*John Lott, one of Canada’s best and most respected baseball writers, has announced that he is retiring. To honour him, we wanted to re-run this article that Canadian Baseball Network editor-in-chief Bob Elliott wrote about him in November 2018.*

By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

What would be the total number of baseball stories I have read on Canadian ball players since I started reading about Fergie Jenkins in 1966?

Would it be 20,000? Or 50,000?

More?

We’re unsure of that total,

We are 100% sure of the No. 1 best, all-time read.

The most researched, well-written piece about a Canadian was a series about the Zimmerman family. It was the kind of story you read once, you wipe your eyes and read again because often times the laptop get blurry. It was as writers often say “I wish I had written that.”

It was written about Texas Rangers reliever Jeff Zimmerman, his brother Jordan Zimmerman of the Seattle Mariners bullpen, the night they pitched against each other and yes, their father Bill Zimmerman.

Bill was seriously ill but bounced back with that strong western Canada will. Finally, doctors allowed him to travel and Bill was there Friday, July 2, 1999 at The Ballpark in Arlington. The series was written by Mr. John Lott for his TruNorth Baseball website, which no longer exists.

Mr. Lott, who now writes for The Athletic, was honoured with the George Gross-Don Goodwin sportswriting award at the 23rd annual Sports Media Canada awards luncheon staged at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel’s Imperial Room. The awards were named after Gross, former Toronto Sun sports editor, and Goodwin, former head of CBC sports.

Greg Stremlaw, head of CBC Sports, was there, as were Tennis Canada officials since it was Goodwin’s favorite sport. The Athletic had a table with the likes of Eric Koreen, Sunaya Sapurji and Sean Fitz-Gerald. Columnist Steve Simmons represented the Toronto Sun/National Post.

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CBC’s Scott Oake (Winnipeg, Man.) won the Gross-Goodwin award for broadcasting and Leah Hennnel (Calgary, Alta.) won for photography. Karen O’Neill (Ottawa, Ont.) chief executive officer of the Canadian Paralympic Committee, won the G-G sports executive of the year, while former Blue Jays broadcaster Jerry Howarth (Etobicoke, Ont.) was presented the Gross-Goodwin career achievement honour by his son Joe.

James Christie (Toronto, Ont.) and Gilles Tremblay (Montreal, Que.) were added to the Sports Media Canada honour roll.

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As always Howarth spoke well. Howarth, along with his partner Tom Cheek, were awarded the Sports Media Canada award for achievement in broadcasting both in 2003. And he was honoured again individually in 2016.

“I go back to a spring training years ago when I introduced myself to first round pick Aaron Hill at the batting cage, introduced myself as a Blue Jays radio broadcaster and said, ‘Welcome to Dunedin,’” Howarth said. “Aaron looked at me and said ‘Jerry ... it’s an honour to put on this uniform.’ I never forgot that because as we became friends he honoured that statement for the rest of his career. And I am honoured to be here today.”

Howarth was presented the Jack Graney Award for lifetime contributions to baseball in Canada by the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2012.

“When I think about a lifetime achievement award now I think about my own lifetime,” Howarth said. “For 37 of my 72 years I have lived in Toronto as opposed to 35 to the Bay Area, Washington and Utah. If someone had told me years ago I would spent more time in Canada than in the USA, I would say no way.”

Everyone has asked about his wife of 47 years, Saint Mary and wondering how she is handling life with a broadcaster under foot since Howarth retired in February. How is Saint Mary handling having her husband around all the time on the longest home stand of his career?

Howarth deadpanned, “Well, three months ago she moved to Michigan and is as happy as she has ever been.”

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Am not exactly sure how old Mr. Lott is, but the way he grasped the multi-platforms -- writing, tweeting, taking photos (the kind you remember ... not the slide into second or the hitter in the batter’s box) and some speaking engagements -- would embarrass an energetic 22-year-old, six weeks after grad. The only diving platform Mr. Lott decided to dodge were TV cameras. He did not want to be the story. He wanted to report on the story.

