Notes From The Nat

Busy times for the C’s, even though there’s nary a ball being pitched at The Nat at the moment.

The annual UBC Alumni vs UBC Thunderbirds ballgame was canceled on the weekend after the deluge that pounded the city made the outfield look like BizarroWorld’s version of California, but that was the sole piece of poor news for the C’s this week.

Our own team historian, Bud Kerr [seen above], was given an award last Thursday at the Vancouver Museum that has been a long time coming; a Heritage Vancouver Lifetime Membership, recognizing his contribution to preserving the history of Vancouver baseball.

According to The Sun, "To avoid having to sneak into Athletic Park as a kid in the 1940s, Kerr volunteered to be a scorekeeper with the Capilanos" - that’s a pretty tiny summary for a guy who has been involved with the game in this city as a player, staffer, fan, archivist and promoter for so long he can take you to the spot on 5th Ave where Vancouver’s long lost Athletic Park stood back in 1913 - the same spot he used to scale the fence to watch games.

C’s owners Jake Kerr and Jeff Mooney have taken a personal interest in ensuring that Bud gets the appreciation he deserves, and have not only announced they’ll be building a museum in his name at Nat Bailey Stadium, but they’re also actively assisting him in his latest campaign; to get plaques placed at the location of each of Vancouver’s old ballparks (Considering how everything made of brass seems to get stolen by scrap metal thieves these days, might I suggest they consider plastic as an option?).

While we’re on the history front, the C’s will gather several UBC baseball alumni together in the Vancouver Canadians clubhouse to recreate Jeff Francis’ old locker, from back when he played at The Nat as a UBC Thunderbird.

Francis’ old coach, Terry McKaig, won’t be there for the ceremony, as he’s on his way to Boston to watch Francis pitch in the World Series on Wednesday (and will apparently be writing about it in the Vancouver Sun), but Brooks McNiven, Derran Watts, Brent Mutis and Cavanaugh Whiteley will be there to recount stories of ‘Frank and Beans’.

Also on Francis, according to The Sun, if you’re near UBC or Delta, you might want to stop in at a pub on Wednesday:

Mahony & Sons Public House, a UBC-based sports bar, has "a bigparty" planned for Francis on Wednesday, according to owner/managerChris Mahony.

"We’re expecting pretty close to 100 people," saysMahony. "Some of Jeff’s former UBC teammates will be there, but it’s abig party for all UBC athletes. We’ve got a lot of big-screen TVs inthe bar and everybody will be watching Jeff pitch in the game. I’m sureit’s going to be a fun time."

The recently opened bar is at 5990 University Blvd., opposite UBC’s War Memorial Gym.

TheDelta Lion Pub will also host a gathering of Francis fans on Wednesday.The pub is at 11186, 84th Ave., and is close to the Francis family home.

"Jeff’smom and dad come in here to watch most of his games," saysowner/manager Mike Mahony, who is Chris Mahony’s brother. "It’s like aWorld Series game every time Jeff’s on the mound, so Wednesday’s gameis going to be special. We’re expecting a pretty big crowd, including alot of Jeff’s friends and young baseball players in this area. They’reall Jeff Francis fans."

Good times.

(Picture Caption: Former Infielder Tyler Hughes will probably be at Nat Bailey on Saturday afternoon)

Go around the Lower Mainland, and ask a bunch of people who their favourite Canadian baseball team is, and the Toronto Blue Jays’ name will pop up more than often.  Occasionally you’ll hear, "Are the Montreal Expos still around", or even a "How are the Medicine Hat Jays doing these days?".  Even more rarely than that, the Vancouver Canadians name will come into the conversation.  

Never, have I heard mention of the UBC Thunderbirds Baseball team, other than at a T-Birds game at Nat Bailey Stadium.  The T-Birds have produced numerous pro ball players, most notably Brooks McNiven, who played at Nat Bailey in July 2003 as a member of the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes, and some no-name Jeff Francis. 

There have been a few T-Birds alumni that have made the minors but have since been cut.  Those players are Connor Janes (who played for the Yakima Bears), Cory Stuart (who reached the Yankees AAA team before getting cut this season), Derran Watts (the first UBC baseball player to be drafted), Mark Zamojc who played in the Florida State League with the Minnesota Twins in 2005, and Jeff Brewer, a Mets farm-hand that got cut after reaching the Kingsport Mets in 2004.  He had a brief stint in the Northern League with the Calgary Vipers.

