Kevin Glew’s Canadian Baseball History Blog
Book Review Doc: The Life of Roy Halladay By Todd Zolecki Triumph Books LLC, 2020 Reviewed by Kevin Glew Cooperstowners in Canada On May 29, many Canadian baseball fans were glued to the ESPN documentary about Roy Halladay called "Imperfect: The Roy Halladay Story" that was broadcast on TSN. The 60-minute production shone an... Continue Reading →
When the Toronto Blue Jays clinched their first World Series title on October 24, 1992, Canadians rejoiced. Tens of thousands spilled on to Yonge Street in Toronto where they hugged each other and broke into joyous renditions of the national anthem. Similar celebrations erupted in cities and towns across the country. The revelry was understandable... Continue Reading →
It might be baseball’s greatest comeback story. At least that’s what I came away thinking after finishing “Safe At Home,” Gregory Jordan’s riveting biography of former Kansas City Royal and Toronto Blue Jay Willie Mays Aikens. This 264-page book offers a no-holds-barred account of Aikens’ spiral into drug addiction that reduced the one-time World Series... Continue Reading →
The 1994 Montreal Expos seemed unbeatable. With an offence propelled by Larry Walker, Moises Alou and Marquis Grissom and a pitching staff anchored by Ken Hill, Pedro Martinez and John Wetteland, the Expos owned the best record in baseball and led the National League East by six games on August 12 when a players’ strike... Continue Reading →
How do you make a dreadful season compelling enough to read about? That’s the challenge that Toronto baseball writers Shi Davidi and John Lott faced with Great Expectations: The Lost Toronto Blue Jays Season, their 183-page book about the Blue Jays’ disappointing 2013 campaign. Fortunately for readers, these authors are gifted storytellers and superb interviewers,... Continue Reading →
Late in Full Count: Four Decades of Blue Jays Baseball (2013, Random House Canada), Jeff Blair writes that the Blue Jays “won the off-season.” After the club’s blockbuster with the Miami Marlins and their acquisition of R.A. Dickey, Blair – a Globe & Mail columnist who doubles as a radio show host on Sportsnet 590... Continue Reading →