Source: Ken Wiebe, Winnipeg Sun
Corey Koskie took a long and unlikely road from Anola to the Major Leagues and next spring, the sweet-swinging third baseman will take his rightful place in the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
Koskie spent nine solid seasons and nearly 1,000 games in the big leagues with the Minnesota Twins, Toronto Blue Jays and Milwaukee Brewers before he was forced to retire because of the lingering effects of a concussion.
Koskie was a three-sport athlete growing up, excelling also in hockey and volleyball, but against all odds he made his living in baseball.
“It’s quite an honour to be recognized for my baseball career,” Koskie said in a telephone interview from his home in Minnesota. “I’m a true believer that God had a plan for me and it’s just the way it worked out. You look at it logically and I should have never played Major League Baseball, being born and raised in Manitoba and leaving Manitoba to play at the age of 19.”
The memories from his younger days are still vivid.
“I’ll always remember going into the small towns and I didn’t play with a home run fence until I was about 16-years-old,” said Koskie, who boasts a lifetime batting average of .275 in 989 games in the majors. “We played in open fields and if you hit the ball into the gap, you hoped it would run for a little while and then you ran the bases.
“I have a lot of good memories of that.”
Koskie played for the Manitoba Youth Team in 1991 and in 1992, he helped the Elmwood Giants capture the provincial junior championship.
After one-year stints at Boone College in Iowa and the National Baseball Institute in Surrey, B.C., Koskie was drafted by the Twins in 1994.
That’s when the baseball dream started moving closer to reality.
“There were a lot of people to see me at the right place at the right time and then they gave me the opportunity,” said Koskie. “I worked my tail off and tried to get better every day.”
The improvement was obvious.
Koskie reached the majors in 1998 and was a fan favourite with the Twins before signing with the Blue Jays in December of 2004.
“My last few years didn’t end up the way I wanted them to in baseball,” said Koskie. “The Blue Jays were the team I grew up cheering for and my ultimate dream was to play for the Blue Jays. I got hurt and broke my thumb and didn’t have the year that I wanted to have there and then I got traded after one year.”
The final season with the Brewers didn’t go much better as he sustained a concussion after playing 70 games and never got into another regular season game.
The worst part was never knowing when the fog was going to lift.
“It was constant nausea and I was numb on the one side of my body,” said Koskie, who is feeling much better these days. “I was dizzy all the time and I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t exercise. Nothing. Just trying to live your day-to-day life was tough.”
Koskie suited up for Canada at the World Baseball Classic and attempted a comeback with the Chicago Cubs in spring training of 2009 but ultimately decided it was time to walk away.
“There was a lot of things I was unsure of but I was sure I didn’t want to have to deal with a concussion ever again,” said Koskie. “I knew that for a fact and that was the basis for my decision.”
Koskie and his wife Shannon have four children, which makes for a busy household.
Although he made his way to the new Target Field several times this summer, he doesn’t follow the sport as vigorously as he once did.
“My youngest is a big baseball guy, so I’ll watch it with him but I play it with my kids more than I watch it,” said Koskie.
Those being inducted along with Koskie include Andy Boehm, Doug Hamm, Scott Kwansnitza, Lee Fisher, Wes Rathwell, Bill Whitehead and Alex Turk (posthumously).
In the team category, the McAuley Blazers from 1973 to 1978 (major) and Kaleida K’s from 1974 to 1978 (small community) will go in along with the Brandon Parklane Juniors squads from 1965 to 1967 (special).
The 15th annual induction banquet and ceremony is slated for Saturday, June 4, 2011, at 5 p.m. at the Morden Recreation Centre, where the Hall of Fame and Museum is located.
For more information on tickets for the event, contact Baseball Manitoba at 925-5763.