There is also Joe Forest, who was a NDFA of the Philadelphia Phillies.  Forest signed in April, and in his first pro year, he was 4-1 with a 3.56 ERA against the rest of his rookie-ball competition in 30 innings.  He hasn’t been cut as of October 17th.

Back to the team itself.  The annual alumni game takes place this Saturday at the Nat.  Of course, Jeff Francis won’t make it back, but C’s webcaller Brent Mutis, Hitting Coach Cav Whitely and other alumnists will be there.   Last year, there were so many turn-ups they had to make three teams.  The game goes at  1 or 2 pm, following a UBC intrasquad game.   This is one of your first chances to see this year’s team, and it should be a good one.  Back to the alums, fan favourite Johnny Yiu and Cory Stuart will probably make the haul to the Nat, as will Brooks McNiven.

I mentioned a guy named Jeff Francis earlier, and he’ll be pitching Game 1 of the World Series for the Colorado Rockies next week.  More on him closer to the start of the series. 

Eusebio and a trio of others head down south

Most Vancouver Canadians fans were shocked to see so many latin players on their teams’ roster last week, and with the arrivals of Sean Doolittle, Corey Brown and Travis Banwart, four plays were sent down to play for Oakland’s rookie team, the Arizona Athletics.  

Vancouver Sun reporter Lyndon Little wrote a piece about the Canadians in Saturday’s paper, and included were the names of those four being sent to rookie ball.

The four players moved to the Arizona Rookie League Friday were outfielder Javier James, infielder Angel Corporan and pitchers Keith Eusebio (left) and [Edgar] Tejada. Promoted to the Midwest League was outfielder Ramiro Mendez who was batting .600. Coming down from the Midwest League is outfielder Matt Sulentic.

Well, we already knew about Sulentic and Mendez but there is confirmation of the four players who have left the C’s locker room.  James was yet to make an appearance this season, and kept heading over to assistant trainer Masa Abe during warm-up on Thursday.  Tejada started Thursday’s game, and didn’t do too great, allowing four runs on eight hits in five innings.  Corporan finished his short stay with a .250 batting average after hitting an RBI-double June 21st.  Eusebio, who played last year with the C’s, pitched two innings of two-run baseball which wound him up back in the desert. 

UBC alumni making a presence in rookie

Last year, the 2006 UBC baseball program was represented by Connor Janes throughout the minor leagues.  There were two other players making their pro careers continue, Colorado Rockies southpaw Jeff Francis, San Francisco Giants prospect Brooks McNiven and Yankees system player Cory Stuart.  Janes tore up the Pioneer League after nine games, so he was moved up to Yakima where he struggled batting .197 in 61 appearances at the plate, while McNiven, Stuart and Francis each made their mark with their respective clubs.

This year, Francis continues to dominate at the major league level, while McNiven is finding his groove.  Cory Stuart was released by the Yankees AAA team in April, days before veteran lefty Ron Villone joined the club.  That left McNiven and Francis as the only two players from UBC who were still playing pro baseball.  Former UBC hurler Joe Forest signed a minor-league deal with Philadelphia, and Janes was re-assigned to the Pioneer League last week, doubling the number of UBC alumni in the minor, or major leagues.

McNiven is racking up innings as a reliever in AA, posting a 3-3 record with a 3.27 ERA in 41 innings, numbers the Terrace, B.C. native should be happy with.  Wednesday, Janes made his return to baseball with Missoula one to remember, going 2-4 with a double.  That might not seem great, but considering he waited out August and September last year, it’s good to know he’s back.  Joe Forest made his pro baseball debut this week as well, allowing one hit in three innings, while he took the win for the GCL Phillies.

Larry Cobb earning respect in position change

2006 C’s outfielder Larry ‘Corny’ Cobb has a reputation for running through walls to get to a pop-up, and that’s carrying on even now that he has switched to second base in Kane County. Scout.com ran a great piece about Corny today in which he makes it clear, he’ll take whatever hits come at him if it means making a play.

Oh, if only Oakland had two dozen more like him.

A few weeks back, I wrote a piece about how UBC baseball had managed a bit of a coup by grabbing an ex-major league hitter, former Angel and Phillie Chris Pritchett, as a part time hitting coach. 

