All In The Family

Some might have found he deserved to be on everyone’s radar a lot sooner.

But with winning Baseball Alberta’s Midget AAA Player of the Year award, Calgary’s Ben Prediger is turning heads.

As it turns out, the family name is synonymous with sports.

Extra Innings: Let’s Get Down to Bidness

We’re just having too much fun with our online silent auction, so we’ve decided to send it to extra innings.

Here’s what we’ve done. Those who placed winning bids from our original auction have been notified and will be sent their prizes soon. We have eliminated those items from our shopping list and updated the auction. Fear not, there’s plenty of fantastic merchandise still up for grabs!

The “extra innings” portion of the silent auction will end at midnight (MST) on Friday, Dec. 7th.

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!

Catch & Release

It was a bittersweet World Series win by the Boston Red Sox for Calgarian Jordan Procyshen. The 25-year-old catcher, a graduate of the Dawgs Academy in Okotoks, was released by the Red Sox on Aug. 2nd after a five-year journey through Boston’s minor-league system.

In that time, the 14th-round selection in 2014 traveled from Greenville, South Carolina to Lowell, Massachusetts to Salem, Virginia to Portland, Maine. He played Single-A and Double-A baseball in the South Atlantic League, the New York-Pennsylvania League, the Carolina League and the Eastern League.

Procyshen saw plenty of teammates come and go during that time, including players he watched excel during this Major League Baseball (MLB) postseason. But the Northern Kentucky University alumnus didn’t officially become a free agent until the World Series wrapped up.

State of Alberta’s Game

The success stories of baseball in Alberta have been well-documented.

From Mike Soroka and Erik Sabrowski to Nicole Luchanski and Madison Willan, baseball has been top of mind for many.

But as Baseball Alberta’s Darren Dekinder tells us, you can trace a lot of the success back to the grassroots.

Welcome to the Ohtani Sho

Two-way beast Shohei Ohtani looked unstoppable at the plate and on the mound at times with the Los Angeles Angels in 2018.

But before he was an international superstar, some Canadian baseball players got the better of him. And it was a Spruce Grove, Alberta pitcher who picked up the win over Ohtani.

Talkin’ Alberta Baseball

After more than a year of writing stories about baseball in our province, we started talking about how to bring you even more.

One of the things identified early on was a podcast. And while the baseball season might be over, that doesn’t mean we’re going to slow down.

In fact, Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast is our way of keeping the conversation going year-round.

Familiar World Series MVPs

The World Series MVP award recognizes the most clutch performers in baseball.

Over the years, the winners of the award have included several players who once called Alberta home.

Here’s our look at some former Pacific Coast League and Pioneer League talents who saved their best play for the World Series.

Last Of The Baby Jays

Erik Kratz represents the end of an Alberta era. He is the last active player in Major League Baseball who spent time with the Medicine Hat Blue Jays.

He was part of the last Pioneer League team to come through Athletic Park in 2002.

We caught up with his old manager Rolando Pino to talk about Kratz and his improbable journey to baseball folk hero.

Head of the Class: Summary of 2018 Alberta College Players

With the summer season behind them, many Alberta baseball players have headed south for a year of college play in the United States.

While these athletes are settling in – hitting the books, spending time at the gym and running around the ball diamonds for practices and exhibition play, as the weather permits – we thought this was a good time to look back at the footprint of Alberta players who attended American colleges and universities during the 2018 season.

TALES OF BASEBALL