Kevin Glew’s Canadian Baseball History Blog
By Kevin Glew Cooperstowners in Canada Bill James, baseball's most influential statistician, ranks him as the greatest second baseman in major league history, and fans that watched Joe Morgan play at Jarry Park would probably agree. In 43 games at the old Montreal ballpark, the 5-foot-7, 160-pound second baseman clubbed seven homers and recorded a... Continue Reading →
It was Canadian Baseball Hall of Famer Terry Puhl that saved Nolan Ryan's fifth no-hitter. Manning right field for the Houston Astros, the Melville, Sask., native took off after a deep fly ball that Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Mike Scioscia clubbed to right-centre off of Ryan in the top of the seventh inning at the... Continue Reading →
By Kevin Glew Cooperstowners in Canada Longtime Montreal Expos fans won't be surprised to learn that Mike Schmidt belted his first major league home run against their beloved club. To many of them, it seemed like the Phillies star never stopped hitting home runs off of Expos hurlers during his Hall of Fame career. With... Continue Reading →
The consensus among Blue Jays fans is that Frank Thomas's tenure in Toronto was a disaster. The Big Hurt was 38 years old when he inked a two-year, $18.12-million deal with the Blue Jays on November 18, 2006. It's a contract that many Jays supporters rank as one of the worst in franchise history. But... Continue Reading →
[twitter-follow screen_name='coopincanada'] When long-time Toronto Blue Jays fans talk about Tom Glavine, the first game they're likely to mention is Game 1 of the 1992 World Series. With the Blue Jays competing in the Fall Classic for the first time, the excitement surrounding the team had reached unparalleled heights. However, Canadian baseball fans were temporarily... Continue Reading →
By Kevin Glew Cooperstowners in Canada Greg Maddux and Canadian baseball legend Fergie Jenkins have a lot in common. Both were right-handed pitchers who won Cy Young Awards with the Chicago Cubs and both are members of the exclusive 3,000-strikeout club. Both also did the No. 31 proud at Wrigley Field - so much so... Continue Reading →
He could have managed the Toronto Blue Jays forever. That's what Stephen Brunt wrote about Bobby Cox in his excellent 1996 book, "Diamond Dreams: 20 Years of Blue Jays Baseball." "He could have been to Toronto what Walter Alston was to the Los Angeles Dodgers, skipper for life," wrote Brunt. But that wasn't to be.... Continue Reading →
My weekly observations about stories around the baseball world from a Canadian perspective (Please follow me on Twitter: @kevinglewsports): - I’m willing to bet that I’m not the first Toronto Blue Jays follower to utter the sentence “Who the hell is Lance Zawadzki?” this March. Interestingly enough, the 27-year-old second baseman, who has hit .389... Continue Reading →
Canada will play their first game of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) against Italy in Phoenix, Ariz. on Friday afternoon. The big story out of the Canadian camp this year has been Russell Martin's withdrawal from the tournament. The way Martin conducted himself left a bad taste in my mouth, but I won't rehash... 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 →