Kinsella at the Bat

Long before author William Patrick Kinsella ever dreamt about baseball in Iowa cornfields, he was a stimulus-starved child growing up in rural Alberta. What he lacked in local events and community activities as a homeschooled farm kid near Darwell – 75 kilometres northwest of Edmonton – Kinsella made up for using his imagination.

That creativity served him well as a writer, as William Steele notes in his new biography, Going the Distance: The Life and Works of W.P. Kinsella. The book provides a comprehensive look at the man made famous for his 1982 novel Shoeless Joe, which was the basis of the seminal baseball movie Field of Dreams.

Here is an excerpt from Going the Distance …

Here’s to you, Mr. Robinson

It’s not quite as iconic as the Brooklyn Dodgers hat that we associate with Jackie Robinson.

But for one night anyway, Robinson was kind enough to trade in his baseball cap for a white cowboy hat.

Just two months after winning his first and only World Series – which was also the first and only title the Brooklyn Dodgers captured – Robinson found himself in Calgary and, well, he was introduced to a folksy Alberta tradition.

Five Oscar Worthy Movies We Like

It’s Oscar weekend in Los Angeles and – while Hollywood’s best and brightest gather to hand out Academy Awards – we thought this would be a good time to look at some of our favourite films that have been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

In the category of Oscar-nominated movies containing some baseball content and some sort of ties to Alberta, here are the nominees …

Helicopters, Cows, Horses and the Hall of Fame

The road to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame can sometimes go through some unexpected places. For Oakland native Lloyd Moseby, it might have felt like an episode of “The Amazing Race” on his way to Medicine Hat.

Digging our Dugout

With the holiday season upon us, we wanted to reflect on what has been a tremendous start to Alberta Dugout Stories, and also give you a glimpse into what’s to come in 2018.

World Series ring fit for former Trappers catcher

20 years after A.J. Hinch played a major part in the Edmonton Trappers’ second-straight PCL title, he helped bring a World Series championship to Houston.

Medicine Hat’s Mystery Infielder

Untangling the web of a secret life almost built by former big leaguer Billy Hulen, who unknowingly fled to Medicine Hat to keep playing baseball.

Slugfest on the South Saskatchewan

We look back at the anniversary of a record-setting night in Medicine Hat, where the hometown Blue Jays outlasted the Great Falls Dodgers in a game that had a football score and kept baseball fans talking for years.

Alberta Kid with an American Arm

An Alberta Sports Hall of Famer still holds the Guinness World Record for longest baseball throw: 60 years later.

Fantastic Mrs. Fox

One of Alberta’s tiniest communities is home to one of baseball’s biggest stars of yesteryear: Helen Nicol (Fox).