While Trail, B.C.’s Jason Bay is set to start in left field for the National League All-Stars, July 9 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, four other Canadians will participate in Minor League All-Star Games the same week.
Bay will play in the All-Star game for the second consecutive season after having won the 2004 National League Rookie of the Year Award. The 6’2”, 200-pound Bay is batting .283 with 20 homeruns and 60 RBI this season with the Pittsburgh Pirates and has established himself as one of the most complete outfielders in Major League Baseball.
"It's been surreal," said Bay who will be making hit first-ever start in the mid-season classic. "It is an unbelievable thrill for me. I'm probably going to be a fan again, just like I was last year. To do it here in Pittsburgh with Freddy is going to be awesome."
Two more members of the Pittsburgh Pirates organization have been selected to participate in the Eastern League All-Star Game. In his first season as a manager at the Double-A level, Tim Leiper (Ottawa, Ont.), who has been selected to manage the South Division in the Eastern League All-Star Game, has led the Altoona Curve to a 48-33 record thus far this season. Leiper has also served as a coach on Baseball Canada’s National Senior Team for four consecutive seasons, having helped the squad at the 2003 Olympic Qualifier, the 2004 Olympic Games, the 2005 CONCEBE Baseball Regional Olympic Qualifier and the 2006 World Baseball Classic.
Meanwhile, Curve first-baseman and two-time Baseball Canada national team member Simon Pond (North Vancouver, B.C.) will also represent the South Division at the Eastern League All-Star Game. Pond, who represented Canada at the 2000 World Senior Championship and the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, is batting .295 with 51 RBI and 31 extra-base hits this season.
The Double-A Southern League All-Star Game will also feature a pair of Canadians – George Kottaras (Markham, Ont.) and Joey Votto (Mississauga, Ont.) who have also been selected to play in the MLB Futures game as part of the Major League All-Star Game festivities at PNC Park.
Kottaras, who will represent the South Division, is batting .273 with 8 homeruns, 19 doubles and 33 RBI 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.
Votto, a two-time Baseball Canada national team member, is batting .326 with 17 homeruns, 53 RBI, 28 doubles with the 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.
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