Lethbridge Legion Legends

Guest columnist Nathan Reiter provides a look at the origins of the Lethbridge Elks and their entry into the American Legion circuit.

Nathan’s father, Scott, played for the first American Legion Lethbridge Elks team in 1981 …

Big Leaguing in Barrhead

Baseball royalty, meet small-town Alberta.

The elementary school auditorium in a community of a few thousand people, located 120 kilometres northwest of Edmonton, seems an unlikely place to rub elbows with some of the world’s best baseball players and the brightest minds in sports.

Welcome to Barrhead, Alberta in the late 1970s.

In The Cards: 1991 Medicine Hat Blue Jays

We’re not sure why, but banana yellow seemed to be a go-to colour for baseball cards in 1991.

Not only was it the hue for the MLB Fleer set, but it was also featured in the ProCards minor league set.

We sort through the Medicine Hat Blue Jays set and some of the stories of the players from that squad.

In The Cards: 1985 Calgary Cannons

There was a lot of hope in 1985 surrounding the newly-created Calgary Cannons.

The Pacific Coast League affiliate of the Seattle Mariners had just moved in from Salt Lake City and were hoping to improve on their semi-final appearance with much of the roster still in tact.

We take a look at some of those players on that roster with the baseball card set featuring 25 members of that inaugural version of the Cannons.

In The Cards: Joe’s All Stars

Baseball cards weren’t just a collectible from my childhood, they provided hours upon hours of entertainment.

Having only three channels to pick from on the family farm, my exposure to actual baseball games was pretty limited. So I had to get creative.

I set up a game on my bedroom floor and that was the first thing I thought of when coming up with my All Star selections.

Leader of the Dawg Pack

It is a baseball oasis in the middle of Canada’s prairie landscape.

In under 20 years, the Okotoks Dawgs college and academy programs have become the benchmark for success.

When looking at the path it took to get there, you can’t blame managing director John Ircandia for smiling from ear-to-ear as he looks at his own field of dreams.

We chatted with him in a recent episode of Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast to learn more about his mindset and vision going forward.

It’s Just Sports

It’s just sports.

It’s just sports that distract us from those news headlines that are too depressing to read and those everyday stresses that chip away at our happiness.

The video highlights give us something to laugh at, yell about or marvel over.

It’s just sports that teach us about time management, hard work, dedication, discipline and focus.

Historic Performance

We are still buzzing from Calgarian Mike Soroka’s historic outing for the Atlanta Braves in Game 3 of the National League Division Series (NLDS) against the St. Louis Cardinals.

The former Calgary PBF Redbirds pupil pitched seven innings of one-run baseball, allowing just two hits and no walks. The 22-year-old also struck out seven batters and, while he didn’t personally get the win, Soroka set the table for a dramatic ninth-inning comeback that earned the Braves a 3-1 victory.

During the Busch Stadium performance, the righthander put himself in the record books for several reasons.

For Love of the Game

The Lawsons are a baseball family.

It is those two components – baseball and family – that meant the most to Jim Lawson.

During his 52 years of life, Jim not only cultivated his own love of baseball in his children, he inspired a lasting fondness for the game in those who took the field with him.

Since passing away on Aug. 8th, following a bout with brain cancer, the founder of the Pro Baseball Force (PBF) Redbirds program leaves this world with a pioneering legacy that extends across Canada and all the way up to the Major League Baseball (MLB) level.

Mom’s The Word

Taylor Burns is a baseball coach and strength & conditioning coach who has impacted the lives of countless athletes in Alberta.

He is the owner and founder of Absolute Human Performance (AHP), a training facility in Edmonton.

Taylor was kind enough to write this story for us to help us celebrate all the amazing moms out there on this Mother’s Day. We thank him for his contribution – both here and in the sporting world – and we offer a big thanks to all the mothers who give us so much, so frequently.