At the time, it seemed like a very nice bonus for the Thunderbirds - Pritchett had met a Vancouver girl when he was here playing AAA ball, and so once his pro playing career was over, he came back to settle down. And, of course, since he was here, why not help out the ‘birds a little?

But there was something else that loomed on the horizon… that big, empty, yawning, vacant Vancouver Canadians hitting coach position, that remained empty even after the head coach (Rick Magnante) and pitching coach (Craig Lefferts) had been named for season 2007. 

Well, it didn’t take too long for the powers that be to catch on; today it was announced that Chris Pritchett will be the C’s new hitting coach for the coming NWL season.

Official press release, take it away!

Canadians newest coach has history at the ?Nat?

Chris Pritchett joins club as hitting coach for ?07 season 

Vancouver , B.C.  -  TheVancouver Canadians are pleased to announce that former Canadiansslugger Chris Pritchett will be back out at the ?Nat? this season asthe teams hitting coach.

Chris recently moved to Vancouver and had been helping out with the UBCThunderbird Baseball program prior to receiving his assignment from theOakland A?s.

Pritchett?s pro career had him spend parts of four (4) seasons with apair of organizations, California/Anaheim (1995; 1998-99) andPhiladelphia (2000) finishing with a .221 batting average, three (3)home runs and eleven (11) runs batted in.

Chris to locals may best be remembered by his days out at Nat BaileyStadium as he played with Vancouver for parts of five (5) seasonsdating from 1995-99.  Pritchett hit 16 home runs back in 1996 while with the C?s.  Thereason that stat may be interesting, the fact that last season here atNat Bailey, home and away teams combined for 12 home runs the entireseason.

Pritchett makes his professional coaching debut this season joining manager Rick Magnante and pitching coach Craig Lefferts on this years staff.

So let’s see: Vancouver’s coaching staff for 2007 will include a World Series pitching hero, a slugging major leaguer, and a national team coach from the World Baseball Classic… Ya think the next crop of draftees might have some stars in their eyes when they turn up to V-Town?

Rob McGowan update: The lost Hanson brother is now at $2700 on the cancer cut fundraising - that’s blown right by the initial target of $2k, and over halfway to the adjusted target of $5k! If you haven’t thrown in your $5 or $10, think of the cancer kids weeping in their emergency room beds at your scrooge-like cheapskatery, and get your donation in! 

We get emails, from fans, friends - even player’s wives!

Sue Kiger, wife of recently released A’s minor leaguer Mark Kiger, writes:

Your story is incorrect. Mark was not ?axed? by the A?s to make room for rule 5 players. Mark was not satisfied with the broken promises made many times to him by the Oakland A?s and the fact that the day that the 40 man roster was to be finalized, he was pulled off the roster and sent back to AA Midland again, therefore, Mark ASKED for his release to see if he could find a club that could help further his career. So he left on his own accord! and was quickly picked-up by the Mets organization.

Further more, Oakland was going to attempt to ?non-tender? him so they could re-sign him and he was offered good money to return to Oakland for 2007 season. he was never unemployed. and many teams showed interest and still do to this day.

 It’s always funny to me that the letters we get at NFTN that are the angriest usually emanate from blog entries that were complimentary to a player. We’ve had family and friends of players angry about all sorts of things in stories we’ve posted, and for the smallest of inaccuracies, even if they’re wedged in the middle of glowing tributes to the player, and I guess we’ll add this one to the list.

I’ve no reason to doubt a player’s wife when she says a player asked for a release, but then perhaps said player’s wife should understand that those of us who don’t live in the Kiger household only see the words "Oakland releases Mark Kiger" - we don’t get a backstory from the team, and we don’t get one from the player.

And, really, does it matter whether the player asked to be let go or not? The fact of the matter is, Oakland didn’t want him enough to keep him around on the 40-man roster, and he didn’t trust Oakland enough to start 2007 in AA ball and take his chances that he would be moved up soon.

The funny thing is, perhaps if he’d stuck around another season, he might have joined Travis Buck, Dallas Braden and Danny Putnam as AA players who have since been added to the Oakland Major League roster, instead of toiling in AA ball for the Mets.

