Led by hall of famer Ferguson Jenkins (Chatam, Ont.) as the World Team’s manager, first baseman Joey Votto (Mississauga, Ont.) and catcher George Kottaras (Markham, Ont.) will compete against the United States Team at the Major League Baseball Futures game, July 9.
The Futures Game, which will be held in conjunction with the Major League Baseball All-Star game festivities at PNC park in Pittsburgh, will feature 50 of the top prospects in baseball as identified by MLB, MLB clubs and Baseball America.
Votto, a two-time Baseball Canada national team member and Cincinnati Reds prospect, is batting .315 with 14 homeruns, 46 RBI, 23 doubles and 33 walks in 72 games with the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts this season. The 6’3”, 220-pound 22-year old represented Canada at the 2005 World Cup of Baseball and the 2005 CONCEBE Baseball Regional Olympic Qualifier, being selected to the all-star team in both tournaments.
Kottaras, one of three Canadian catchers playing in the San Diego Padres system, is batting .273 with 8 homeruns, 17 doubles, 27 RBI and 31 runs scored for the Double-A Mobile Baybears. Early in his professional career while playing Single-A baseball for the Fort Wayne Wizards in 2004, Kottaras, who has Greek ancestry, joined the Greek National Baseball Team at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.
Jenkins is the only Canadian to be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The 1971 National League Cy Young Award winner and three-time all-star, finished in the top-10 in wins nine times over his 19-year career with the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers and Boston Red Sox from 1965 to 1983. He ranks 11th all time in strikeouts (3192), 21st in Games started (594), 21st in shutouts (49), 26th in innings pitched (4500.7) and 27th in wins (284).
All three Canadians who played in the Futures Game in Detroit last year, were called up to the Major Leagues this season – Russell Martin by the Los Angeles Dodgers, Adam Loewen by the Baltimore Orioles and Scott Mathieson by the Philadelphia Phillies. In fact every Canadian ever to be selected to the Futures game has gone on to log time in the Major Leagues.
Canadians to have played in the MLB Futures Game
1999: Chris Mears (Ottawa, Ont.), Aaron Myette (New Westminster, B.C.)
2000: Aaron Myette
2001: Erik Bedard (Navan, Ont.)
2002: Erik Bedard, Justin Morneau (New Westminster, B.C.)
2003: Rich Harden (Victoria, B.C.), Shawn Hill (Georgetown, Ont.), Pierre-Luc Laforest (Hull, Qué.), Scott Thorman (Cambridge, Ont.)
2004: Justin Morneau, Jeff Francis (North Delta, B.C.)
2005: Adam Loewen (Surrey, B.C.), Scott Mathieson (Aldergrove, B.C.), Russell Martin (Chelsea, Qué.)
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