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.

The Ace is Dealing

If you can’t find Josh Burgmann at the ballpark, check the casinos because he is dealing this season.

The 6-foot tall, 205-pound sophomore pitcher from British Columbia has put together a stellar campaign thus far for the University of Washington Huskies of the Pac-12 Conference.

Over seven starts, the righthander has hurled 46.2 innings, racked up 59 strikeouts, picked up three wins and posted an earned-run average of just 1.54. Not a bad stat line for the graduate of the Vauxhall Academy of Baseball, who recently recorded a career-high 13 strikeouts against Oregon State.

Burgmann was kind enough to make time for Alberta Dugout Stories recently.

Framing Up in Florida

Ayden Makarus wanted to be a goalie in hockey.

But his father made him a deal that if he played baseball, he could be a catcher.

Now the Airdrie, Alberta native is taking his game to a whole new level with Baseball Canada’s Junior National Team at Spring Training in Florida.

Trap Game

Edmonton baseball fans have long hoped for a return of the Trappers to RE/MAX Field and now they finally have it.

No, not those Trappers – not the Triple-A team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) that served as a stepping stone for aspiring major leaguers from 1981 through 2004.

The Edmonton Collegiate Trappers, an expansion franchise in the Canadian College Baseball Conference (CCBC), are making their league debut this season and head coach Ethan Elias couldn’t be more excited about bringing a new form of spring baseball to the provincial capital.

The Baseball Brat

There is a little confusion over where T.J. Bennett is really from.

As it turns out, he was born in Lethbridge but didn’t spend a whole lot of time here.

The reason: his father was a baseball coach for a new Pioneer League team in 1992. That background gave us context on how the 26-year-old has lived his baseball life.

Tokyo Fan Club

It was a contingent of Hall-of-Fame baseball talent that Western Canada had never seen before and hasn’t seen since.

When Major League Baseball (MLB) stars descended upon Alberta in October of 1934 on their way to Vancouver to board a ship for Japan, the group of legendary players included Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Lefty Gomez, and Moe Berg.

The only thing more compelling than the celebrity aura they brought to each stop was the newspaper ink they generated on their 19-game barnstorming tour of North America, which included 12 contests in Canada, in the lead up to their Asian tour.

Wall-to-Wall Coverage

In an effort to track how some of his son’s friends were doing in college baseball state-side, Kevin Wall created the CB Players website.

It’s now turned into a place many fans, coaches and players turn to for information about Canadians (and Albertans) doing great things in the United States.

Great Expectations

“I want to be a first-team All-American. And I want to get drafted in the top ten rounds. Those are really my only two goals.”

Former Okotoks Dawgs utilityman Matt Lloyd wants to put 2018 behind him and has his sights set on proving why teams shouldn’t have overlooked him in the MLB Draft.

Here’s the Q&A from our conversation with him for Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast.

Flame Thrower

No one can ever accuse Jarome Iginla of choosing the wrong sport.

As a two-time Olympic gold medalist and a player who amassed 625 goals and 1,300 points over his National Hockey League (NHL) career, the former Art Ross Trophy winner can sleep soundly knowing that the work boots that fit him best had steel blades on the soles.

But that’s not to say that “Iggy” – as he became known to hockey fans – didn’t have options when it came to his athletic pursuits. The product of St. Albert was just as comfortable in baseball cleats as he was in skates when he was growing up, and those who witnessed what he was capable of on the diamond say he could have had a future in baseball if he chose that route.

TALES OF BASEBALL