January 15, 2024

By Kevin Glew

Canadian Baseball Network

Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi was presented with Baseball Canada’s Bob Elliott Media Recognition Award on Saturday.

Davidi has covered baseball for more than 23 years, and he’s not only a topnotch professional baseball writer and analyst, but he has always made time to cover the national team and its program.

Davidi and Elliott are the only two Canadian reporters to have covered all five World Baseball Classics.

Baseball Canada bio of Shi Davidi:

Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi is one of the most respected and influential baseball writers in the industry who’s become a must-read baseball insider for baseball fans in Canada and throughout the globe.

A graduate of Toronto Metropolitan University’s (formerly Ryerson University) Journalism Program, Davidi established himself in the sports journalism industry with the Canadian Press, while also contributing to the Canadian Baseball Network, before moving on to Sportsnet where he’s been an MLB insider, columnist, and TV analyst since 2011.

Davidi’s career has extended beyond the baseball field where he’s covered Olympic Games, Stanley Cup and NBA Finals along with the Grey Cup. He has also penned two books centered around the Toronto Blue Jays, Great Expectations (along with John Lott) in 2013 and The Big 50: Toronto Blue Jays in 2021.

Away from the baseball field, Davidi is an instructor at Centennial College’s Sports Journalism program in Toronto and just finished a one-year term as president of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) where he also serves as chairman of the Toronto Chapter.

Beyond his regular MLB and Blue Jays duties, Davidi has also found time to provide consistent coverage of Baseball Canada and its three national teams while also using his platform to share Canadian baseball stories around the MLB draft, Canadian minor leaguers and Women’s National Teams coaches and athletes.

In March 2023, Davidi was in Arizona at Team Canada’s training camp and the first round of the World Baseball Classic where he provided wall-to-wall coverage of the national team for Sportsnet.

Bob Elliott, the person behind the name of this award, had this to say about Davidi: “Not only was Shi the fourth Canadian president of the BBWAA as well as being head of the Toronto chapter -- in a very busy 2023, administrative-wise -- he managed to not miss a beat covering ball for Sportsnet whether it was Team Canada in the WBC, the Toronto Blue Jays or Canadians being drafted. And in his spare time he provided insight on TV as well."