Kevin Glew’s Canadian Baseball History Blog
By Kevin Glew Cooperstowners in Canada After talking to Tom Bruno over the phone for an hour, you almost forget that he’s not Canadian. The easygoing Chicago native, who now resides in Pierre, South Dakota, has fished for walleye in Gravenhurst, Ont., trained hunting dogs in Saskatchewan and, most memorably for us baseball fans, toed... Continue Reading →
By Kevin Glew Cooperstowners in Canada Many longtime Canadian baseball fans can recall the Toronto Blue Jays defeating the Chicago White Sox 9-5 in snowy conditions at Exhibition Stadium on April 7, 1977 in their first regular season game, but how did the team fare in its first spring training contest? Well, that contest took... Continue Reading →
My weekly observations and notes about some Canadian baseball stories: · It was 41 years ago today that the Toronto Blue Jays began assembling their first team via the 1976 Major League Baseball Expansion Draft. With their first pick, the Blue Jays selected Bob Bailor from the Baltimore Orioles. Bailor proceeded to bat .310 in... Continue Reading →
My weekly observations and notes about some Canadian baseball stories: Victoria, B.C., native Michael Saunders is the only Canadian player headed to the MLB All-Star Game in San Diego on Tuesday. Garnering 17.7 million fan votes, Saunders defeated the four other “Final Vote” candidates – George Springer, Dustin Pedroia, Evan Longoria and Ian Kinsler –... Continue Reading →
He’s the answer to one of the more challenging Canadian baseball trivia questions. Who is the only person to be in a big league uniform for the first game at Exhibition Stadium and the first game at the SkyDome? The answer is Chuck Hartenstein, who was a member of the Toronto Blue Jays bullpen for... Continue Reading →
My weekly observations and notes about some Canadian baseball stories: • Believe it or not, after Blue Jays centre fielder Kevin Pillar made an ill-advised dive for a line drive hit by Billy Burns in the eighth inning in Thursday’s game against Oakland that turned what should’ve been a single into a triple, there were... Continue Reading →
My weekly observations and notes about some Canadian baseball stories: • Among the pitchers that Toronto Blue Jays left-hander Mark Buehrle has passed on the all-time wins list this season are Roy Halladay, Orel Hershiser and Hall of Famer Rube Marquard. But while I agree with the sabermetricians that say that wins aren’t a defining... Continue Reading →