New Canadians broadcaster and Media Honcho, Rob Fai, writes:

Hey all,

Just came across your website and have quickly become a big fan, and not just because I have been mentioned on it lol? I am thrilled to be returning to the Canadians organization and am leaving one heck of a job to do it, so I hope people can understand the commitment I hope to bring to both the booth and the department. Its been six seasons since I last called myself a ?C?, and have been really lucky to re-invent myself and my skill set in the process.

I noticed a comment about having ?big shoes to fill?. I couldn?t agree with you more. Be it Brooke and Lee in the booth, or Roger as the director, all three are legitmate stars and all will be missed. I was thrilled when Brooke called me the other day to congratulate me on the job. I am not sure if he was looking to return, but either way I thought it was a noble move by a longstanding broadcaster in this city.

I think many of us will see in the coming months that this organization is no longer what it was, I think from what I have seen it is moving rapidly towards being something very special.

I will tell you I am responsible for the 26 TEAM 1040 games, and a color man is in the works already? As for the webcasts, there is talk again of a new person for those games, and that person will have his plate full as the expectation level will be bumped by what I will ask of them to do for the media relations department while on the road. It?s not simply show up, do the cast and call it a day? It will take a rare individual to do this both on and off of the air, but the guy we are aiming for I think has that ?make up? in spades.

I hope my ?creds? are good enough for the job, I appreciate and blush at the fact you did your homework on me, but want anyone here to know they can contact me at the Nat effective the 14th of May anytime, and I?d love to chat. I am looking forward to seeing some old faces, and some new ones, and hope listeners to the game feel those ?big shoes? fit nicely with the new guy ;)

Thanks for the time,
Rob Fai

Well, that answers all of my questions pretty darn well.

Thanks for dropping us a line, Rob. We shall indeed be in touch.

Brad writes:

You sometimes mention UBC games at Nat Bailey Stadium… seriously, are they worth coming out for? 

In a word, yeah.

In more words, if you’re closer to the ballpark than Chilliwack, yeah.

In several dozen words, the games are a little different to what you’re used to. Catchers get a courtesy runner, the bats are aluminum, and the league change the rules mid-season to suit whichever coach is the biggest whiner, especially if it means teams can avoid having to come to Canada for the post-season, but the games are played hard and the hitting and pitching is most ferocious.

The sad part is, though the standard of play is high, a lot of solid UBC players get overlooked for the professional draft. Hopefully that’ll change with the rise of guys like Jeff Francis to stardom, but yeah, if you like seeing a doubleheader for pocket change, it’s worth the effort.

CJ writes:

Are the C’s going to change their logo with the new owners coming in?

Oh Lord, how I wish. I honestly think the ‘C’ logo is weak in every respect.

Firstly, because it should be a V for Vancouver, not a C for Canadians. Secondly, from a design perspective it’s just so underwhelming. Spokane has gone for the same retro look, but done it right, even going to the local Spokane tribe for input (they even have a native American version of their logo!) whereas we’ve got something that any 12-year-old with a downloaded copy of Photoshop could improve upon.

I mean, seriously, who uses little baseballs as text separators in this day and age?

When the logo for this blog is better than the logo for the team the blog supports, you’ve got problems that need addressing, and what better way to announce you’re a ‘new organization’ than to give yourselves a new look? Heck, why not give the team a new name too?

Sadly, I’ve heard no discussion of any new logo, let alone a new name. But if the new C’s owners are as smart as they appear to be, they’ll look at the cap on the Bob Brown Bear and go ‘hmm’…

Keith writes:

Lori is hot. They shouldn’t shave her head for the cancer thing because then she will be less hot.

Bald chicks don’t do it for me. Can I have her email address?

Yeah. It’s nofreakingway@crazystalker.com

There are two golden rules when it comes to NAIA baseball.

1) When you lose a boatload of seniors, you expect to get kicked around for a season or two.

2) When you play Lewis-Clark State, you expect to get kicked around for a game or two.

But the UBC Thunderbirds have been defying expectations for a few seasons now, and not only have they weathered the ‘lost seniors’ storm to be front-running the division, but they also shut-out the feared L-C Warriors yesterday in a 1-0 shocker.

Beating Lewis-Clark is hard. Shutting them out, especially when pitching by committee, is insane. Yet that’s what the TBirds did, riding a Scott Webster solo homerun in the 7th inning to a victory for the ages. 