Now, if Hall of Famer Bobby Cox was still around the Blue Jays clubhouse he would say about Mr. Lott “For me ... he can write,” similar to what Cox used to say about players from to Dave Winfield, to George Bell, to Don Mattingly “For me ... he can play.”

I know that the TruNorth site/Zimmerman story no longer exists because I have tried dozens of searches on the Google machine, the Way Back Machine, the Texas Rangers and the Zimmermans to find it and batted a lusty .000.

Yet there are plenty of amateur sandlot people who quote chapter and verse. Some background:

The Zimmerman family split time between Kelowna, BC and Carlesland, Alta. Father Bill thought his sons would get more exposure pitching in Texas.

Jordan went to high school in Brenham Tex. and was drafted in the 32nd round of 1993 by the Los Angeles Dodgers. He didn’t sign and was selected in the same round by the Seattle Mariners the next year. He didn’t sign, went to Blinn Jr. College, blossomed and signed for a $300,000 US bonus with Seattle. This was in the days when clubs held a player’s rights for 50 weeks after the draft.

Jeff was undrafted as a high schooler at John Diefenbaker High in Calgary. He went to Indian Hills Community College in Iowa and went undrafted. He transferred to Treasure Valley Community College in Oregon and was not drafted. He was recruited by the TCU Horned Frogs and again was undrafted.

Greg Hamilton read the story. He lived the story. Jordan pitched for the Canadian senior team in 1994. Jeff went to France to pitch for the Montpellier Barracudas and coach Greg Hamilton (Peterborough, Ont.). And I recall Jeff telling me how his career turned.

“I was the Nolan Ryan of France, learning the slider,” he told me. “I’d throw three sliders in a row. If I was 3-0 I could still come back and strikeout a hitter with fastballs.”

Mr. Lott’s wonderfully written article captured the human spirit, the impact a father had on both of his sons. At times Bill Zimmerman was fighting politics and then he was fighting for his life.

The odds against a Canadian making the majors are high. The odds of two Canadian siblings making it are even higher. Still, the odds of Bill making it out of hospital to be there to see one son pitch against each the other would be the longest of any scenario we have mentioned.

“John’s story captured the essence of a family and the relationships between the father and sons,” said Hamilton. “The father fought so hard, any father would feel the same and fight for his sons. The article captured the human spirit, commitment and accomplishments.”

The Blue Jays sent veteran scout Wayne Morgan to Europe to scout for talent. He visited Montpellier to see a local player and Hamilton asked Morgan to take a look at Jeff Zimmerman too. Morgan left without signing either.

After a year with the Winnipeg Goldeyes of the independent Northern League, the Rangers signed Zimmerman.

Hamilton was talking to the people inside the SkyDome, when a voice said, “Hold on someone wants to ask you something.”

Morgan asked, “Hey that Zimmerman kid who is knocking them dead at (double-A) Tulsa ... that’s not the same kid we worked out in France .... is it?”

The Jays could have signed Jeff Zimmerman for a bunch of baguettes from a Montpellier boulanger. Instead, the Rangers purchased his contract from Winnipeg and within two years he was in the 1999 all-star game at Fenway Park.

In his element: Mr. John Lott at spring training in Dunedin. Photo: John Iaboni.

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Reviews on Mr. Lott: Former manager John Gibbons: “He came to San Antonio working on his book. That’s when I really got to know him and admire him. He always wants to make sure he gets things right, thus the asking ‘So what you are saying is ...’”

Former Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos, current Atalnta Braves GM: “John ‘So what you’re saying is ...” Lott. Not sure I have anything that jumps out.”

Free-agent JA Happ: “John is an excellent writer who is well respected in the clubhouse. He always looked deeper to find unique stories and angles on some of the often overlooked nuances of the game.”

Pat Hentgen, former Cy Young award winner: “He was always extremely nice, honest and always said hi. I remember him and his camera !! Camera man.”

Legenndary Mike Rutsey, former Toronto Sun scribe and companion of Mr. Lott’s: “As a reporter, i aways thought of John as real district attorney. I often refer to him as the Hamilton Berger of the presscorp.”

