates between 1977 and 1992. The last time I read about Lamp was in this 2011 Los Angeles Times article that reported that Lamp was happily working the seafood counter at a Bristol Farms grocery store in Newport Beach, Calif.
· If you’re a Canadian baseball history buff (like me), mark November 3rd and 4th on your calendar. Crackerjack Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame volunteer and longtime SABR member Andrew North has announced that the third annual Canadian Baseball History Conference will take place in London, Ont., on those dates. This year’s event, which will again be organized by Andrew, with plenty of help from his wife, Elena, will include a tour of Labatt Park, the oldest continuously used baseball grounds in the world, as well as presentations about the Chatham Coloured All-Stars, the formation of the Toronto Blue Jays, Baseball in the Canadian Armed Forces during the Second World War, American Association triple-crown winner and Woodstock, Ont., native Tip O’Neill and the Montreal Royals. For more information and for a complete list of the presentations, you can click on this link. The registration fee is $70. To register, please email Andrew North at mavrix@rogers.com.