But What Do I Know? . . . Naylor brothers, Erik Sabrowski, Cade Smith, Devon White

October 20, 2024

By Kevin Glew

Cooperstowners in Canada

Some Canadian baseball news and notes:

Naylor brothers made more MLB history

The season came to an end for Josh and Bo Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) on Saturday when the Cleveland Guardians lost 5-2 in 10 innings to the New York Yankees in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series, but not before the brothers made more major league history. On Friday, both Josh and Bo registered hits in Game 4 to become the first brothers in MLB history to have hits in the same American League Championship Series game for the same team. They repeated that feat in the second inning of Game 5 when Josh had an infield single and Bo followed with an RBI double. That also marked the first time that two brothers had a hit in the same inning in an ALCS game and the first time a Canadian big leaguer had driven in another Canadian in an ALCS game. In total, Josh went 5-for-20 (.250 batting average) with four RBIs in the ALCS while Bo went 4-for-11 (.364 batting average) with two doubles and an RBI.

Josh Naylor moved up Canadian MLB post-season doubles leaderboard

According to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, when Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) doubled in the seventh inning of Game 4 of the ALCS on Friday, it was his sixth career double in the post-season. That moved him past Larry Walker (Maple Ridge, B.C.) into second place on the all-time post-season doubles list for Canadians. Russell Martin (Montreal, Que.) is first with nine.

Sabrowski excelled against future Hall of Famers

Yes, Guardians left-hander Erik Sabrowski (St. Albert, Alta.) allowed the first two runs of his MLB career during the ALCS, but overall, he did an excellent job out of the bullpen, especially facing the Yankees’ two best hitters. In Game 1 of the ALCS, he entered the game with two outs in the sixth inning and struck out Juan Soto. He then retired Aaron Judge on a line out to right field to open the next frame. Fast forward to Game 4 and Sabrowski was summoned into the contest in the third inning to face Soto again. He got the slugger to ground out to first base and followed that up by striking out Judge. In total, in the series, he recorded a 2.45 ERA and struck out six batters in 3 2/3 innings.

Smith sets Canadian post-season record for most pitching appearances

On Thursday, when Guardians right-hander Cade Smith (Abbotsford, B.C.) was called into Game 2 of the ALCS in the third inning, it was his seventh appearance of the post-season. According to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, this broke the previous Canadian record for most pitching appearances in a single post-season. The prior record of six was held by Rheal Cormier (Cap-Pele, N.B., Boston Red Sox, 1999), Paul Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont., Yankees, 2004) and John Axford (Port Dover, Ont., Milwaukee Brewers (2011) and St. Louis Cardinals (2013)). Smith added to his record with his eighth and ninth relief appearances in Games 4 and 5. Smith was nothing short of outstanding in both the regular season and post-season for the Guardians in 2024.

Topps unveils Smith, Black rookie cards

Speaking of Smith, his official rookie card (pictured above) was released on Wednesday as part of the 2024 Topps Update set. Also, in the set is Stouffville, Ont., native Tyler Black‘s rookie card (pictured below). Black saw his first big league action with the Brewers this season. Other Canadians in the set include Joey Votto (Etobicoke, Ont.), pictured with the Toronto Blue Jays, James Paxton (Ladner, B.C.), highlighted with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, B.C.) with the Red Sox.

Tong, Wilkinson earn top prospect honours from MLB Pipeline

Congratulations to Canadians Jonah Tong (Markham, Ont.) and Matt Wilkinson (Ladner, B.C.) who have been named the top pitching prospects in the New York Mets’ and Cleveland Guardians’ organizations respectively by MLB Pipeline. MLB Pipeline unveiled their annual list of the top hitting and pitching prospects from each major league team on Thursday. Tong (Markham, Ont.), a Toronto Mets grad, posted a combined 6-4 record with a 3.03 ERA in 25 appearances (23 starts), while striking out 160 batters in 113 innings, between class-A, High-A and double-A in the Mets’ organization. For his efforts, he was a two-time Canadian Baseball Network Player of the Week. The 6-foot-1 right-hander was selected in the seventh round of the 2022 MLB draft by the Mets.

MLB Pipeline points out that the 21-year-old Tong’s 3.03 ERA topped Mets’ minor league starters and the Canadian righty also finished third among minor league full-season pitchers with a 34.2 percent K rate.

