But What Do I Know? . . . Carlos Delgado, Gene Tenace, Dave Bergman

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Delgado1BF

My weekly observations and notes about some Canadian baseball stories:

• Carlos Delgado, who was announced as one of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame’s 2015 inductees on Wednesday, has proven once again that he’s a classier guy than me. In 2003, Delgado belted 42 home runs and led the American League in RBI (145) and on-base plus slugging percentage (1.019), but finished second to Alex Rodriguez, who has since admitted to using performance enhancing drugs that season, in the American League MVP voting. In the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame’s conference call on Wednesday, Delgado was asked if he felt he deserved the 2003 MVP Award given A-Rod’s drug use. “I don’t know if that’s the proper way to look at it,” responded Delgado. “Everyone is entitled to do what they want and do with their careers what they want. My numbers were there. I played the game the right way. I played the game clean. I came up short. I was second . . . People who know the game understand what I did, what it means and at the end of the day, that’s the most important thing to me.”

• This year’s Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame class will be one of its strongest ever. Matt Stairs (Fredericton, N.B.), Corey Koskie (Anola, Man.), long-time Montreal Expos manager Felipe Alou and legendary baseball scribe Bob Elliott (Kingston, Ont.) will be honoured alongside Delgado. The ceremony will take place on June 13 in St. Marys, Ont. For more information, you can follow this link.

• If you’ve ever wanted to own a 1992 or 1993 Toronto Blue Jays World Series ring, here’s your chance. Gene Tenace, the Blue Jays bench coach on those teams, has decided to sell some of the awards and memorabilia from his baseball career. SCP Auctions in Laguna Niguel, Calif., will be in charge of the sale which will take place from April 8 to April 25. You can read more about the auction here.

• Dave Bergman, who played nine of his 17 big league seasons with the Detroit Tigers, passed away on Monday of bile duct cancer at the age of 61 in Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. One of my first baseball memories is of Bergman’s epic, 13-pitch at bat in the bottom of the 10th inning against Blue Jays reliever Roy Lee Jackson on June 4, 1984 at Tiger Stadium. On the 13th pitch, Bergman hit a walk-off, three-run home run. You can watch video of that at bat here. Bergman is survived by his wife, Cathy, and three children, Troy, Bria and Erica. You can leave online condolences here.

• I’ve been running a “Baseball Quote of the Day” feature on the Cooperstowners in Canada Facebook page and today’s quote is from former Montreal Expos left-hander Bill Lee, who always seems to have something interesting to say. “You have a left and you have a right. The left side controls the right half of your body, and the right side controls the left half,” he told a Sports Illustrated reporter in April 1980. “Therefore, left-handers are the only people in their right mind.”

• This week’s trivia question: With Wednesday’s announcement that Matt Stairs (Fredericton, N.B.) will be inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, two of the four Canadians that have played for both the Montreal Expos and Toronto Blue Jays will have a plaque in the St. Marys shrine (Stairs will join Rob Ducey as an inductee). Can you name the two Canadians that have suited up for both the Expos and Blue Jays that have not been inducted yet? Please provide your answer in the “Comments” section below. The first to provide the correct answer will win a signed 1978 Bill Atkinson card.

11 thoughts on “But What Do I Know? . . . Carlos Delgado, Gene Tenace, Dave Bergman

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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:

      Hi Alicia. You are correct. Please drop me an e-mail at kevin.glew@sympatico.ca with your mailing address.

    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, Brent. Duh, on my part. Yes, Beeston is already on the Level of Excellence. I’ve edited the column.

  1. 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:

    Kevin – ALWAYS enjoy your stuff, and I loved Bergman! I’m not positive, but I think I was there when Beeston was added to the Level of Excellence a number of years ago ??? Tom

    Tom Valcke Field Manager/GM iCASE Baseball Academy International Canadian Academy of Sports Excellence http://icasebaseball.com Personal Email: valcke@quadro.net Cell: 519.703.4088

    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:

      Hi Tom. Thanks for the comment. Yes, you’re right about Beeston. Brain cramp by me. Hope you’re doing well.

    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, Scott. Yes, it will be a great three days in St. Marys in June.

  2. Devon Teeple – Highly motivated and hard-working professional offering solid business skills in both baseball and corporate enterprises. Lifetime’s experience in athletics, culminating with a pro contract in 2001. Intimate knowledge of the athletic industry from the inside, with specific knowledge of what it takes to win, on the field and in the back office. Outgoing and extremely hard working with a passion for athletics and an ability to contribute immediately.
    Devon Teeple says:

    Congrats to Carlos. An honour well-deserved

    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 totally agree.

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