And yet, it’ll count for squat. According to Bob Broughton of TbirdBaseball.net, third placed Albertson College are pulling some cry-baby political moves that now see UBC’s wins against Lewis-Clark State eliminated from standings calculations, which would mean the Thunderbirds need to sweep Albertson in a four-game series this weekend to retain their second place in the division.

Why second place is important is, Lewis-Clark State runs the national tournament and have no interest in running the divisional tournament, so whoever comes second gets home field advantage in the playoffs, as well as the #1 seed (which ensures they don’t meet L-C State until the finals).

Albertson has been beaten like a rented mule whenever they’ve played L-C this season, going 0-6 against them, while the TBirds have taken two off the divisional power. But the third-placed school is crying foul, claiming the rained-out games UBC had scheduled against L-C gave them standings points they shouldn’t be entitled to. And since Albertson beat UBC in head-to-head competition this year, they’re claiming the Tbirds had an unfair advantage.

Astoundingly, the NAIA seems inclined to agree, and thus the TBirds need to beat the Cry-Babies at The Nat this weekend to ensure they hold onto second place.

The Region I coaches have decided that games against L-C State will not count in the race to determine who hosts the Region I tournament. This puts Albertson in the lead with a 17-4 record; UBC is 15-6, and Concordia is 9-11 

Changing the rules after the fact is never in the best interest of honest sporting competition, and if this is allowed to stand, the entire division becomes a sad, sorry joke. In fact, should such a rule-change take place, it will only serve as more justification for UBC to leave the NAIA and pursue NCAA status.

You can hear the games (scheduled for noon and 3pm Saturday, and 11am and 2pm Sunday) via the Albertson webcast, but I’d advise heading out to The Nat if the weather is good, because four games of college ball with everything on the line is well worth a few hours of your weekend.

The UBC Thunderbirds have had the benefit of great coaching for some time now, and the results of that have shown on the field, as the powers that be try to decide whether the school should be given NCAA affiliation. 

But their coaching staff just got better with the addition of a former Major League first baseman in ex-Anaheim Angels/Philadelphia Phillies (and Vancouver Canadians) starter, Chris Pritchett. 

Says the Vancouver Sun’s Lyndon Little:

When Chris Pritchett was rocketing his way through the Anaheim Angels’ farm system, he probably figured Nat Bailey Stadium was not going to represent much more than a way station en route to a lengthy Major League Baseball career.

Yet, just a little more than a decade after playing his last game with the Triple A Vancouver Canadians, the former UCLA star finds himself back at The Nat, this time as a volunteer coach with the UBC Thunderbirds.

Two events conspired to land Pritchett back at Nat Bailey. First, his major league career stalled after he appeared in just 61 big-league games for the Angels and Philadelphia Phillies. Second, he ended up marrying a Vancouver woman he met while playing for the C’s.

Pritchett played a long time in AAA ball, trying to find that last ounce of power a first baseman needs to stick in the bigs. He never found it, though he did hit 16 dingers (and claim a .296 average) for the C’s back in 1996, when the team was a AAA club for the Angels. He also played in 1995 for the C’s (8HRs, .276 BA), and 1998 (7HRs, .259 BA).

Upon being released by the Angels, the Phillies picked him up, but with Pat Burrell competing with him for a spot he never really got much of a chance. AAA contracts for the Pirates and Cubs followed, but Pritchett ended his career in 2003 as the quintessential AAAA player - good enough to be kicked upstairs from AAA, but not good enough for the Majors.

"I have kind of a glass half-full feeling about my career," Pritchett says. "Some days I’ll wake up and I’m proud of what I’ve done. Other days I’m disappointed things didn’t work out better. I see guys I played with making big money and wishing it could have turned out differently for me. I just never hit for power and I didn’t throw well enough to play third or the outfield.

"When I’m discussing money matters with my wife I’ll sometimes say, ‘If I’d just hit a few more home runs we wouldn’t be worrying about this.’ "

Regardless of whether Pritchett reached his potential or not, one thing is for certain - the guy is a major boon to the Thunderbirds squad, says head coach Terry McKaig.

"As a former major leaguer, Chris gets a lot of respect," notes McKaig. "He’s a very positive guy. He’s been especially great having a word with a kid who has just had a bad at-bat, saying something that helps pick him up."

"I’m being real careful not to intrude too much," says Pritchett, who played a combined 253 games for the Canadians over the 1995 and ‘96 seasons and was the team’s MVP in ‘96. "But if there’s something I notice, I’m happy to help out."