Mike Cormack: managing editor, Sportsnet.ca: “As I was telling John, it’s been quite the trip for me -- a former student of his who attended his RETIREMENT party in 2004 -- to not only watch him up close for a couple of years as he plied his post-school trade on the Jays beat, but see him rise to such a place of prominence and respect in the working industry. It’s pretty incredible and I’m really happy to see him recognized for it.”

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Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi introduced Mr. Lott and told how they first met. Davidi was working the desk at The Canadian Press when Mr. Lott, as a freelancer, filed his Blue Jays game story as soon as the final pitch ended. When Mr. Lott re-filed his piece with quotes Davidi explained politely that Mr. Lott’s first story was not really what they were looking for at the news service.

Then, the more and more he read Mr. Lott in The National Post the more “sheepish” Davidi felt.

Davidi explained how Lindy Oughtred, a longtime colleague of Mr. Lott’s at Centennial College, where he taught, used to say Mr. Lott had “The look of an eagle on the hunt.”

Former skipper John Gibbons and Mr. Lott got into it during one session during Gibbons’ first session and Gibbons dropped a Judge Wapner on Mr. Lott.

Most of you have never been inside a clubhouse, or the Excuse Room as Scott Young used to call it. There is a lot of double speak, babble, a ton of cliches and very few straight answers. Especially since Mark Buerhle, Paul Molitor and Dave Stewart left.

Like the starter who would go 6 2/3 scoreless -- in the old days -- and then say “I thought I pitched good.” Really?

Mr. Lott did not dance.

So, he would tilt his head to right and say “So are you saying that ...” Think of a lawyer grilling a hostile witness. Politely. Mr. Lott was always polite except for one afternoon he had his tape recorder (or maybe it was his camera) attached to an extension and a TV camera man kept bumping him out of the way.

It was interesting to see rookies go under Mr. Lott’s white lamp, stolen from the station house where Car 54 was housed. Veteran players knew that they had to be more expansive with their answers.

Remember Peter Falk as Lieutenant Columbo? Lott either wrote six seasons of the show or was his Columbo’s mentor at detective school.

Mr. Lott explained when John Iaboni phoned him to give him the news, the award winner thought “someone had handed him the wrong envelope.” Mr. Lott’s career, he explained came to an end when he swung at a curve ball ... and the pitch hit him in the stomach.

Missed it by that much.

Mr. Lott spent 20 years teaching journalism at Centennial and then heading to writing. He did it backward. When I worked in Ottawa, the majority of the journalism profs were ex workers at the Ottawa Journal or the Ottawa Citizen.

Mr. Lott explained how he has always been interested in the human condition, “what makes people tick,” and he said while sports is far away from the hot-button issues that dominate Page 1, people in sports should continue to concentrate on issues like “The steroid epidemic among Latin American players and wife abuse.”

He thanked Davidi. He thanked his late wife Nancy, “the smartest person I’ve ever known. She was a teacher and taught me how to teach.” They used to read the newspaper and discuss the news.

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Twas another great luncheon run by John Iaboni (Toronto, Ont.) and Dr. Steve McAllister (Prescott, Ont.) with Evanka Osmak keeping things moving along as the MC.

The legendary Dick Bradbeer, plus Matt Devlin, Paul Hendrick, Ralph Mellanby, Fay Olson, Doug Philpott, Dan Pino, Elaine Sherwood, Jim Van Horne, Fred Walker and George Gross, Jr. put the luncheon together.

Elizabeth Goodwin spoke, while John Iaboni read prepared remarks of Elizabeth Gross to the crowd of 240.

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My first week working full time as a teenager my boss overheard me saying into the phone: “Thanks very much Mr. Jones (or whomever).”

My boss told me, “Stop that right now ... if you call people Mr. They won’t respect you in this business. When you meet Harmon Killebrew and Frank Howard, then you can call them Mister.”

I have met Hall of Famer Killebrew and Howard a few times each. Before his passing Killebrew was called the nicest man in Cooperstown. Howard, another slugger, could shake your hand and your knee would hurt. I called both by their first names.

I have met John Lott.

I call him Mr. Lott.