Elliott's 9 innings: Anderson, Bronfman, Clapp. Eliopoulos, Garr, Heather
Former Montreal Expos owner Charles Bronfman bought gloves for his offspring in Waterloo.
By Bob Elliott
Canadian Baseball Network
There are nine innings in most games. We’re going to try going through a game one inning at a time.
Singing our national anthem is country singer Jordan Gibbons, daughter of the former Blue Jays manager, who has been flown in at great expense:
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First inning:
Ed Heather has as almost many stories as Charles Bronfman has dollars.
And this piece involves both.
Heather, a baseball and hockey lifer, is the teller of the story. Bronfman, former owner of the Montreal Expos, holds the starring role in this story.
As owner of Seagram’s Distillery, Bronfman often flew from Montreal to Toronto. And sometimes he headed on to Waterloo for board meetings. Merle (Champ) Glassford, personnel manager for Seagram, would pick up Bronfman at Lester Pearson and drive his boss to the meeting.
One day in the 1970’s Bronfman and Glassford were making the drive from the airport, Bronfman asked Glassford, a rather odd question: “Did Glassford know a sports store where he could buy a pair of ball gloves for his grandchildren?”
Glassford, who ran the Waterloo Expos team, asked Bronfman, “Why not go into the Expos clubhouse?” Bronfman explained that there were only Rawlings and Wilson mitts there. His offspring wanted Canadian-made Cooper gloves.
Arriving at Heather’s Team Sports and Trophies Waterloo store, Glassford introduced Bronfman to Joe Siopiolosz, who was working the counter than day.
Heather wasn’t there but he has heard the story from Siopiolosz and Glassford. Bronfman went to the cork board, picked out a couple of gloves and then headed to the counter to pay.
Bronfman gave Siopiolosz his credit card. Now, this was before the days of tapping or punching in passwords. Siopiolosz picked up the phone, as was the norm back then. Calls had to be made in that era for credit card authorization.
Except, Siopiolosz had not noticed the name on the card, was checking to see if Bronfman, the richest owner in baseball, could afford two children’s mitts.
“Champ was behind Mr. Bronfman shaking his head back and forth signalling no, no no,” said Heather winner of driver of the year award in 2019 (male division). “And he was silently mouthing “Bronf-MAN, Char-les Bronf-MAN!”
As the message clicked in, Siopiolosz put down the down and apologized to Bronfman, three or four times to the Expos owner.
Bronfman replied, “Joe you did the right thing, I run my business the same way. I’m no better than any other customer when it comes to credit.”
But maybe he is.
We remember walking into his box at Olympic Stadium when he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1981. He had bought the Montreal Alouettes months after paying $1 and assuming millions of debt.
When our questions were over the legendary scribe J.P. Sarault asked, “Charles why buy a football team? You don’t even like football?”
Bronfman took a tug on his pipe, shrugged his shoulders and said, “Maybe that’s why they put those things around my neck.”
And the Blue Jays recognized how important Charles Bronfman was to baseball in Canada giving him the honour of throwing out the first pitch first the first World Series game played outside of the United State in 1992.
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Second inning
This maybe should have been have been in first inning since it involves a leadoff hitter.
One night Chicago White Sox lead-off man Ralph Garr struck out against Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan of the Anaheim Angels on three fastballs. Garr didn’t take the bat off his shoulder once.
Returning to the dugout, some one asked the usual question asked of leadoff hitters: “What’s he got tonight?”
Garr put his unused bat in the rack and in his high-pitched voice told the rest of the dugout, “What’s he got? THIS ONE IS OVER! OVER!”
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Third inning
We’re told that the Montreal Expos will have company for vying for an expansion franchise when this virus ends. We’re told a Nashville group has former Boston Red Sox president, Hall of Famer Tony La Russa and ex Blue Jays Dave Stewart working towards landing am expansion club.
And ditto for Portland with its NIKE dough.
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Fourth inning
One scout’s opinion of Blue Jays RHP Chase Anderson
“He is interesting, I mean really interesting. People will really like the way he competes. He has great stuff -- just not every day. His change is outstanding. I understand how it is a split camp on him amongst the scouts.
“But every time I see him? He is lights out. He should pay me to be there.”
Anderson was 8-4 with a 4.21 ERA in 32 games -- making 27 starts -- for the Milwaukee Brewers last season. He walked 50 and struck out 124 in 139 innings.
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Fifth inning
When it comes to the Ole Miss Rebels program, one of the all-time, all-timers was Stephen Head.
He was fifth on the all-time career home run list (37) and second on the all-time career saves list (26) as a hard-throwing lefty closer. Talk about a dual threat.
And after being a second round pick of the Cleveland Indians in 2005, he scouts for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Based in Anna. Ill., he has a huge area to cover.
“My territory starts down South with Louisiana and Mississippi and then funnels wider through the Midwest and I have all of Canada,” Head told Ole Miss Spirit. “I get to go to some cool places looking for prospects.
