But What Do I Know? … Vladimir Guerrero, Matt Stairs, David Bush

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Canadian Baseball Card of the Week 1981 Topps Terry Puhl. This Melville, Sask., native made his big league debut in 1977 and hit .301 in 60 games. His steady offensive and defensive efforts earned him all-star honours in 1978, when he batted .289 and stole 32 bases. He topped that the following campaign, when he recorded a career-high 172 hits and played 157 games – the entire season – in the outfield without making an error. Puhl was at his best in the 1980 post-season, hitting .526 in the Astros’ grueling, five-game National League Championship Series against the eventual World Champion Philadelphia Phillies. A consistent contributor for the Astros over the next decade, the sure-handed Canuck played his final season with the Kansas City Royals in 1991.

My weekly observations about stories around the baseball world from a Canadian perspective (Please follow me on Twitter: @kevinglewsports):

– Former Montreal Expos great Vladimir Guerrero, who played in the Blue Jays’ minor league system for a short stretch last season, has signed with the independent Atlantic League’s Long Island Ducks, where he’ll suit up alongside onetime Marlins’ 20-game winner Dontrelle Willis and Josh Barfield, son of Jesse.

– If you’re counting, 15,852 fans showed up at Coca-Coca Field on Thursday for the Buffalo Bisons’ home opener. This is the club’s first season as the Toronto Blue Jays’ Triple-A affiliate. On the same night, just 11,634 were on hand to watch the Pittsburgh Pirates lose 3-2 to the Chicago Cubs at PNC Park.

– Speaking of the Bisons, there are two Canadians on their roster: Adam Loewen (Surrey, B.C.) and Mike Nickeas (Vancouver, B.C.).

– New Brunswick native and future Canadian Baseball Hall of Famer Matt Stairs has joined Twitter. You can follow him at @mstairs12.

– With the Jays’ new win-now edict, GM Alex Anthopoulos and manager John Gibbons will evidently exercise little patience this year. After just one inning in which he allowed one run and walked two batters on Friday, reliever Jeremy Jeffress was designated for assignment. Right-hander David Bush, who pitched for the Jays in 2004 and 2005, will take his roster spot.

– With Omar Vizquel’s retirement after last season, I started wondering how many former Calgary Cannons are left in the big leagues. The Cannons were a Triple-A, Pacific Coast League club that ceased operations after the 2002 season. Vizquel enjoy stints in Calgary from 1988 to 1990 and in 1992. By my unofficial count, there are just two ex-Cannons who are actively playing in the big leagues: Jason Grilli, who’s the closer with the Pirates and Ryan Dempster, a starter for the Red Sox. Alex Rodriguez, who’s on the disabled list, also played with Calgary for 32 games in 1994.

– If you haven’t already done so, please “LIKE” the Cooperstowners in Canada Facebook page. I update this page regularly with links to Canadian baseball stories. Thanks for all your support.

4 thoughts on “But What Do I Know? … Vladimir Guerrero, Matt Stairs, David Bush”

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  1. cooperstownersincanada – Kevin Glew is a professional writer based in London, Ontario. His work has been featured on CBC Sports, Sportsnet.ca, MLB.com and Sympatico.ca. He has also written articles for Baseball Digest, Baseball America, The Hockey News, Sports Market Report and the Canadian Baseball Network. He has been involved with the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame for more than 16 years, including a two-year stint as the museum's acting curator.
    cooperstownersincanada says:

    From Devon Teeple:

    Gotta love the Indy ball signings.

    But I didn’t know Barfield’s son was there. Great stuff!!

    Reply
    1. cooperstownersincanada – Kevin Glew is a professional writer based in London, Ontario. His work has been featured on CBC Sports, Sportsnet.ca, MLB.com and Sympatico.ca. He has also written articles for Baseball Digest, Baseball America, The Hockey News, Sports Market Report and the Canadian Baseball Network. He has been involved with the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame for more than 16 years, including a two-year stint as the museum's acting curator.
      cooperstownersincanada says:

      Thanks for the comment, Devon. I remember when Barfield’s son was a top prospect with the Indians.

      Reply

  2. Bush gone already….boy they work fast. Great news about Stairs. I didn’t know he had joined Twitter. Always giving me new news kevin. Thanks

    Reply
  3. Tom Valcke – Stratford, Ontario – Tom Valcke put his iCASE Baseball Academy as well as his position of Head Coach at George Brown College into hiatus, when Hong Kong brought him there in 2018 to serve as head coach of their Men's Olympic baseball team, where he finished with unprecedented success in the 2018 Asian Games held in Jakarta, Indonesia, spiking their WBSC World Ranking from #41 to #28 in just one year under his tutelage. China then scooped up Valcke, as he became the GM and Head Coach of Panda Sport and Culture, a division of the China Olympic Federation, overseeing baseball and softball, and training the national team coaches of baseball and softball, men's and women's teams. Panda Sport and Culture is based in Zhongshan, China's nationally recognized "#1 Baseball City," located on the southeast tip of China, and has a climate much like Florida. On his own initiative, he spent his evenings working with the local coaches of Zhongshan's local amateur youth baseball teams. For the first time in history, the same city won all four 2019 China National Championship gold medals, in 18U, 15U, 12U and 10U, that city being Zhongshan! Valcke worked with the China Baseball Association and Major League Baseball in helping the world's largest country accelerate their evolution into baseball, and helped them design and build a professional baseball stadium, a 600-room dormitory, and a new HQ for Panda Sport and Culture, where he held the role of CEO, in charge of a staff of 60. Valcke, former Technical Director, and Executive Director of Baseball Canada, and former coach of Team Canada, remains a baseball analyst with CBC Canada Radio and TV. The former president/CEO of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, who spent a decade as the Canadian Supervisor with the Major League Baseball Central Scouting Bureau, served as a television broadcaster for the Montreal Expos, the GM of the Calgary Cannons Triple-A club, and the CEO/Head Coach of the World Children's Baseball Fair. He is the proud father of Alanna, Jaxon and Mia, and lucky husband of Paula since 1987. Jaxon and Mia are current star players and captains, respectively, of the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds baseball and softball teams. Mia also became the second female in history to play in World Cups for Team Canada Women's baseball team as well as Team Canada Women's softball team. https://www.canadianbaseballnetwork.com/canadian-baseball-network-articles/baseball-nomad-valcke-a-top-amateur-executive http://www.wbsc.org/csta-prestige-awards-honors-tom-valcke/ https://cooperstownersincanada.com/2012/01/23/valcke-recognized-for-global-baseball-efforts/
    tomvalcke says:

    Dale Sveum (former Cannon) is coaching the Cubs. He was my all-time favourite player, and person (I was their GM in ‘96).

    Reply

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