Former big leaguer Matt Stairs (Fredericton, N.B.) shares his hitting wisdom with the Western Canadian Baseball League All-Stars prior to Saturday night’s WCBL All-Star Game. Photo: Kevin Glew July 26, 2022 By Kevin Glew Cooperstowners in Canada Matt Stairs must feel at home in Alberta. The former big league slugger, who was at Seaman Stadium... Continue Reading →
But What Do I Know? . . . Scott Richmond, Tim Wallach, Joey Votto
My weekly observations and notes about some Canadian baseball stories: Congratulations to Vancouver, B.C., native and ex-Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Scott Richmond for helping the EDA Rhinos capture the Taiwan Series championship yesterday. The 37-year-old right-hander won nine games and hurled 152-2/3 innings for the Chinese Professional Baseball League club and was named the league’s... Continue Reading →
But What Do I Know? . . . Jose Bautista, Ed Sprague, John Gibbons
My weekly observations and notes about some Canadian baseball stories: • As excited as I was when Jose Bautista hit his three-run, bat flip home run in the seventh inning of Game 5 of the American League Division Series, I was almost equally disappointed to watch Bautista’s performance in the media scrum after yesterday’s loss... Continue Reading →
But What Do I Know? . . . Josh Donaldson, John Hiller, Brett Cecil
My weekly observations and notes about some Canadian baseball stories: • Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson is on pace to post a 9.2 WAR (Wins Above Replacement) this season. WAR is an all-encompassing statistic that measures the number of wins a player (taking into account their offensive and defensive contributions) adds to their... Continue Reading →
But What Do I Know? . . . Adam Dunn, Randy Knorr, Jimmy Williams
My weekly observations and notes about some Canadian baseball stories: • Remember in June 2008 when Toronto Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi was heavily criticized for saying “Do you know the guy doesn’t really like baseball that much?” about Adam Dunn? Well, Adam Dunn has decided to retire at age 34 because, well, he... Continue Reading →
2011 World Series: St. Louis Cardinals have plenty of links to Canada
While no Canadian players will be competing in this year’s World Series, there are a number of players and coaches that have spent parts of their careers in the Great White North. Here’s a list of the links that St. Louis Cardinals players and coaches have with Canada (A list with Texas Rangers Canadian links... Continue Reading →
But What Do I Know? … Thoughts on Hall of Fame voting, Bert Blyleven Canadian links
My weekly opinions, observations and rants about some Canadian baseball stories: I wasn’t surprised that Bert Blyleven and Roberto Alomar were elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame yesterday. I was shocked, however, to see Alomar’s vote totals jump almost 17 per cent. It seems some baseball writers sentenced Alomar to a year... Continue Reading →
Some Canadian links to the World Series Champion San Francisco Giants
There were no Canadian players on the World Champion San Francisco Giants, but with a little digging, I uncovered that several members of the organization have links to The Great White North: Jeff Mallett, a principal owner of the Giants, was born in Vancouver. The former Yahoo! president has been part of the Giants... Continue Reading →
Plenty of Canadian connections on Texas Rangers
They may have released Victoria, B.C. native Rich Harden earlier this month, but several players in the Texas Rangers’ starting lineups on Friday and Saturday have honed their skills in Canada. Here’s a list of the players and their Canadian connections: 1. Michael Young, 3B As I’ve written before, Young was selected by the Toronto... Continue Reading →