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OPINION: Five Famed Names for the Canadian Baseball Hall

“You have to know the past to understand the present.”

As we continue to beam about the state of baseball in Alberta, it’s important to acknowledge and celebrate our past.

It’s time for the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame to consider some of the builders who helped bring the Pioneer League and Pacific Coast League to Alberta.

Rubbing Elbows with Brooks Robinson

In the prime of his Hall-of-Fame career and fresh off a World Series championship, Brooks Robinson was serving up baseball stories in southern Alberta.

The mainstay of the Baltimore Orioles was a guest speaker in Lethbridge at a Kinsmen dinner banquet on Feb. 4th, 1967, along with teammate Dave McNally.

The third baseman was a few years removed from his American League (AL) Most Valuable Player campaign and in a few more seasons he would claim World Series MVP honours.

The Ambidextrous Ace

Opposing batters look at him like he’s from another planet, but for Nathan Van Lagen, it feels completely normal.

The 16-year-old has an arsenal that only eight players have had in the history of Major League Baseball: the ability to throw a baseball hard with either hand.

The ambidextrous hurler showed off his skills with Neutral Hills Academy at the Baseball Alberta Elite League provincial playoffs this summer.

Mask To Mound

Kyle Bloor first headed to Colby Community College thinking he would be trying to earn a spot as a catcher.

But with a log-jam behind the plate, the Lethbridge product tried his hand at pitching, and never looked back.

Now with Tennessee Wesleyan University, Bloor was named to the 2023 All-Appalachian Athletic Conference First Team.

Call to the Penner

If you would have told Ty Penner in high school or even early in his college baseball career that he would one day sign a contract with a Major League baseball team, he would have wanted to believe you.

But he admits, he doesn’t know if every bone in his body would have it was possible.

The Vauxhall Academy and UBC Thunderbird grad is still flying high after signing a free agent deal with the Philadelphia Phillies, leading to a whirlwind past few months.

2022 Season Preview: Lethbridge Bulls

We check in on the defending WCBL champion Lethbridge Bulls and their pursuit of back-to-back titles …

Bell of the Ball

He was a barnstorming beauty who gave Canadian baseball fans a glimpse of what the Negro Leagues had to offer.

That’s if you could spot him at the ballpark.

James “Cool Papa” Bell was fast … ridiculously fast. If you blinked, you just might miss him.

Dream Wevers

If baseball doesn’t work out for Ty Wevers, motivational speaking might be a good backup plan.

In chatting with the Vauxhall Academy of Baseball product, you can’t help but feel inspired by how hard work paved the way in his baseball journey.

In this full Q&A from our conversation on Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast, Wevers talks about mindset, as well as his experience at Vauxhall and his decision to continue his education and baseball career at Cloud County Community College.

In The Cards: 1994 Lethbridge Mounties

It’s said that the Mounties “always get their man.” Well, the 1994 Lethbridge Mounties rounded up at least 30 of them who were guilty of stealing bases and punching out batters.

Behold the photographic evidence, a rogues’ gallery of southern Alberta baseball players. There will never be a case of mistaken identity with this group. Murderers’ row, they were not.

Let’s take a closer look at this team set of baseball cards …

Taking Flight

In many ways, Andre Dawson embodied all that was possible for a community that opened its arms to affiliated minor league baseball.

Dawson made his professional baseball debut with the new Lethbridge Expos of the Pioneer League in 1975.

He also wore #42 in Lethbridge, a number made famous by Jackie Robinson and a baseball tournament held in Dawson’s name is held every February as part of MLB’s recognition of Black History Month.