October 21, 2023

By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

There are the expected pockets in Canada rooting for the Philadelphia Phillies and sitting on the edge of their seats in the late innings.

They are with manager Robbie Thomson of course, whether they be in his hometown (Corunna, Ont.), or where he played (Stratford and Sarnia, Ont.) or where he lives now (Sebringville, Ont.)

There are other pockets across the country rooting for the Phils ... like the homes of his 1984 Team Canada Olympic teammates and club executives ...

Henry Andrulis (Etobicoke, Ont.), Mike Carnegie (Etobicoke, Ont.), Jim Eliopoulos (Toronto, Ont.), Larry Downes (Niagara-on-The-Lake, Ont.), Mike Gardiner (Sarnia, Ont.), Joe Heeney (Etobicoke, Ont.), Rod Heisler (Moose Jaw, Sask.), Scott Mann (Oshawa, Ont.), Bill McKenzie (Ottawa, Ont.) Eric McKenzie (Courtright, Ont.), Doug McPhail (Brandon, Man.), Brian McRobie (Brockville, Ont.), Tom Nelson (Windsor, Ont.), Craig Wilson (Sarnia, Ont.), Mark Wooden (Windsor, Ont.) and other places.

There is another spot, a spot known for producing John Axford (Port Dover, Ont.).

“I’m more Canadian than anyone else in uniform,” said Dusty Wathan, now the Philadelphia Phillies third base coach.

Wathan told us this at the 2015 Futures Game when nary a single Canadian minor leaguer -- not RHP Nick Pivetta (Victoria, BC) then with the Washington Nationals system, OF Dalton Pompey (Mississauga, Ont.) of the Blue Jays, LHP Evan Grills (Whitby, Ont.) Houston Astros or 3B Eric Wood (Pickering, Ont.) Pittsburgh Pirates -- was selected to compete.

Wathan met Heidi Stahl (Port Dover, Ont.) teaching in Palmdale, Calif., in 1996 when he was playing at Lancaster in the class-A California League. Wathan was a member of the Seattle Mariners farm system and that year he batted .260 with 10 doubles, eight homers, 40 RBIs and a .751 OPS in 74 games.

“There was a shortage of teaching jobs in Canada I guess and the board supervisor was Canadian, so they staged a job fair in Toronto and Heidi was one of the 30 hired,” Wathan said.

The next year Wathan, son of former Kansas City Royals John Wathan (14 tears in the majors, plus five as a manager), was promoted to double-A Memphis, but their love continued to bloom.

“Every year we would go north for Christmas to visit with Ozzie Stahl, my father-in-law,” said Wathan, “home ... to where John Axford is a real big deal.”

The Wathans have four children: Elle, Huck, Maeve and Gus.

“Funny story, when our oldest daughter was in Grade 1, the school phoned to say ‘you have to come in for an interview, your daughter has a speech impediment.’ My wife shows and the teacher says ‘instead of your daughter saying about, she says ‘aboot.’ My wife started to talk and the teacher said ‘oh, you’re Canadian ... never mind.’”

The Wathans now live in Charlotte, N.C., and Huck competed at the Field of Dreams Park in Cooperstown, N.Y., in 2015 where his team went 8-1 to finish fifth in the 105-team field.

“Hit four homers,” said proud papa.

The big question is ... is he Canadian?

“All my kids have dual citizenship,” said Wathan.

So, Huck is eligible for World Baseball Classic play. In 2022 he caught 15 games for the University of North Carolina-Charlotte ‘49ers and last spring played in only game. He spent this summer playing 16 games with the Anchorage Glacier Pilots in the Alaskan summer college league.

* * *

Dusty Wathan received plenty of attention from Phillies fans just the way John McLaren did when he manned the third base coach’s job when the Toronto Blue Jays promoted Jimy Williams to manager.

Philadelphia won Game 1 of the NL Wild Card series against the Miami Marlins, eyes were on Wathan.

In the eighth Bryce Harper was on first when Nick Castellanos doubled into the left-field corner. Wathan put up the stop sign, but Harper ran the red light and scored an insurance run on the way to a 4-1 Game 1 victory.

Earlier in the fourth, Bryson Stott singled to centre with Nick Castellanos on second and J.T. Realmuto on third. While Realmuto scored Castellanos was gunned down by CF Jazz Chisholm.

And with runners on second and third base, none out in the first, Alec Bohm lined a ball to right. Marlins RF Jesús Sánchez made the catch as Kyle Schwarber tagged at third. Wathan put up the stop sign. The Phils failed to score.

After winning the first two games at home against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL Championship Series, the Phillies dropped two one-run games in the desert before rebounding for a 6-1 win in Game 5 of the best-of-seven series on Saturday night at Chase Field.

Wathan hopes to have a sore arm by the time it’s all over ... from waving runners home.

* * *

Looking back on 2015 ... some of the best young Canucks OF Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, BC) at class-A Bakersfield, C Kellin Deglan (Langley, BC) class-A High Desert, SS Sean Jamieson (Simcoe, Ont.) double-A Mobile, RHP Jared Mortensen (Abbotsford, BC) double-A Montgomery, LHP Evan Rutckyj (Windsor, Ont.) class-A Tampa and LHP Shane Dawson (Drayton Valley, Alta.) class-A Lansing, were all booked. They committed to play for Canada and won gold at the Pan Am Games in Ajax, Ont.