It’s always nice when former C’s find their way back to town, and even nicer when they make Vancouver home. Here’s hoping that Pritchett sticks around for a while, and maybe charts a second course for the Majors - this time as a coach.

The next UBC game at Nat Bailey Stadium is a double-header against Concordia-Portland starting noon Saturday. And if that’s not enough baseball for you, there’s a second double-header on Sunday starting 11am. Stop by and say hi to a Major-Leaguer.

UPDATE: From Bob Broughton’s UBC TBirds Baseball Fanpage, I figured this was worth repeating:

A heartfelt condolence to UBC undergraduate Francine Dulong, whose mother, Jocelyne Couture-Nowak, was one of the victims in the massacre at Virginia Tech on April 16.

Ms. Couture-Nowak was a French instructor at Virginia Tech and she was teaching a class when the killer burst into the classroom and opened fire.

I also commend Ms. Dulong for making a commitment to work toward a solution to the problem of gun violence in the United States.

- Bob Broughton, Virginia Tech Class of 1972

Now, two months ago if I were asked the question, "How good will UBC’s Baseball team be this year?", my
answer would be negative.  After losing Shawn Schaefer to Junior Hockey (There’s more to it but shh), and a ton of players on the 2006roster due to their ages, I would’ve thought that if UBC could manage acouple of wins a month, it’d be a miracle.  

But now, here weare, beginning of April, and UBC is on fire!  With an 11-9 record(Which is good for Second in the Conference, including LC-State), guyslike Andrew LaFleur, Brett Murray, Doug Grant and even a couple youngguys like Jon Syrnyk and Nic Lendvoy have been key for UBC, in theirchase to repeat as NAIA Region I Champions.  

The guy whomost benefited from Shawn Schaefer’s absence, is Brendan Rolfe whoheaded into Saturday’s Double-Header against Albertson with a 3-0record and a 0.67 ERA!  Statistically (at least in most categories)he’s better than the other two starters (Grant and LaFleur), and asidefrom Toronto Freshman Greg Chong (who’s pitched in 15 less innings thanRolfe), leads the team with the best ERA.

Even if Rolfe has a0.67 ERA, or if Jon Syrnyk has 12 RBI, the real MVP for UBC is SeniorBrett Murray.  The 3B/CP has an average of .351 and has hit 3 Homers,including one at Nat Bailey Stadium against Oregon Tech.  On the otherside of the ball, Murray is 1-1 with Five saves this season, making hisfinal UBC season one to remember.  The Vancouver native has only notplayed in one game all year, but in the 17 he has played in (Onceagain, this is heading into Saturday’s action), they have all beenstarts, before making his way to the mound in the 9th.

Now,the question most people ask when there is a UBC player on fire is,will they get drafted?  For Murray (Who is comparable to Steve Kleen,the 2005 Canadian who pitched and played 1st base in College atPepperdine), the chances are slim.  Last year only One UBC player gotdrafted, Connor Janes who had one of the best seasons in UBC History,but with Murray being "Good", "Great" in some cases and "Wow" inothers, the chances aren’t as good for him as for Chris Kissock of theLc-State Warriors, but a trip to the NAIA World Series could changethat for anyone of these T-Bird players.

There are only twoplayers on this year’s UBC squad that I think could get drafted, andthey are both beside each other in your programs.  #38 and #39.  Murrayand Rolfe.  You might ask why not Doug Grant?  Or Tyler Willson? Well,the fact is Grant hasn’t been the more consistent Pitcher this season(Comparing him to Rolfe or Andrew LaFleur), and despite a great Juniorseason, Tyler Willson has yet to impress in 2007. 

JeffFrancis never appeared in the NAIA World Series with UBC, yet isenjoying a successful MLB career as we speak.  Connor Janes did appearin the NAIA World series with the ‘Birds, and is probably on a flightright now to who knows where, playing where ever the D-Backs want himin their system.  This year, will it be Murray? Rolfe? Grant? Willson?Wilkie? Kornberger?  Only time will tell…but so far UBC is off to agreat start and with the way they’re playing we could be looking at anNAIA World Series title this season!

