By Kevin Glew Cooperstowners in Canada Former Colorado Rockies ace Jeff Francis has been elected to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. The Vancouver-born left-hander, who’s the only Canadian to start Game 1 of a World Series, will be inducted in a ceremony at the Hall of Fame grounds in St. Marys, Ont.,... Continue Reading →
Canadian MLBers you might not have heard of . . . Bob Alexander
Vancouver native Bob Alexander pitched in four games for the Baltimore Orioles in 1955. Photo: The Evening Sun (Baltimore) By Kevin Glew Cooperstowners in Canada Bob Alexander was the very definition of a journeyman professional pitcher, toeing the rubber for no less than 17 teams in 18 seasons. But the crafty right-hander’s resume does boast... Continue Reading →
But What Do I Know? . . . Aaron Sanchez, Dave Stieb, Casey Janssen
My weekly observations and notes about some Canadian baseball stories: For the time being Aaron Sanchez will be part of a six-man starting rotation for the Toronto Blue Jays to keep his innings count down and preserve his arm for the future. But just how much have times changed when it comes to safeguarding young... Continue Reading →
Ex-Expos: Whatever happened to? . . . Jim Gosger
Canadian baseball fans are most likely to remember Jim Gosger for his tenure with the Montreal Expos, but it was his performance in Toronto 50 years ago that earned him his first major league starting assignment. Now a spirited, kind-hearted, 72-year-old living in Port Huron, Mich., Gosger has fond memories of his 1965 season with... Continue Reading →
Bell and Raines to headline Canadian ball hall’s class of 2013
Rob Ducey, Tom Cheek and Nat Bailey will also be honoured in a ceremony to take place at 11 a.m. ET on Saturday, June 29 on the museum’s ceremonial grounds in St. Marys Courtesy of http://www.baseballhalloffame.ca St. Marys, Ont. – While George Bell was belting 47 home runs en route to the American League MVP... Continue Reading →
But What Do I Know? … R.A. Dickey, Tim Raines, Alan Ashby
My weekly observations about some Canadian baseball stories (Please follow me on Twitter: @kevinglewsports): With the acquisition of knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, Toronto Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos has acquired the 2012 National League Cy Young Award winner (Dickey), the player with the NL’s highest batting average in 2012 (Melky Cabrera, .346) and the 2011... Continue Reading →
But What Do I Know? … Russell Martin, Chris Carpenter, Champ Summers
My weekly opinions, observations and rants about some Canadian baseball stories (Please follow me on Twitter: @kevinglewsports): Scott Crawford, director of operations at the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in St. Marys, Ont., is excellent at pointing out the milestones of Canadian players. On Friday evening, Montreal native Russell Martin played in his 29th... Continue Reading →
Canadian Free Agents – Jeff Francis
Vancouver, B.C. native Jeff Francis became a free agent last Wednesday when the Colorado Rockies declined to exercise his $7-million option for 2011. Plagued by shoulder woes for the past two seasons, the Canuck southpaw, whose 55 career victories make him the winningest left-hander in Rockies history, is hoping to stay in Denver. MLB Trade... Continue Reading →
But What Do I Know? … John Buck, Kevin Gregg, Sparky Anderson
My weekly opinions, observations and rants about some Canadian baseball stories: All this talk about John Buck striking it rich on the free-agent market with a multi-year deal seems far-fetched. Sure, the Jays catcher hit 20 homers this year, but he’s a .243 career hitter who’s average defensively. I appreciate that he had a... 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 →