July 29, 2023

By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

The thing about cliches, former Montreal Expos manager Felipe Alou used to say, “is that they become cliche because they are usually true.”

And a cliche uttered almost before every spring training in Dunedin and every amateur draft by Toronto Blue Jays scout Wilbur (Moose) Johnson was “don’t forget there will be a surprise, happens every year.”

The surprise for Canadian draft watchers came reading - Jeremy Fraser’s column in the Cape Breton Post, about how the father of the New York Yankees’ third-round pick Kyle Carr, Darcy Carr, was from Sydney, N.S.

That means Kyle can pitch for Canada in the World Baseball Classic since eligibility extends back one generation. The lefty from Palomar College Comets has the exact same standing in the eyes of the WBC as 1B Freddie Freeman, RHP Jameson Taillon and INF Chris Barnwell ... who had either one or both of their parents born in Canada.

“Kyle is half Canadian,” said Darcy from San Marcos, Calif. north of San Diego. “We’ve talked about him pitching for Canada -- if the opportunity arises.”

* * *

Lefty Kyle Carr was selected 97th overall in North America and was one of nine American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings Sports National Pitchers of the Year, along with LHP Matt Wilkinson (White Rock, BC). Wilkinson, an Okotoks Dawgs grad who was at Central Arizona Vaqueros this spring, also earned JUCO pitcher of the year.

After enrolling at the University of San Diego Toreros, being redshirted in 2021 as he underwent Tommy John surgery and pitching only 16 innings in 2022, he transferred to Palomar. The 6-foot-1, 175 pounder “popped” as the scouts say, going 12-1 with a 2.31 ERA in 15 games -- 14 starts -- walking 11 and striking out 111 in 78 innings.

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Darcy claims he was the “biggest Montreal Expos fan” growing up. That title may be disputed, but certainly by no one who had a son go in the third round of the July draft can top him loyalty to Nos Amours.

“I loved Andre Dawson, Gary Carter and Larry Walker (Maple Ridge, BC) and the way they played, but with Raines ... well you never knew what was going to happen,” Darcy said. “He was everything. He came up as a second baseman. You got excited every time he stepped to the batter’s box. He hit for power, he could bunt.

“And when he got on base. He made things happen. I can’t argue with Rickey Henderson being the best lead-off hitter of this generation, but Tim Raines was next.”

Darcy wasn’t kidding about being an Expo fan. He made the two-hour drive north on I-5 turning onto Vin Scully Ave. on Tuesday night when the Toronto Blue Jays visited Dodger Stadium, as the Dodgers won 8-7 in extra innings -- after Toronto led by four in the ninth. One of the Jays’ worst losses of the season.

Darcy wore his Gary Carter All-Star throwback jersey from 1984. That year at Candlestick Park, Carter homered off Dave Stieb of the Toronto Blue Jays and earned MVP honours.

* * *

After attending Sydney Academy, Darcy enrolled in St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, N.S. Darcy was able to work at the NATO Ramstein Air Base base in Ramstein-Miesenbach, Germany since his father was in the forces.

“The Canadian government would pay me, as long as I was enrolled in school,” said Darcy. “I wound up working at the US portion of the base. They’d record my hours working with kids and send them to the Canadian base.”

That’s where Darcy met Carine Nguyen of Vietnam. Carine later moved to France and San Diego. Darcy soon followed to Southern California and the pair were wed for 15 years. Kyle Carr was born May 6, 2002.

Kyle will be the third player of Vietnam heritage to make the majors, if he makes it, joining OF Tommy Pham of the New York Mets and RHP Danny Graves, who pitched for the Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland and the Mets for nine seasons. As for the Canadian count, there have been 263 Canucks in the majors.

Darcy had wanted to name his son after Isiah Thomas a fave, but decided “Kyle Carr” sounded Irish. Kyle has a sister -- Sydney -- named after his father’s hometown.

Taking a hiatus from teaching, Darcy worked as a salesman for Velocity Sports, which helps get football players ready for the NFL combine.