If you ever wondered why a city the size of Vancouver doesn’t have AAA-standard pro baseball anymore, a look at the weather of the last week will give you a pretty good idea. The UBC Thunderbirds learned the harsh reality of early season ball in the Pacific Northwest the hard way, with most of their home games cancelled due to weather.

But on the upside, at least the break in play gives us a chance to catch up on things, and thanks to some fancy camerawork by HawkerRob (tip your hawkers!), that includes a chance to see how UBC handles drainage while they’re responsible for the upkeep of the outfield.

Some teams have high-priced Super Sopper machines that sponge up excess groundwater with a few passes of the field. Others have high-tech underground drainage systems that suck water down and recycle it for later use. Others have, well, a tarp.

So what does UBC have?

That’s right. They dig a trench and crack open a sewer lid. 

Of course, it would be easy to mock such a system, but the truth of the matter is, when this ballpark was last upgraded (or maintained), cracking open a drain pipe and losing half your infield dirt down a sewer was considered cutting edge stuff!

Unfortunately, Nat Bailey Stadium hasn’t been upgraded (or maintained) since 1953.

But that’s about to change. With new ownership involved with the Vancouver Canadians, we’re going to see something Vancouver baseball fans have never seen before - an actual plan. And that plan involves actual money being spent on actually good things, like a new underground outfield drainage system. And, perhaps, a roof that won’t crush 600 people in the event of an earthquake. And clubhouse showers that won’t suddenly start spewing boiling hot water whenever a player flushes a toilet.

Yes folks, the Vancouver Canadians are entering a new realm of professionalism and efficiency, the likes of which we’ve never seen before!

Look, I said "are entering", not "have entered"… 

So, what with all the changes at the Vancouver Canadians, and the recently improving weather, I decided to lock the blog for a week or so and get back to some normal life stuff.

It was sure weird to get out of the basement, change my underwear, and emerge blinking at the strange thing you surface-dwellers call the sun, but after a day or two, I kind of began to appreciate it. Makes me think there might be baseball on the horizon…

So let’s get into a brief recap of stuff that happened while I was starting a new business laying in the sun.

WES LONG GONE: Yep, that’s right - Wes Long has lived up to his nickname and been given his release by the Oakland A’s. You might remember Wes as the kid who was ripping it up in Vancouver in 2005, only to foul tip a fastball into his own face, fracturing an eye socket. The A’s sent him to all the right people and helped him get back on his feet, but the whole episode set Long back about a year in his development (you’d have to think the high and inside fastballs made him cringe a little for a while after he returned), and though he was strong in Kane County last year, he was simply not far enough up the ladder to get another season of pro ball at his age. Tough break, but hopefully he’ll try to catch on somewhere else. Thanks to Jeremy at the Roadkill Sports Blog for the heads up. Jeremy is also live-blogging UBC games and has done several daily spring training reports on ex-C’s players. He’s becoming a great source of info - can’t wait to see him unleashed on the C’s this year.

OUTFIELD FENCES MOVING SOON: The saga of the ‘have they moved or not’ routine continues, with certain journalists claiming the fences had been moved while certain beerhawkers clarified that they haven’t, but they soon will… or have been… Anyway, before the C’s season starts, we can expect a new more hitter-friendly outfield. This will mean more beat-up pitchers, more home runs, more outfielder-testing at the warning track and wall, and happier advertisers - albeit less of them (yes folks, not only are the walls coming in, they’re also coming down).

UBC THUNDERBIRDS TRAVELING ROUGH: Bob from TBirdBaseball.net tells me that there’s a nooner on at The Nat today between the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds (5-8) and the Lewis-Clark State Warriors (19-1). It’s likely to be a slaughter as the National NAIA Champs go about their business against a team decimated by the departure of a flock of seniors post 2006, but the TBirds do their best work when they’re up against it, and it would be quite the moral victory to take one of the LCS juggernaut.

However, those hoping the TBirds would be bringing out their top flight pitching staff for this series may be left wanting. According to Bob:

If you look at the schedule, [UBC] have three games the previous weekend at Concordia-Portland, and three more games the following weekend hosting Oregon Tech. [Their] plan is to give the L-C games a lower priority for [the] pitching rotation, basically conceding first place to L-C State. The deal is, L-C State doesn’t want to host the Region I tournament (they’ve got their hands full with the national tournament), so, assuming that L-C State finishes first, the second-place team hosts the Region I tournament. So, the games against Concordia and Oregon Tech are more important.

