Baseball Canada’s 50 for 50 contest is designed to find the top moment or story in the 50 year history of the organization.
Starting with 50 stories/moments, we are now down to the final six.
You can have a say in deciding which moment or story from semi-final #2 will join Canada wins gold at 1991 World Youth Championship in a head-to-head final next week to determine the contest winner.
Semi-final #2 (Voting: July 21st 12pm ET-July 25th 10am ET)
1) Canada wins bronze at 1999 Pan Am Games
If there was one sport that captured the hearts and minds of those in Winnipeg, hosts of the 1999 Pan Am Games, it was baseball and a group of scrappy Canadians led by Manager Ernie Whitt. Whitt was at helm of Team Canada for the first time as Manager, a position he still holds today, and professional players were used for the first time. For many Canadian baseball fans, the event was an introduction to players like Ryan Radmanovich, Andy Stewart, Todd Betts, Steve Green, Mike Meyers and Stubby Clapp. Clapp instantly became a crowd favourite in Winnipeg gaining popularity from his game-winning hit over Team USA in extra innings to a round-robin victory over Cuba before Canada nearly upset the international powerhouse in the semi-finals. In the end, Canada triumphed over Mexico 9-2 in the bronze medal game and left a lasting legacy in the city known simply as ‘The Peg’.
2) Loewen/Francis taken in Top 10 in 2002 MLB Draft
The 2002 Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft will forever be remembered as the year that a pair of left-handed pitchers from BC was selected among the top 10 picks. Adam Loewen, then a member of the Junior National Team, became the highest Canadian baseball player ever drafted when the Baltimore Orioles took him 4th overall. Five picks later the Colorado Rockies used the 9th overall selection to grab Junior National Team alumni Jeff Francis out of the University of British Columbia. Loewen reached the big leagues in 2006, but decided to retire from pitching after suffering multiple elbow problems, and re-focus his career as a position player. In 2011 he made it all the way back to the big leagues as an outfielder with the Toronto Blue Jays. Francis made his MLB debut in 2004 and has spent nine seasons in the big leagues with the Rockies, Royals and Reds. In 2007 he won 17 games with the Rockies leading them to the World Series where he was the Game 1 starter against the eventual champion Boston Red Sox. Loewen is currently a member of the Philadelphia Phillies organization, while Francis is pitching for the New York Yankees.
3) Canada wins 2011 Pan Am Games gold medal
On October 25, 2011 a group of 24 players along with four coaches did something that no Senior Canadian team before had ever done – win a gold medal at a major international baseball competition. The 2-1 victory over the United States was a special moment for many long-time National Team players and especially members of the coaching staff including Manager Ernie Whitt who said this following the gold medal game: “I’m a US citizen but I feel like I’m a Canadian at heart. I couldn’t be more proud of these kids and more proud to have Canada written across my chest.” Whitt’s gold medal game starter Andrew Albers gave up a run in the first and then went on to throw 6 2/3 innings and allowed six hits, while striking out eight. With one-out in the sixth, Jimmy Van Ostrand’s double down the right field line scored two and Scott Richmond came out of the bullpen to retire seven straight to preserve the victory. The entire team was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in June 2012.
4) BC’s dominance at Baseball Canada Cup-20 medals in 24 years
When looking through the 24-year history of the Baseball Canada Cup, one province stands above the rest in terms of titles won and overall medal count. That province, British Columbia, has ten Baseball Canada Cup titles to their credit and an overall medal count of 20 – impressive when you think that the event has only been around for 24 years. BC took home their first Canada Cup title in Ottawa in 1993 with a roster featuring future big leaguers Ryan Dempster and Kevin Nicholson. After winning bronze in 1994, BC went on a run of three titles in three years from 1995-1997 all under the guidance of Manager Bill Green. In fact, Green was the only Manager the team new from 1989 to 2006 and again in 2009 and 2010. Just as impressive as their run of overall titles and medals won, BC has produced an equally impressive amount of talent including the likes of Jason Bay, Justin Morneau, Jeff Francis, Adam Loewen, Brett Lawrie and Mike Saunders.
5) Canada qualifies for 2004 Athens Olympics
If a country from the Americas wanted to partake in the 2004 Athens Olympics, they had the very difficult task of getting by either Cuba or the United States, two of the world’s greatest baseball powerhouses. Only two teams were to qualify from the Americas, and Canada managed to do so against all odds. The qualifying tournament was held in Panama in November of 2003. Canada stepped up at the right time, taking advantage of a rare moment of vulnerability from their southern neighbours. Team USA, in a sudden-death quarter-final, was eliminated by Mexico in a 2-1 loss. The door was therefore wide open for team Canada to clinch its first Olympic berth since 1984, and they didn’t need to be given another opportunity. The semi-final game against Mexico ended with a convincing 11-1 victory, and Canada was en route to its first Olympic appearance in nearly 20 years. Team Canada would later prove that they deserved a place amongst the best baseball countries in the world with a respectable fourth place finish in Athens.
