Kevin Glew’s Canadian Baseball History Blog
It was Jackie Robinson who reportedly encouraged the Brooklyn Dodgers to sign Bobby Wilson out of the Negro Leagues. And when No. 42 spoke, the Dodgers listened, especially after his 1949 season in which he won the National League batting title and was named league MVP. Born in 1925 in Dallas, Texas, Wilson proved to... Continue Reading →
Jesse Owens is the only person that could beat Jack Cassini in a foot race. At least that's what the former Montreal Royal told the Arizona Republic in an interview in March 2008. "I could hit, and I could run like hell," Cassini told the paper. The ex-big leaguer was 88 when he made this... Continue Reading →
From ace starter in Montreal to World Series-winning closer in Brooklyn, Ed Roebuck certainly proved his versatility on the mound in the mid-1950s. After tying for the team lead in wins (18) with the Triple-A Montreal Royals in 1954, Roebuck made the big league Dodgers as a reliever the following spring. Brooklyn bench boss Walter... Continue Reading →
"He was not a star, but a nova, appearing, flaring and disappearing . . . " Roger Kahn, The Boys of Summer It would be difficult to describe Joe Black's major league career more accurately and eloquently than Kahn did in his acclaimed 1972 book about the Brooklyn Dodgers. After toeing the rubber in... Continue Reading →
[twitter-follow screen_name='coopincanada'] It's not easy being a prospect when the player you're touted to replace is a perennial all-star and fan favourite. That's the position that Humberto "Chico" Fernandez found himself in after he was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as a 19-year-old in 1951. Once the slick-fielding shortstop was in the Dodgers' system, it... Continue Reading →
Who was the first player to walk to the plate in a major league game on the West Coast? The answer is Gino Cimoli, a 6-foot-1, 180-pound San Francisco native who was selected to bat leadoff for the Dodgers in their first regular season contest representing the city of Los Angeles. With his friends and... Continue Reading →
*This is part of my ongoing series of articles about members of the 1954 Montreal Royals. While manning left field for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Don Thompson threw out New York Yankees second baseman Billy Martin to end Game 4 of the 1953 World Series. But while this toss was one of the highlights of Thompson's... Continue Reading →
Writer’s Note: Jackie Robinson would've turned 94 today. In honour of his birthday, I present to you the short bio that I wrote for the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame’s website. Prior to breaking Major League Baseball’s colour barrier in 1947, Jackie Robinson starred at second base for the Montreal Royals, a Brooklyn Dodgers farm... Continue Reading →