And a few years later, Darcy was running a travel ball organization -- 10U, 9U and 8U. Of course, he named it the Prime Time Expos. Darcy was the GM of the organization while Courtney Whillock was the manager the travel ball team.

Darcy’s batting cages also saw Morgan Ensberg, then of the New York Yankees often take his hacks at the Carr cages. Future No. 1 overall pick Bryce Harper passed through town with his travel ball team in 2009, after he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated with the headline:

Bryce Harper -- “Baseball’s Chosen One.”

Harper signed a copy of SI for Darcy, so Darcy let Harper’s team hit free.

Yankees assistant scouting director Mitch Colahan shakes hands with Kyle Carr

* * *

When did Darcy know ... we mean really know, how good his son Kyle was?

At the time Kyle was 11 and playing for the best travel team in the area, the San Diego Show. He was also playing Little League.

“He pitched the first inning of his Little League game left-handed and was over powering, striking out the side,” Darcy said. “He came out for the second and pitched right-handed. He walked a man, but struck out the side again.”

Kyle’s first major-league game was at Olympic Stadium in August of 2004, with Roger Clemens on the mound for the Houston Astros.

“Kyle was real young, just a little guy, Youppi scared the heck out of him,” Darcy said. “Then Kyle wanted to attack him.”

Little did the father-and-son Carr combo realize that they were seeing history. Expos starter Jon Rauch, later a reliever with the Blue Jays, had 24 at-bats in his 11-year career and had one homer ... and he hit it to right field off Clemens that night. A two-run homer in the bottom of the second. Two pitches later Brad Wilkerson went deep to right for a 4-0 lead.

Yet, the Expos trailed 5-4 in the bottom of the 12th with two out. Alex Gonzalez homered off reliever Chad Harville and two walks after that, Terrmel Sledge singled home the walk-off winner.

Darcy said he used to buy jerseys for his son, but Kyle was “so humble he never asked for one,” until he inquired for a real jersey of speedster Dee Gordon. He became an admirer of Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels as well.

It was a long road to the third round. Only 16 innings in two years and a lonely rehab with the Toreros. He committed to pitch for the TCU Horned Frogs next spring, but the Yankees, and scout Troy Afenir, changed his mind.

Darcy said he was not thinking his son would pitch pro ball after watching him in his first year at USD when the red-shirt freshman recorded the final out against Gonzaga, allowing USD to win the West Coast conference for the first time in nine years.

At Palomar, however, all the scouts from all the teams began to show. Area scouts. Cross checkers. Assistant scouting directors. Scouting directors.

The San Diego Padres were not Kyle’s favourite team, rather it was Yankees. His father remembers: “In Kyle’s freshman year, he told me he thought he’d get drafted by the Yankees.”

“A St. Louis Cardinal scout said, ‘If he’s throwing his 97 mph with command and is one of the best athletes, there is no point in him going to TCU,’” said Darcy, who had the Cards pegged to choose his son in either the fourth or fifth round.

“I knew that there was interest and had hoped it would be the Cardinals,” said Darcy, who added the Yankees were at every single start, “but we never heard word one from them.”

That’s the way Yankees scouting director Damon Oppenheimer runs his operation … like a submarine … running silent and running deep.

Darcy said his brother, Raymond, is a border cop at Niagara Falls and a big-time Boston Red Sox fan.

Raymond told his brother: “Now Kyle is with the Yankees, I don’t know what to do.”

Darcy replied “Wait until you see him in pinstripes ... you’ll know who to cheer for.”

In all his years on this third rock from the sun, Darcy guesses he has cried three times over sports: “when Rick Monday homered off Steve Rogers in the deciding game of 1981, when my Montreal Expos were taken away (2004) and Wayne Gretzky’s last game (1999).”

“When Kyle was drafted on that Monday, it was all celebration and excitement and phone calls,” Darcy said. “Later that night when it sank in that Kyle had his dream happen, I cried talking to family and old friends.”

We think Darcy hearing his son’s name called on the draft conference call can be described as happy tears.