June 24, 2026
By Kevin Glew
Cooperstowners in Canada
“If I can inspire just one Canadian player, just one Canadian Little Leaguer, to dream big and go for something that just seems a little unattainable, if I can inspire them to take that leap and go for it, then that’s what my career is all about.”
Stubby Clapp delivered this message near the end of his Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame induction speech on Saturday.
Well, Stubby, on behalf of the Canadian baseball community, I can say, unequivocally, that you’ve achieved this — and many times over.
You’ve inspired hundreds across this country with your determination, your rise from a 36th round pick to the big leagues and your devotion to the national team.
From his backyard to the big leagues
Clapp’s underdog baseball journey began in his hometown of Windsor, Ont., where he honed his skills in his backyard with his dad.
“He [his father] used to stand me up against the fence in between the two poles. We’d call it pepper. And if l let the ball hit the fence, it was a point for him. And if I was able to make a play, it was a point for me. That’s how I learned how to play defence,” recalled Clapp in his induction speech. “I took a lot of bad hops, but I won. I wasn’t going to let the ball hit the fence.”
Clapp traces his passion for baseball to following his father around to softball parks in Windsor.
“That’s where I learned to have fun and love the game. They let me stand in the outfield and shag BP. I would shag BP for as long as they could hit. And then if there was a little bit of time left at the end, they would let me take a couple of swings,” said Clapp.
Clapp said it was former big leaguer and fellow Windsor native John Upham who taught him how to hit left-handed with a softball bat.
Bat boy for Team USA
Ironically, for someone now nicknamed Captain Canada, Clapp was selected to be a bat boy for the U.S. team at World Junior Championship tournament held in Windsor in 1986 when he was 13.
“Go figure,” said Clapp in his speech. “But let me tell you something: that tournament did something for me, that’s where the fire began. I watched those guys practice and I watched those guys play. I watched those guys work out and do their thing for about a week. And I watched them put their jerseys on every single day before the game . . . And by the end of that tournament that’s when my fire was at full fire because I knew that I wanted to be an Olympic athlete. I knew I wanted to be someone who could wear their country’s name across their chest.”
The scrappy 5-foot-8 infielder accomplished that mission when he was selected to play for the Canadian Junior National Team at the World Youth Baseball Championships in Brandon, Man., in 1991.
That tenacious, underdog Canadian squad, whose personality matched Clapp’s, went on to win a gold medal. It remains the only gold Canada’s Junior National Team has captured.
Cut by Baba
The next year Clapp was asked to try out for Canada’s senior national team. The tryouts were held in his hometown and the players stayed in the dorms at the University of Windsor. After the high of winning with the junior national squad the year before, Clapp would experience one of his career lows. He was cut from the senior squad by fellow 2026 Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Jim Baba.
“My dreams were kind of crushed and the toughest part was calling my dad,” recounted Clapp. “I told my dad, ‘Come get me. I didn’t make the team.’ . . . I was crushed, and of course there were tears coming down, so he pulls up and I get in the car . . . and my dad just kind of looks at me and says, ‘Well, are you going to quit or are you going to get better?’ No sympathy . . . just the truth . . . and it was at that moment that I decided I was going to get better. I was going to figure out a way to make the next team . . . And that was the beginning of me learning about adversity.”
Drafted
That same year, he was offered a scholarship to Texas Tech University where he developed into a standout, undersized infielder. In 1996, he got a call from his baseball coach, Larry Hays, asking him to come to his office.
“‘He [Hays] said, ‘If you get drafted, are you going to go?’ I said, ‘Pardon me?’ He said, ‘If you get drafted, we need to know if you’re going to go?’ I said, ‘Sir, I’m Canadian I can’t fight for your Army.’ I had no idea what the major league draft was. I was playing baseball because I loved it,” said Clapp in his induction speech.
Shortly after that, the St. Louis Cardinals selected him in the 36th round of the 1996 MLB draft.
“I had no clue who the St. Louis Cardinals were when they drafted me. I knew the Toronto Blue Jays and the Detroit Tigers, that’s it – that’s all I knew – the two teams I had seen on TV,” said Clapp.
Pro career
But the then 23-year-old would sign with the Cardinals and against long odds, he climbed through their system and made his major league debut on June 18, 2001.
In total, Clapp played 23 games with the Cardinals and 11 seasons in the pro ranks. He spent four of those (1999 to 2002) with the Cardinals’ Triple-A Memphis Redbirds where he became one of the team’s most productive and popular players. Often doing a back flip when taking the field, he became known as the “Mayor of Memphis” and his No. 10 was retired by the club in 2007.
But even during his pro career, Clapp never forgot his roots. In 1999, he suited up for Canada at the Pan Am Games in Winnipeg, Man., and delivered a walk-off, bases-loaded single in Canada’s extra-inning, upset win over the U.S. to help Canada to an eventual bronze medal.
Coaching career
Following his playing career, Clapp entered the pro coaching ranks, eventually returning to Memphis to manage the Triple-A club to Pacific Coast League championships in 2017 and 2018. For his efforts, he was named PCL manager of the year in both campaigns. That performance earned him a promotion to the position of first base coach with the Cardinals in 2019, a post he continues to hold.
Over the years, Clapp has also served as a coach for the national team, including at the 2013 and 2026 World Baseball Classics and 2015 Pan Am Games.
To recognize his contributions to the national team, Baseball Canada created the Stubby Clapp Award, which is presented annually to a Canadian player who has stood out for their hard work, perseverance, positive attitude and strong performance on the field.
Clapp was inducted onto Baseball Canada’s Wall of Excellence in January 2025.
And now “Captain Canada,” an inspiration to so many, has his rightful place in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.
“It’s absolutely humbling to be part of this class,” said Clapp from the stage on Saturday. “As a kid growing up in Windsor, in Remington Park, baseball was simply just something I loved, I never imagined that one day I’d be standing here. To be recognized by the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame is truly amazing and such an honour . . . Canada will always be my home. I will always be proud to represent Canada and Canadian baseball, wherever the game is going to take me.”
And for that we are grateful, Stubby.
For that, and the inspiration you have given us, we thank you.
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