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 3 (Voting: May 19th 12pm ET-May 23rd 10am ET)
Out of the following five choices, which one do you feel should move on to the semi-final round?
1) Manitoba wins Junior National in 2010
The Manitoba Junior All-Stars brought home the Junior (21U) National Championship in August 2010 giving their province its first national title since 1982. After winning three out of four round-robin games, Manitoba defeated Ontario 7-1 in the semi-finals before going on to upset host Trois-Riviéres 6-4 in the gold medal game. Trois-Riviéres held a slight 3-2 lead until the bottom of the 5th when Manitoba took control of the game by scoring four runs. Manitoba received solid pitching from eventual game winner Mac Batchelor (Altona, MB) and Anthony Friesen (Somerset, MB) who picked up the save.
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 Triple-A Louisville in the Cincinnati Reds system.
3) Larry Walker 1st inductee onto Baseball Canada Wall of Fame (2008)
In 2008, Baseball Canada partnered with RBC Wealth Management on the Baseball Canada Wall of Excellence – a place to recognize Canadian baseball greatness. There was little debate over who would become the first inductee as Larry Walker of Maple Ridge, BC took the honour. Walker had a distinguished 17-year MLB career with the Expos, Rockies and Cardinals winning the 1997 National League MVP and leading the Cardinals to the 2004 World Series. His career numbers are unmatched among players who have played in the big leagues from north of the border as he tallied a .313 average with 383 homers, 1,311 RBI, 2,160 hits, 471 doubles, 230 stolen bases in 1,988 games. A pair of MVP’s in Justin Morneau and Joey Votto now accompanies Walker on the Wall of Excellence, while Ernie Whitt, Ryan Dempster and Jason Bay are also members of the exclusive club.
4) Launch of NCCP
In 1974, the National Coaching Certification Program was launched in partnership with the Government of Canada, provincial/territorial governments, and national/provincial/territorial sport organizations to deliver coach education in all sports across Canada. Since that time baseball coaches across the country have been taking clinics to improve both their baseball and teaching knowledge and in turn, providing thousands of players with positive baseball experiences. Today, nearly 30,000 baseball coaches in Canada are registered at nccp.baseball.ca, a user-friendly website that provides the tools necessary to be the best baseball coach that you can be.
5) Canada dominated at 2012 WBC Qualifier
After failing to win a game at the 2009 World Baseball Classic, Canada found itself in the unenviable position of having to qualify for the 2013 event along with the Czech Republic, Great Britain and host Germany. Not only did Canada win the event, to book their ticket to the 2013 World Baseball Classic, they did so in dominant fashion winning all three of their games and outscoring opponents 38-9 in the process. Offensively, Canada had many great performers, but none more so than long-time National Teamer Jimmy Van Ostrand (Richmond, BC) who clubbed a tournament high four home runs in three games. Manager Ernie Whitt had this to say about his veteran club - “We came here knowing that we had to win three games and we accomplished our goal. I can’t say enough about this team-they’re gamers, they’re guys that play hard with pride and passion.”