Wilkinson (Ladner, B.C.), an Okotoks Dawgs grad, was equally dominant in the Guardians’ organization. In 24 starts between class-A and High-A, he went 8-6 with a 1.90 ERA and fanned 174 in 118 2/3 innings. He also posted a 2.19 ERA in two post-season starts for the High-A Lake County Captains to help lead them to a Midwest League championship. His performance earned him the Carolina League Pitcher of the Month for April and the Canadian Baseball Network Player of the Week three times. Nicknamed “Tugboat,” the 6-foot-1, 270-pound southpaw was chosen in the 10th round of the 2023 MLB draft by the Guardians.

MLB Pipeline notes that the 21-year-old lefty led all minor league pitchers with a 38 percent K rate. Wilkinson also ranked second among qualified minor league starting pitchers in ERA, strikeouts, batting average against (.169) and WHIP (0.91).

32nd anniversary of “The Catch”

To Blue Jays fans, it’s simply known as “The Catch.” It was 32 years ago today that Blue Jays centre fielder Devon White tracked down what looked to be a sure extra-base hit by Atlanta Braves slugger Dave Justice in the fourth inning of Game 3 of the World Series at SkyDome. The game was tied 0-0 and the Braves had Deion Sanders on second and Terry Pendleton on first with nobody out when Justice clubbed a Juan Guzman pitch to deep centre field. On top of making a leaping catch and crashing into the centre field wall, White also had the wherewithal to turn and throw the ball back to Blue Jays second baseman Roberto Alomar which started what should have been a triple play. Pendleton had passed Sanders on the base paths, so he was automatically out. Sanders ended up caught in a rundown between second and third and Blue Jays third baseman Kelly Gruber eventually dove and tagged Sanders on the heel, but second base umpire Bob Davidson missed the call and the Blue Jays had to settle for a double play.

Former umpire Paul Runge turns 84

Happy 84th Birthday to former major league umpire and St. Catharines, Ont., native Paul Runge. He served as a National League umpire for 25 seasons from 1973 to 1997 and worked nine National League Championship Series, four World Series and three All-Star Games. He was also the home plate umpire for the no-hitter that Montreal Expos right-hander Charlie Lea threw at Olympic Stadium on May 10, 1981. Runge is the middle part of a three-generation umpire family. His dad, Ed, was an American League umpire from 1954 to 1970, while his son, Brian, was a major league umpire from 1999 to 2012.

Twenty-four years ago, Delgado won Hank Aaron Award

It was on this date in 2000 that Carlos Delgado was named the winner of the American League’s Hank Aaron Award, as the league’s top hitter. In 162 games in the 2000 season, Delgado batted .344 and had 41 home runs and 137 RBIs for the Blue Jays. He also had a league-leading 57 doubles and set career-bests with a .470 on-base percentage, a .664 slugging percentage and a 1.134 OPS. He was the first Blue Jay to win the Hank Aaron Award. Jose Bautista later captured the award in 2010 and 2011 and Josh Donaldson was the recipient in 2015.

Blue Jay birthday and trivia

Who holds the Blue Jays record for most stolen bases in a season?

The answer is Dave Collins who swiped 60 bases for the Blue Jays in 1984. The former speedster turns 72 today. He spent two seasons with the Blue Jays before he was dealt to the Oakland A’s with Alfredo Griffin for closer Bill Caudill on December 8, 1984.

Dr. Ron Taylor was an Expo?

Fifty-three years ago today, the Expos purchased the contract of right-hander Ron Taylor (Toronto, Ont.) from the New York Mets. Taylor would spend spring training of 1972 with the Expos before being released. Less than a month later, he signed with the San Diego Padres. He’d make his final four big league appearances with the Padres.

Canadian Baseball History Conference set to take place

If you’re a Canadian baseball history buff (like me), mark November 2nd and 3rd on your calendar. Longtime Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame volunteer and co-founder of the Centre for Canadian Baseball Research Andrew North has announced that the seventh annual Canadian Baseball History Conference will take place at the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in St. Marys, Ont., on those dates. This year’s event, which will again be organized by Andrew, will include two days of fascinating presentations on Canadian baseball history. For more information and for a complete list of the presentations, you can click on this link. There is limited seating, so please email Andrew at mavrix247@gmail.com to check if there are still spots available. The registration fee is $50.

Trivia question

This week’s trivia question: Who has the most stolen bases in a season for the Blue Jays in this century (2000 to present)? Please provide your answer in the “Comments” section below.

Last week’s trivia answer

The answer to last week’s trivia question (Who is the last player born in Canada to win a World Series ring as a member of the Detroit Tigers?) was left-hander John Hiller (Toronto, Ont.) in 1968.