Kevin Glew’s Canadian Baseball History Blog
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 →
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 →
He’s widely considered the best third baseman ever. From 1955 to 1977 with the Baltimore Orioles, Brooks Robinson was named to 18 all-star teams, won 16 Gold Glove awards, slammed 268 homers and was a two-time World Series champion (1966 and 1970). For his efforts, the gregarious Arkansas native was elected to the National Baseball... Continue Reading →
In recent years, British Columbia has become a hotbed for baseball talent. Current major leaguers Justin Morneau (New Westminster, BC), Jason Bay (Trail, BC), Ryan Dempster (Gibsons, BC), Rich Harden (Victoria, BC), Jeff Francis (North Delta, BC) and Blake Hawksworth (North Vancouver, BC) all hail from Canada’s western-most province. But 55 years ago, Bob Alexander... Continue Reading →
In 2008, I had the opportunity to interview Vancouver, B.C., native Dave McKay. He was the only Canadian in the Toronto Blue Jays lineup in their first game on that snowy day on April 7, 1977. McKay would later play for the Oakland A's and has now served on Tony LaRussa's coaching staff for close... Continue Reading →