Veteran columnist Mark Whicker joins the Canadian Baseball Network.

June 16, 2022

By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

These pages have been graced by some of the best ball scribes in North America.

Like Tracy Ringolsby, of Laramie, Wy. who covered the Los Angeles Angels, Seattle Mariners, Kansas City Royals, Texas Rangers and the Colorado Rockies. He was a beat writer for the Long Beach Independent Press-Telegram (1977-1980), the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (1980-1983), the Kansas City Star-Times (1983-1986), the Dallas Morning News (1986-1991), the Rocky Mountain News (1992-2009) and was a columnist for MLB.com (2014-17.) In his spare time, he helped Allan Simpson (Kelowna, BC) start Baseball America.

Like Claire Smith, of Langhorne, Pa., who covered the New York Yankees (1983-1987) for the Hartford Courant, covered the industry for The New York Times from (1991-1998, and was an editor and columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer (1998-2007).

Both won the Baseball Writers of America Award of Excellence ... Ringolsby in 2005 and Smith in 2017.

And now to our talented staff of self starters like Kevin Glew, Matt Betts and J.P. Antonacci and so many others, we have added the talented Mark Whicker, who should win the same award some day.

Whicker covered the Philadelphia Phillies before moving west and becoming a general columnist for the Orange County Register. He has been regarded by many of his peers as the best columnist in North America. It did not matter if it was a ball diamond, an Olympic event, a hoops court, scribing about what was going on a Super Bowl ... Whicker was a must read.

One year a writer was grumbling about having to stay in Los Angeles for both the National League Championship Series, the World Series, returning home and flying to the coast again for both with the general manager’s meetings and the winter meetings.

Our friend John Lowe was seated nearby. He didn’t say a word until the complaining was over. He looked up and said, “Well, sir the way I look at it ... all the more time to read Mark Whicker’s newspaper.”

Attending Robyn and Mark’s wedding in Camden, NC, I followed the late great Gerry Fraley into a pew. There were small swinging doors on each row. Fraley stoppedd, allowed me to go first covered his face and whispered: “Two minutes for slashing, Elliott … Elliott, slashing, two minutes.”

Ball fans ask me the best night of all the post-seasons I’ve ever been at. To a fan I always answer Jack Morris’ Game 7 scoreless, 10-inning gem in 1991. If a writer asks, I always answer “off day of the 2002 World Series in Anaheim. Patrick Reusse (Minneapolis), Rick Hummel (St. Louis), Phil Rogers (Chicago), Richard Justice (Houston), Ray Ratto (San Francisco) , Bob Dutton (Kansas City) and Ringolsby had mexican food and then told stories for hours.

The next day I jokingly chided Ratto for not contributing enough,because he is a funny man. He replied: “I injured my ribs laughing in the first five minutes.”

Whicker was there in Detroit for the Mo-Town Melt Down in 1987 as the Blue Jays dropped the final seven games of the season.

Whicker is not only quick witted with a Jim Frey-like remark, he is as fast at the keyboard. I returned to the pressbox above Tiger Stadium on the creaky old elevator after Game 162. He was getting on to go back downstairs.

“Forget something?” the dopey Canadian asked.

“Already filed my copy,” said Whicker.

As Serge Touchette, formerly of Le Journal de Montreal would say “That Whicker ... he’s the best. I repeat. The best.”

Whicker was in Cooperstown in 2012 when someone asked when he was flying out? He said he had a flight the next afternoon.

I said, “You’re going to miss the induction of Barry Larkin and the late Ron Santo.”

A friend said, “You dope -- he’s here for you.”

Oh.

The night the Blue Jays won in Atlanta after Otis Nixon attempted to bunt for a base hit with two outs and Mike Timlin threw to first baseman Jumpin’ Joe Carter for the final out, we headed to a downtown to a restaurant called Fitzgerald’s. Over in the corner was a piano. It sat idle for most of the night (and morning).

I returned from a trip to the washroom to hear the strains of “O Canada.”

Ladies and gentlemen that night at the keyboard, tinkling the ivories ... Mark Whicker.

And now ladies and gentlemen coming soon to this website ... Mark Whicker.