 There you have it, folks, the inner workings of the NAIA schedule writ large. It’s probably a wise move, as LWC is nasty up and down. They’ll be starting 5-0 Chris Kissock for Thursday’s game starting at 1pm, and if his win/loss doesn’t scare you, his 0.50 ERA should as hell should.

EX-CANADIANS MOVING AND SHAKING AT SPRING TRAINING: There are way too many ex-C’s to go through them all one by one at this year’s Oakland A’s spring training camp, but one that should be mentioned often is 2005 Canadians pitcher Mike ‘M&M’ Mitchell. He threw 8 scoreless innings in big league camp, and though he’s now been sent back to minor league camp, word on the street is he might be called upon to make his big league debut if a spot opens in the bullpen.

Not quite as happy is 2004 alumni Jason Windsor, who could have worked his way into the 5th spot in Oakland’s rotation with some good spring performances. Probable 5th starter Joe Kennedy has been getting eaten alive, potential replacement Shane Komine has been ordinary, as has Brad Halsey (he’s likely to start the year in AAA), so the chance was there for Windsor. Alas, he got worked, and so the question remains - who will be Oakland’s 5th starter?

The inside money is on Colorado Rockie Byung Hyun Kim, which could be bad news for 2002 Vancouver Canadian Dan Johnson. Or good news, since he might actually hit home runs in Colorado’s ballpark.

Vancouver baseball folk are a hardy band of pioneers. Back in the Triple-A days, you’d often find 1000 or so brave souls venturing into the April rain in the vein hope that a ball game might happen. Generally, if it did, it was a shortened one, but hey, beer is good, no matter what’s happening on the field (tip your hawkers, people).

Triple-A ball is long gone in V-Town now, but University of British Columbia (UBC) baseball has all but taken its place.

What’s that, you say? Not into metal bats and catchers getting automatic pinch-runners? Quit being a baby already and go to a game.

UBC ball kicked much hiney at The Nat last season, pushing the giants of Lewis-Clark State all the way to the end of the playoffs and giving those who pooh-poohed the thought of the school ever qualifying for NCAA admission plenty of reasons to think again. Thunderbirds standout and 2006 Premier’s Athletic Award winner Connor Janes was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks and had a good season in rookie ball (.375 and two home runs for Missoula) before being elevated to short season ball (.197 over 17 games), while former UBC starter Jeff Francis is doing great things in the majors after getting his start in Vancouver’s friendly confines.

But as far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t matter that the TBirds are great, or good, or even crappy (and with a freshman-heavy lineup this season, they may well be more of the latter). It’s baseball, and it’s on at Nat Bailey Stadium, and that is a good thing, no matter whether they win, lose, or get rained out.

Want more info? The RoadKill Sports Blog has a great season preview (the owner of that blog will be doing some C’s game reports for us this year, as well as some interviews for Scout.com), and TBirdBaseball.net is always a great source of game-specific info, rumors, and insider scoops. You could go to the UBC site and sign up to listen to their road games online, but just between you and I, this little black duck won’t be bothering until it’s free.

I knew about this a few weeks back, but decided against posting about it because… well, excessive publicity tends to make cool events like this no longer annual affairs, if you know what I mean.

Regardless, the University of British Columbia baseball team had their yearly reunion game this past Saturday at Nat Bailey Stadium, and just as he did the year previously, Colorado Rockies pitcher Jeff Francis turned out to play in the outfield. According to reports from the Tbirds Baseball Fanpage, he accounted for himself pretty fairly too - as did the other current pro UBC alums in attendance.

The 2006 University of British Columbia Alumni game was entertaining, and included some good defensive plays, but the star of the show was clearly Yankee farmhand and Canadian Olympian Cory Stuart.

A relief pitcher in real life, Stuart played left field and shortstop on this occasion. He got two hits, and made a couple of very good defensive plays at shortstop. UBC Assistant Coach Cavanagh Whitely said, ?Somebody should call up George Steinbrenner and let him know that there’s somebody in his organization that can hit.?

Turn-out was so good that they had to divvy the attendees into three teams - young, middle-aged and old - and just as with previous seasons, the oldies gave a good account of themselves. For a full breakdown of the day, head on over to Bob’s Tbirds Baseball Fanpage.

Hat tip to Bob Broughton for the pic of Cory Stuart above