We were sad to learn that Jim Lawrence, Canada's Moonlight Graham and Caledonia's only big leaguer, passed away on January 8 at the age of 85. Canadian Baseball Network writer J.P. Antonacci caught up with Lawrence back in 2019 after a local ballpark had been named after the ex-big leaguer.
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“Growing up in Prince George, B.C., future Women’s National Team mainstay Amanda Asay was a big fan of “A League of Their Own,” the 1992 movie directed by Penny Marshall that chronicled the early days of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.
Decades later, Asay – who died tragically after a skiing accident in 2022 at age 33 – will be posthumously inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame alongside Canadian AAGPBL star Arleene Noga, who consulted on and appeared in the beloved film that introduced new generations to the pioneering women’s baseball league.“
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Legendary Canadian scout Murray Zuk (Souris, Man.) turns 85 today. Happy Birthday to him! As a tribute, we decided to re-run this feature article about him that J.P. Antonacci wrote back in 2020.
“Rod Heisler saw his photo hanging inside the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum and did a double-take.
“What’s that guy doing there?” Heisler remembers thinking.
It was induction day in St. Marys, and despite wearing the maple leaf in international competition more times than any other Canadian ballplayer, Heisler still could not believe he was about join former Blue Jays Russell Martin, Jimmy Key, and the rest of the class of 2024.
“It’s overwhelming for me to be inducted along with these folks, at the same time as Buck is being honoured. It’s a thrill,” Heisler said, referring to Jack Graney Award winner Buck Martinez.”
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“Before he sent baseballs over the wall at Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park, Russell Martin blasted long drives over his uncles’ heads at a Montreal sandlot.
“My brother got to pitch, and I had to play the outfield. So, I was always the one chasing the ball, because he was always hitting it over the fence,” Keith Martin recalled with a smile.
“So, I had to go run after it, which I didn’t really like.”
The Canadian catcher has a large extended family on his father’s side, but his first cousin, Erika Martin, said Russell is the only star athlete in the bunch, making him a top draft pick in the family’s annual Thanksgiving ballgames.”
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For his more than seven decades in baseball in Toronto as a player, coach, executive and umpire, Howard Birnie has been elected to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. He described the honour as “beyond my dreams” in a conference call on Tuesday.
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“Brianna Brumbaugh was already disappointed to have missed seeing her favourite ballplayer inducted into the Victoria Sports Hall of Fame in 2018.
So when a Google alert informed her that Rich Harden would be in St. Marys, Ont., on June 17 as part of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame’s class of 2023, Bumbraugh and her wife, Myriem Seabron, packed their dark green Oakland Athletics Harden tees and planned a road trip from their Baltimore home to Ontario.”
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Canadian Baseball Network writer J.P. Antonacci caught up with Joe Wiwchar prior to the legendary Manitoba baseball coach and executive’s induction into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame on Saturday. Wiwchar has devoted seven decades to baseball, in various roles, in his home province.
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Canadian Baseball Network writer J.P. Antonacci caught up with Rich Harden (Victoria, B.C.) prior to the former big league right-hander’s induction into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame on Saturday. Harden shared that the introduction of a change-up, also known as his “ghost pitch,” was the key to his dominant 2008 season.
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John Olerud’s father, also named John, was a minor league catcher for seven seasons, rising as high as triple-A before becoming a doctor. His coaching helped his son evolve into an American League batting champion, but so, too, did his mother Lynda’s cooking. Canadian Baseball Network writer J.P. Antonacci spoke with Olerud and his parents prior to the former Toronto Blue Jays first baseman’s induction into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame on Saturday.
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Sean Kane was a decade into his career as a professional illustrator when the lifelong baseball fan decided to apply his paintbrush to a most unusual canvas — baseball gloves. Canadian Baseball Network writer J.P. Antonacci recently caught up with the renowned artist in St. Marys, Ont.
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“Toronto Blue Jays fans hoping to catch a glimpse of Duane Ward strolling the grounds prior to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony on June 18 could have been forgiven for thinking they saw double.
Or even quadruple.
Ward’s three brothers – Tommy, Gary and Mike – made the trip to St. Marys to see Duane enshrined among the luminaries of Canadian baseball, and the four Ward boys bear a striking resemblance.”
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As Father’s Day gifts go, seeing your son become a Hall of Famer has to rank right up there.
“This is obviously the pinnacle of his career to be elected to a prestigious place like this. I mean, it’s amazing,” Mike Francis said before watching his son, Jeff, process out of the VIP tent and onto the stage at the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony in St. Marys, Ont., on Saturday.
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Abbotsford Cardinals and Junior National Team alum Cade Smith is learning to think like a pitcher in the Cleveland Guardians’ organization. The Canuck righty will begin his second professional season with the Guardians’ High-A Lake County Captains. Canadian Baseball Network writer J.P. Antonacci recently spoke with Smith.
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Right-hander Connor Ambrogio (Dorchester, Ont.) hurled a complete game in what was likely his last game as a Brock Badger.
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Canadian Baseball Network writer J.P. Antonacci recently spoke with 6-foot-9 Canadian right-hander Brock Dykxhoorn (Goderich, Ont.) who has been dominating hitters in the CPBL this season for the Uni-President Lions. Nicknamed “The Big Doctor” in Taiwan, Dykxhoorn has also won fans with his post-game dances which are a tradition in Taiwan after a player has been named the game’s MVP.
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“In less than seven years, Manitoba-based Amateur Sports TV (ASTV) has carved out a global presence, thanks to a vast network of freelance broadcasters and camera operators from Brandon to Bangkok. ASTV airs New Zealand baseball, Thai hockey and a multitude of North American amateur sports, with plans to expand to Sweden and Switzerland. That’s on top of broadcasting high school and college baseball in Florida, along with junior baseball, hockey, lacrosse, soccer and football games in several U.S. states, Western Canada and Ontario.”
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Right-hander Alex MacKinnon (Aurora, Ont.) pitched five seasons for the Niagara University Purple Eagles and evolved into one of the best closers and leaders in the program’s history. The bright young Canuck is also a three-time member of the MAAC all-academic team who graduated with an MBA in sports marketing. Now he’s on to his next challenge, which he hopes will include an opportunity to play professional baseball.
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Ontario Terriers players are benefiting from the organization’s expanded partnership with The Performance Lab.
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“There could be an unusually high number of households in London, Ont., tuned to the livestream of this weekend’s Division II season opener between the Tusculum University Pioneers and the University of Indianapolis Greyhounds. That’s because the three-game series features a pair of London Majors alumni squaring off as head coaches for the first time. Al Ready brings his Greyhounds to Greeneville, Tenn., to take on Brandon Steele’s Pioneers in a series the London-born baseball lifers have been looking forward to.”
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