OPINION: Run for the Foothills

Enough’s enough.

After years of rumours and discussion around the building of a new fieldhouse in Calgary, it’s time for council to move ahead with it instead of getting another committee to study it.

And as Joe McFarland writes, let’s also finally demolish the underutilized eyesore that has become Foothills Stadium.

Broken Bat

Sports transactions often have a lasting impact.

Edmonton Oilers fans still cringe at the thought of Wayne Gretzky being dealt to the Los Angeles Kings, while Calgary Flames fans recently witnessed the departure of star forward Matthew Tkachuk.

Baseball, though, has a history of gimmicky swaps, including the Calgary Vipers trading John Odom for 10 baseball bats in 2008.

Fisticuffs at Foothills

You can call it baseball’s Battle of Alberta, or the Fracas at Foothills Stadium, or the Cowtown Confrontation.

If you’re unfamiliar with the infamous 2006 brawl between the Calgary Vipers and Edmonton Cracker-Cats, this oral history of the event is a must read …

Too Legit to Quit

This isn’t your kid’s Little League game.

And it definitely isn’t The Show.

Somewhere in between, during this year that has resembled an episode of The Jerry Springer Show much more than it has Happy Days, is the Foothills Major Baseball Association (FMBA).

It seems fitting that this 10-team circuit playing senior men’s baseball in Calgary is one of the few leagues able to take the field in Alberta in 2020.

Foothills Feedback

Long before Sportsnet 960 The Fan radio personalities Pat Steinberg and Will Nault were making waves on the air, they were teenagers in need of summer jobs.

For both of them, their first paycheques came as a result of the innings they put in at Foothills Stadium.

Steinberg was 14 years old when a job fair at the ballpark – which was then called Burns Stadium – landed him a role with the Triple-A Calgary Cannons of the Pacific Coast League (PCL).

Sergent at Arms

A lot of players dream of getting called up to The Show.

That call never came for pitcher Joe Sergent, but he was summoned to … a show, of sorts, in 2007.

In typical independent baseball league fashion, it started with the left-handed hurler receiving a phone call from someone who had dialed the wrong number.

Alberta’s NL Dugout Connections

There was a time when if you wanted to play Major League Baseball (MLB), you were likely to make a minor-league stop in Canada first.

Either as visitors or members of the home squad, countless players in the Pioneer League or the Pacific Coast League (PCL) would find their way to Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Calgary or Edmonton.

In our second of a two-part series, we explore the coaches and managers from the National League (NL) who played in Alberta before finding their way in the majors.

Alberta’s AL Dugout Connections

Major League Baseball (MLB) may feel like it is far removed from the ball diamonds of Alberta, but if you play a quick game of six dugouts of separation you’ll discover there are plenty of coaching connections between the majors and our province.

In our first of a two-part series exploring those connections, we look at the American League squads who have former Alberta players on the payroll.

Online Silent Auction: Nov. 23-30

With the Christmas season upon us, we have just the gifts for the baseball fans in your life! Introducing the Alberta Dugout Stories Silent Auction!

The Snake Who Could Rake

They call him “The Bat from The Hat.”

And while baseball eventually delivered Drew Miller to Medicine Hat, he actually grew up in Schuler, a small town about 60 kilometres northeast of The Gas City.

Baseball fans in Calgary, meanwhile, are more likely to recognize Miller from his time with the Vipers, an independent league team that played out of Foothills Stadium between 2005 and 2011.