When Reno Lizzi first brought professional baseball to Lethbridge, little did he know he was on a collision course with the team he grew up idolizing.
Over the course of the next four years, the Lethbridge Dodgers would claim three Pioneer League championships under manager Gail Henley.
Read More Dodger DynastyThat one stings.
Heartbreaking, gut wrenching, soul crushing … it was all of those things. And it was the type of loss that will linger for a very long time.
We take a look back at a memorable World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays … and the ripple effects felt from coast to coast to coast.
Read More Opinion: Jays Go DeepThe Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers bring championship pedigrees to their 2025 battle for a World Series title.
The Jays won Major League Baseball’s top prize in 1992 and 1993, while the Dodgers have eight championships, including one from their time in Brooklyn.
There was a time – in the 1980s and 1990s – when Pioneer Baseball League squads from Medicine Hat and Lethbridge contributed to the ultimate success of their parent clubs in Ontario and California.
Read More Hatching Jays and Building A Bridge to L.A.It’s October, which means it’s time for Major League Baseball playoffs.
The Toronto Blue Jays are out of it.
The Montreal Expos are long gone.
And it feels like Calgary pitcher Mike Soroka and the Chicago White Sox have been out of the playoff hunt since spring training.
What’s an Alberta baseball fan supposed to do?
Read More MLB Postseason Ties to Alberta“What’s your ‘why?’”
It’s a very philosophical question from Jordan Procyshen, who admits his answer has changed on an almost-yearly basis since he started his professional baseball journey in 2014.
Fresh off what he calls a “rollercoaster” couple of years, the Calgary native is beaming as his latest answer is nearly ready to arrive – his wife, Lauren, is pregnant with their first child.
Read More The Consummate ProThere were few things left for Fernando Valenzuela to achieve in baseball by the time the 1990s rolled around.
His resumé included a Cy Young Award, Rookie of the Year honours, a pair of Silver Slugger nods, a Gold Glove, a couple of World Series rings, and six National League (NL) All-Star selections.
Not bad for the man from little-known Etchohuaquila, Mexico.
Read More Fernandomania NorthFrom a historical and statistical perspective, Ron Kittle put together the best single season of baseball that Alberta has ever seen.
But as good as that 1982 campaign for the Edmonton Trappers was, Kittle is much more prolific as a sports personality and baseball storyteller.
Edmonton got a taste of Kittle’s gift of the gab recently when the 1983 American League Rookie of the Year visited the provincial capital. The 6-foot-4, thick-armed and bespectacled former outfielder was in town as a guest of the Edmonton Prospects of the Western Major Baseball League (WMBL).
Read More The Bat & The KittleIf Major League Baseball ever wanted the ultimate advertisement for its product it could be found in this year’s edition of the postseason.
For those of us lucky enough to be watching it was truly a thrill.
Fans also may have noticed that the game has changed … and changed for the better.
Old school has given way to the new school and the unwritten rules are being rewritten.
Read More The Thrill of the Grass20 years after A.J. Hinch played a major part in the Edmonton Trappers’ second-straight PCL title, he helped bring a World Series championship to Houston.
Read More World Series ring fit for former Trappers catcherSeveral baseball players who called Alberta home are making their mark on the 2017 MLB postseason.
Find out which ones will determine who wins the World Series.
Read More Top 5 Alberta players who will determine the winner of the World Series