October 14, 2023

By Kevin Glew

Canadian Baseball Network

It will be a battle between two Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inductees in the National League Championship Series.

Rob Thomson (Corunna, Ont.), a 2019 inductee, will manage his Philadelphia Phillies against the surprising Arizona Diamondbacks, who employ 2001 inductee Dave McKay (Vancouver, B.C.) as their first base coach.

This will be the second consecutive NLCS appearance for Thomson as Phillies manager, but he has five World Series rings from his days as a coach with the New York Yankees.

McKay is vying to become the first Canadian coach to reach the World Series with three different major league teams. He has World Series rings from his coaching tenures with the Oakland A’s (1989) and St. Louis Cardinals (2006, 2011).

So while there are no Canuck players left in this year’s post-season, there are definitely some Canadian connections to watch out for as the League Championship Series get ready to begin.

Here’s a summary:

1. Philadelphia Phillies

In 2022, Thomson (Corunna, Ont.) became the first Canadian skipper to manage a team in the big league post-season since Bill Watkins (Brantford, Ont.) led the National League’s Detroit Wolverines to a World Series title in 1887. Thomson led the Phillies to a National League pennant last season but they lost to the Houston Astros in the World Series.

The Canuck skipper guided the Phils to a 90-72 record during the regular season, a two-game sweep over the Miami Marlins in their Wild-Card series and another upset win over the Atlanta Braves in their National League Division Series.

Thomson has no shortage of post-season experience on his resume. During his close to three decades as a coach in the New York Yankees’ organization, he earned five World Series rings and was the Bombers’ third base coach on their most recent World Series-winning squad in 2009. He was also a bench coach on multiple Yankees squads that advanced to the post-season.

Thompson will continue to share his post-season wisdom with his players, but if they’re looking for further inspiration, perhaps they can call former general manager and now senior advisor and part-owner, Pat Gillick, down for a pep talk. He has three World Series rings - two with the Toronto Blue Jays (1992-93) and one with the Phils (2008) - on his Hall of Fame resume.

Major league manager: Rob Thomson (Corunna, Ont.)

Executive: Pat Gillick (Canadian citizen), senior advisor and part-owner

Minor league players: C Ryan Leitch (Whitby, Ont.), INF/OF Ty Penner (Lethbridge, Alta.), LHP Wesley Moore (Surrey, B.C.), INF Anthony Quirion (Dixville, Que.), RHP Noah Skirrow (Cambridge, Ont.),

Scout: Alex Agostino (St-Bruno, Que.), Les McTavish (Stettler, Alta.)

Cousins in Canada: Liz Castellanos (Hamilton, Ont.), cousin of Phillies’ slugger Nick Castellanos

2. Arizona Diamondbacks

This is the Arizona Diamondbacks’ fourth trip to the post-season since Jeffrey Royer (Toronto, Ont.) became a general partner with the club in 2004 and with their sweeps of the Milwaukee Brewers and the Los Angeles Dodgers, the D-Backs have won their first two post-season series while Royer has been involved. The D-Backs will now face the Phillies in the National League Championship Series that begins on Monday. A hugely successful businessman, Royer is a private investor with interests in telecommunications, medical device manufacturing, professional sports and real estate.

Royer, who was at the Rogers Centre during the D-Backs series against the Blue Jays in mid-July, is one of two Canadians to co-own a major league club. Jeff Mallett (Victoria, B.C.) is part-owner of the San Francisco Giants.

As noted earlier, McKay (Vancouver, B.C.) is the D-Backs first base coach. McKay is the only Canadian to coach for three different major league teams in the post-season. He was a coach with the Oakland A’s (1986 to 1996) and St. Louis Cardinals (1996 to 2011) before joining the D-Backs in 2014.He has World Series rings from his tenures with the A’s (1989) and Cardinals (2006, 2011).

Major League Coach: Dave McKay (Vancouver, B.C.), first base coach

General Partner: Jeffrey Royer (Toronto, Ont.)

Minor league players: C Gavin Logan (Medicine Hat, Alta.), RHP Eli Saul (Vancouver, B.C.)

Scout: Jason Chatwood (Innisfail, Alta.)

3. Texas Rangers

Prior to this year, the last time the Texas Rangers advanced to the post-season was in 2016 when they were swept in the American League Division Series by the Toronto Blue Jays on Josh Donaldson’s walk-off “mad dash” to home plate in the 10th inning in Game 3 at Rogers Centre.

Seven years later, they seem to be on a mission. Managed by veteran Bruce Bochy, the Rangers have swept both of their heavily favored American League East opponents - the Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles. They will now face the defending World Series champion Houston Astros in the American League Championship Series set to begin on Sunday.

The Rangers don’t have any Canadians on their big league roster, but they seem to be stockpiling Canuck catchers and left-handers for the future (See below).

Minor league players: LHP Mitch Bratt (Newmarket, Ont.), C Liam Hicks (Toronto, Ont.), LHP Thomas Ireland (Regina, Sask.), C Konner Piotto (Abbotsford, B.C.), C Jordan Procyshen (Calgary, Alta.)

Minor league staff: Ryan Bench (Fonthill, Ont.), lab intern, Texas Rangers Arizona Performance Center

4. Houston Astros

Forty-three years ago, Melville, Sask., native Terry Puhl set a then National League Championship Series record with 10 hits in 19 at bats (.526 batting average) in the Astros’ epic five-game series against the Phillies. Until Abraham Toro (Longueuil, Que.) had a pinch-hit at bat in the 2020 American League Championship Series, Puhl was the last Canadian to appear in a post-season game with the Astros.

There will not be a Canuck on the Astros’ post-season roster this season, but rest assured that Puhl, one of the team’s most recent Hall of Famers who still lives in the area, will be at Minute Maid Park cheering on his old club.

Scout: Jim Stevenson (Leaside, Ont.)