“In Canada, the best ball is near the larger cities in the East and the West – not much in the middle of the country, but there are good ball players there. They play a good brand of baseball and that country has produced more major leaguers than people may think.”
That may have been true when Head made the comment, but cutting the draft from 40 rounds to five hurts Canuck players. In the previous eight years an average of 21 Canadians were drafted, including 10 for six figures.
The list: INF Edouard Julien (Quebec City, Que.) Auburn $493,000 Twins; RHP RJ Freure (Burlington, Ont.) Pitt University $345,800, Astros; INF TJ Schofield-Sam (Brampton, Ont.) Ontario Blue Jays $320,000 A’s; OF Jacob Robson (Windsor, Ont.) Mississippi State, $181,000 Tigers; INF Daniel Pinero (Toronto, Ont.) Virginia $169,000, Tigers; LHP Erik Sabrowski (Edmonton, Alta.) Cloud County $125,000 Padres; RHP Michael Brettell (Fonthill, Ont.) Central Michigan $125,000; Cardinals; INF LaRon Smith (Spruce Grove, Alta.) Okotoks Dawgs, $125,000, Twins and RHP Jordan Scheftz, (North York, Ont.) Central Florida, Indians, $100,000.
Now if not drafted in the first five rounds the max a club can give a free-agent player is $20,000. Next season there is the talk the draft will move to 20 rounds.
Blue Jays 52nd round pick Woody Woodward, now the manager of the Texas Rangers, wouldn’t have stood a chance this June.
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Sixth inning
Movies, movies . . . Saw an add for Brewster’s Millions starring Richard Pryor the other day. One of the great nicknames of all time was when Shawn Green dropped “Brewster” on free agent sign Joey Hamilton to a three-year $17 million extension. In the movie Pryor plays the part of a ball player who inherits a $30 million. Yet if he can spent it all in 30 days he gains $300 million.
Watching Mission Impossible we saw Tom Cruise do a Stubby Clapp (Windsor, Ont.) back flip. Hopefully Cruise has permission from Clapp to use the move.
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Seventh inning
Is there is a better man on earth than Jim Eliopoulos? If there is, we have not met him.
It was 11 years ago this week his son LHP Jake Eliopoulos was selected 68th over all in North America by the Blue Jays. The Jays signed first round pick RHP Chad Jenkins, but they did not sign neither LHP James Paxton (Ladner, BC), 37th overall nor Eliopoulos.
Jake died April 29, 2013 without throwing a pitch in pro ball. This is Jimmy’s eighth year fundraising and participating in the Canadian Mental Health Association York Region’s Mental Health in Motion bike, run, walk event scheduled for June 14 at Upper Canada Mall in Newmarket.
The event has been cancelled but donations are still being accepted and continue to be very much needed. Jim has decided not to actively fundraise this year given the current world situation. However, Jim still will, pedal his butt off on his stationary bike in honour of his son Jake.
However, many people have reached out to him and Jim wants to continue his support for the Mobile Walk In Clinic. Ontario’s only group that supports youth with their mental and physical health needs, something different than Mental Health Services.
People have asked about donating and Jim, who would not last half an hour as a door-to-door salesman -- the man is that pushy -- decided to gently ask people to consider making a donation considering times like these, when more youth are feeling scared, isolated and disconnected.
If you can, please make a tax deductible gift on this fundraising page .
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Eighth inning
The coronavirus (COVID-19) has affected everything from airlines to stores to restaurants to major sports to the Canadian-US border and to the tone of TV commercials.
(Our fave soothing voice is Peter Mansbridge #OurWalterCronkite.)
It has hit university sports programs as well.
We have heard of college coaches taking anywhere from a 10-to-20% pay cut. We have heard of one athletic director saying “if we don’t play football in the fall, we’ll have another meeting.”
The Furman Paladins, a Southern Conference school which began with 15 wins in 18 games, dropped baseball. And so did the Bowling Green State Falcons. However, Bowling Green State now will continue. Its program has been reinstated after baseball alumni and donors committed to $1.5 million over the next three years to fund the program.
Last spring the Falcons dropped 11 of their first 13 games with OF Jake Wilson, (New Lowell, Ont.) and INF Ryan Johnston (Oakville, Ont.) on the roster. Wilson led the Falcons with a .288 average with two doubles, a triple and three RBIs. He had a .704 OPS in 13 games.
Johnston hit .194 with a home run and five RBIs. He had a .596 OPS in 10 games.
After the program was cancelled, Wilson transferred to the Liberty Flames for next season.
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Ninth inning
Watching Blue Jays replays World Series games in 1992-93 was enjoyable. Same for the exciting post-seasons of 2015-16.
Yet, when now that we are into regular season ... like Game 48 vs. Seattle or Game 112 playing a sad sack Detroit Tigers?
Well, not to ruin an ending but the Jays you see on TV these days -- and their winning pace -- will not be the same when the Jays return.