My weekly observations about stories around the baseball world from a Canadian perspective (Please follow me on Twitter: @kevinglewsports):
– Congratulations to Gibsons, B.C., native Ryan Dempster who became the 10th Canadian player to be part of a World Series-winning team when the Boston Red Sox defeated the St. Louis Cardinals last night. A starter during the regular season, the Canuck right-hander pitched three innings in relief for the Red Sox in the post-season. He’s the first Canadian to toil for a World Series-winning squad since Matt Stairs (St. John, N.B.) suited up for the Philadelphia Phillies in 2008. The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame has compiled a complete list of Canadians who have World Series rings here.
– Montreal Expos great and Canadian Baseball Hall of Famer, Tim Raines, has joined Twitter. You can follow him at @TimRaines30
– Speaking of former Expos, it’s good to see that Tim Wallach is being considered one of the early favorites for the Detroit Tigers managerial opening. The Expos’ all-time leader in games played and current Los Angeles Dodgers’ third base coach will also be interviewed by the Seattle Mariners for the vacancy in their dugout.
– Bob Elliott of the Canadian Baseball Network reports that Stratford, Ont., native and longtime New York Yankees coach, Rob Thomson, has also been identified as a managerial candidate by the Seattle Mariners.
– Happy Birthday to former Toronto Blue Jays slugger Fred McGriff, who turns 50 today. This makes me want to dress up as a “Crime Dog” for Halloween.
– An interesting article on the Ballpark Digest site reports that when you divide their number of wins by their payroll, the Toronto Blue Jays paid $1,588,214 per win in 2013. That was the eighth most among big league clubs. Not surprisingly, the Yankees paid the most per win ($2,692,182), while the Astros forked out the least ($432,600).
– How’s this for a 1994 Montreal Expos reunion? Larry Walker (Maple Ridge, B.C.) ran into his former Expos manager Felipe Alou at a restaurant in Florida on October 7. Walker had a photo taken of him and his daughters with Alou and posted it on his Twitter account (@cdnmooselips33).
– And finally, Happy Halloween to the Canadian baseball player with the spookiest name: Michael Monster. A 6-foot-3, 220-pound right-handed pitcher, Monster is a Kelowna, B.C., native who was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the 25th round of the 2009 MLB amateur draft. From what I can tell, Monster is not pitching in the professional ranks. If you have any further information on his whereabouts, let me know.
– 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 again for all your support.
If McGriff had only hit 7 more homeruns he would have been considered one of the greatest HR hitters of all time!
Great info I didn’t know Kevin.
Great to read the article on my hometown hero, Mike Gardiner. I wrote about him here http://rsnalberta.blogspot.ca/2011/11/baseball-is-awesome-canadian-hurler.html
I think McGriff will eventually get elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame as a Veteran’s Committee selection.
Unreal that the Crime Dog has turned 50!
Thanks for the comment, Devon. I saw McGriff at Spring Training last year and he still looks like he could play.