September 29, 2019

After a break Steed returns as the Thunder Bay Border Cats manager

By Elisabeth Rositsan

Canadian Baseball Network

Mike Steed is already pulling his team together for the new season in Thunder Bay.

“Right now, the biggest thing is to build my coaching staff. It’s about picking the right mix and picking two guys that I want to be around with for 72 games,” said Steed. “We’d like to give the talented kids that are in college an opportunity to play on home soil.”

Steed is looking to build his team with athletes who are not only talented, but who have a huge passion and love for the sport.

“For me a lot of it is getting kids who understand what the league is about, they want to come to the ballpark every day with a good attitude, smile on their face, just kids who play hard and want to be there,.”

Such views come from Steed’s own experiences as a baseball player and coach. He started playing in Burlington at an early age and was never pushed into the game by his parents. Steed’s love for the game grew from being on the field and playing every game with passion. He wants to see the same in the players he picks for the Border Cats.

“Now that I’m a coach I like seeing players that enjoy the game the most and seeing the happiness that the stadium brings to them,” said Steed.

Despite his experience, Steed isn’t forming the team alone. The Border Cats’ previous coach Eric Vasquez is helping Steed recruits players to the 2020 team.

“Eric did a great job. I reached out to him because I respect what he did. Eric was in a tough situation last year, he was put in place late in the recruiting season, so the job he did with the time frame he had, I think was a fabulous job,” said Steed.

Last year there were four Canadians on the Northwoods college summer league roster: LHP DJ DePiero (Thunder Bay, Ont) of the Bradley Braves, INF Cooper Lamke (Thunder Bay, Ont.) from Ottawa University, C Nicholas Fazzari (Thunder Bay, Ont.) of Parkland College, INF Bryce Jorgenson (Thunder Bay, Ont.) of Minnesota-Crookston and OF Jakob Newton (Oakville, Ont.) from Florida Tech.

Newton batted .292 with seven doubles, three homers, 23 RBIs in 61 games, Jorgenson batted .232 with two doubles, a triple and six RBIs in 19 games; Lamke hit .063 in five games.

On the mound for the 10-26 Cats, DePiero was 0-6 with a 7.14 ERA. He walked 27 and struck out 47 in 40 1/3 innings.

Steed has a vast list of collegiate and pro contacts which he gained from working with college teams when he was the pitching coach and coach with the Ontario Blue Jays. He intends to use his resources towards the Border Cats and bring a fresh feel to the team.

Steed is not only an experienced manager and player, but he’s also a pitching coach who has formed his own techniques and ways to improve players. One of Steed’s signature teaching methods is focusing on the high leg kick.

“My teaching is very distinctive with the high leg with a full wind up,” he explained. “It allows the pitcher to load and gather everything before he delivers the ball. It allows guys to coordinate their lower half with the upper half.”

This distinctive technique is another element the new Border Cats manager is bringing to the team.

Despite his passion for the game coaching is not lying in a hammock with the TV remote control. Throughout his time with the Ontario Blue Jays, Steed was constantly on the road traveling with their busy one stop per day tours.

“The toughest thing with that is being on the bus and in a different hotel every night. It is tiring, but I think it’s a great experience,” said Steed.

He also took some time off from the Ontario Blue Jays last March.

“I stepped away from the Blue Jays and took the summer off for family reasons and I stayed in touch with the game and took a job working at a local golf course and decompressed a little bit.”

Even the best sometimes need time off from their job, but now Steed is back in the game and ready to lead the Thunder Bay Border Cats to greatness.

“The best place for me is being on the field,” said Steed.