Arguably the face of the Canadian Senior National Team, Stubby Clapp spent last season as a player-coach with the Edmonton Cracker Cats of the Northern League. Now he is going to take on the latter role on a more full-time basis in another organization. Clapp has been named the new hitting coach for the Rookie-Class Greeneville Astros of the Appalachian League. The Windsor, Ontario native hit .323 with one homer and 34 RBI in 79 games for the Cracker Cats last season. The 34-year-old has represented Canada on numerous occasions over his successful career including the 1991 World Junior Championships, the 1999 Pan-Am Games in Winnipeg, and the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens and the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006. Clapp has also played at every level professionally, including a 23 game stint with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2001. Clapp will be joined by a fellow Canadian on the Astros staff as former Senior National Team Coach Orv Franchuk was recently named hitting coordinator.
Baseball Canada is in the process of revamping its coaching certification program in order to give able coaches more effective training to get the tools they need to develop and create better resources to suit their needs. “We’re looking to change the way we offer the program,” says André Lachance, Manager of Baseball Operations with Baseball Canada. “We want to ensure that athletes receive the most competent coaching.” “Before we would give an eight hour class, give (the coaches) a certificate, and tell them ‘ok, go coach.’ Now we’re going to have an evaluation process we didn’t have before and evaluate each competitive coach’s qualifications,” adds Mr. Lachance. Baseball Canada, along with the provincial associations, is holding meetings to discuss the transition into the new program. They are also looking to help improve communication between program facilitators and coaches. “We’re looking to improve the discussion between the facilitator and the coach and only with better discussion is there going to be improvement,” says Mr. Lachance. The new coaching training program will help advance coaching development, which in turn would advance player development. With that said, Baseball Alberta is in the process of implementing a new strategy for athlete development to help better fit their needs. Through the Long Term Athlete Development program, the provincial association is looking to put in place a pitch count system rather than an innings pitched system to help better develop pitchers in the future. “We’re trying to give (pitchers) progression as far as limiting pitches early on and giving them a certain amount of required rest,” says Mark Randall of Baseball Alberta. “This is more of a prescription as to what they should be doing throughout the season.” “Bottom line is you’re going to protect the athlete and develop more pitchers,” adds Mr. Randall.
With Pitchers and Catchers set to report Major League Spring Training next week. There are some Canadians who will be in camp in the upcoming weeks to keep an eye out for. Also, look out for a up and coming Canadian talent in this summer’s Major League Baseball Draft. Please note: all of the rankings and reports were compiled by Baseball America. First baseman Joey Votto, from Toronto, Ontario is ranked third in the Cincinnati Reds’ Top Prospects coming into the season. Votto is also ranked as the Best Power Hitter and Best Strike-Zone Discipline on the Reds’ Best Tools list. Although signed by the Reds as a catcher, Votto is seen as Cincinnati’s first baseman of the future, and the very near future at that. He is projected to crack Cincinnati’s lineup no later than September of this season and is expected to stay once he gets there. Last season, Votto tore it up for Double-A Chattanooga hitting .319 (.547 slugging percentage) with 22 homers and 77 RBI, also adding 24 stolen bases on his way to earning the Southern League MVP. North Vancouver, B.C. native Blake Hawksworth missed significant time due to injury in 2004 and 2005, but had a remarkable comeback year in 2006. The right-handed pitcher split his time last season between Single-A Palm Beach and Double-A Springfield in the St. Louis Cardinals organization where he went a combined 11-4 with a 2.93 ERA in 27 starts. Hawksworth is ranked fourth on the Cardinals’ Top Prospects list prior to 2007 and is also ranked as having the Best Changeup in the organizations’ Best Tools list. His injuries (bone spurs in his right ankle and a partially torn labrum) knocked his progress off track, but he seems to have regained his touch after last season. Philippe Aumont of Gatineau, Quebec is a 6’7”, 225 pound right-handed pitcher ranked 32nd in the Top 100 High School Prospects list. He’s projected to go high in the upcoming Major League Baseball Draft, joining the likes of Adam Loewen and Jeff Francis who were both selected in the first round in 2002. “If it’s the first round, good. Or the second round, that’s fine too,” says the 18-years-old Aumont of his draft status in a recent interview in the Ottawa Citizen. “I want to compete. I just want to play and compete.” With a 90 plus mph fastball and a dominant mound presence, one can expect big (pardon the pun) things from Aumont.
Baseball Canada is proud to unveil a new logo for its 2007 season of the Rally Cap Program. The new logo is meant to increase awareness of the Rally Cap Program as well as create an identifying symbol for players and coaches. The Rally Cap Program was established in 2005 and was developed using existing baseball initiation programs, as well as adding new ideas in order to create increased interest for players. It is also fitting the new Long Term Athlete Development model of Baseball Canada. Rally Cap’s goal is to create an environment in which children and adults can have fun with baseball; teach baseball skills, rules and strategy to our players; model and teach competitiveness with an emphasis on good sportsmanship and promote increased self esteem among Rally Cap children and adults. For additional information on the Rally Cap Program, please visit the Development section of our website and click on the Rally Cap link.
