Baseball Canada’s 50 for 50 contest is designed to find the top moment or story in the 50 year history of the organization.
Week 2 (Voting: May 12th 12pm ET-May 16th 10am ET)
Out of the following five choices, which one do you feel should move on to the semi-final round?
1) Ontario dominates 2013 Nationals (6 gold, 1 silver, and 1 bronze)
When you look at the medal standings at the end of Baseball Canada’s National Championships each summer, chances are you will find Ontario teams at or near the top of most events. This was certainly the case in 2013 as Ontario dominated the competition winning medals in all seven National Championship events they entered including six gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze medal that they could proudly display at their Cambridge offices. Gold medals were won at both the Bantam Boys and Bantam Girls events, Senior Women, Midget and Junior. Senior Men saw host Windsor claim gold, while Ontario’s second entry (Mississauga Southwest) won bronze. At the Canada Games in Sherbrooke, Ontario took home the silver medal.
2) 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’.
3) Umpire Stu Scheurwater makes MLB debut (April 2-14)
Regina native Stu Scheurwater realized his dream of umpiring in the big leagues on April 25th, 2014 working second base in a game between the Colorado Rockies and LA Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. For Scheurwater, the opportunity came after a long grind working his way up the professional ranks in the minor leagues. Scheurwater gives credit to Baseball Canada’s umpiring program for helping to get his career started saying that ‘I owe a lot to that program and a lot of the things that are taught in the Canadian program are what we’re teaching in professional baseball’. Scheurwater worked the 2005 Baseball Canada Cup in Medicine Hat and the 2006 Junior (now 21U) National Championship in Guelph.
4) First true National Championship (1973, Midget in Barrhead, AB)
The 1973 Midget National Championship was held in Barrhead, Alberta and featured teams from Victoria, BC; Medicine Hat, AB, host Barrhead, AB, Melville, SK; Cardale, MB; Niagara Falls, ON, and Moncton, NB. The Melville Elks, managed by Frank Puhl, won the tournament. Frank's son, Terry Puhl, was a leader on the team on went on to a successful Major League career with the Houston Astros. In the words of the Melville Advance, the win put Melville on the map as a baseball city. The 1973 Melville Elks Midget National Champions were inducted into the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame in 1993 and the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame in 1999.
5) Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins coaches at 1987 Pan Am games
Canada’s only member of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown (Inducted in 1991), Fergie Jenkins (Chatham, ON), lent his expertise to the National Team in 1987 when they competed in the Pan Am Games in Indianapolis. Jenkins’ pitching staff included future big-leaguers Denis Boucher and Rhéal Cormier as Canada finished fourth, falling 12-2 to Puerto Rico in the bronze medal game. Jenkins was a three-time MLB All-Star and won the 1971 National League Cy Young Award as a member of the Chicago Cubs. Jenkins had two stints with the Cubs and also spent time with the Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies and Texas Rangers compiling a career won/loss record of 284-226.
