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.

Q&A with Matt Stairs

He was the guy you wanted at the plate with the game on the line in the late innings.

In the playoffs.

He was coming in cold and the ice in his veins helped him maintain a cool demeanor in pressure-packed situations.

Canadian Matt Stairs is the quintessential pinch hitter. He has a World Series ring that was earned, in part, from his postseason heroics for the Philadelphia Phillies in 2008. The Fredericton, New Brunswick product is also in the record books for his 23 regular season, pinch-hit home runs.

In the Name of the Father

Fathers and sons and baseball.

Bret Boone knows a lot about these things. He is the grandson of Major League Baseball (MLB) infielder Ray Boone, the son of catching great Bob Boone and in 1992 he became the first third-generation big league player in history when he was called up from the Calgary Cannons to play with the Seattle Mariners.

At 49 years of age, Bret is a decade removed from his playing days, but as a father he now does what Ray and Bob did before him – he watches his son play baseball.

Pitcher Perfect

He was a tireless workhorse who could wear out his coaches just as easily as he did opposing batters.

Two-time Cy Young award winner Roy Halladay – who died in a plane crash in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday – made relentless preparation a hallmark of his all-star career, according to a former coach.

Medicine Hat’s Mystery Infielder

Untangling the web of a secret life almost built by former big leaguer Billy Hulen, who unknowingly fled to Medicine Hat to keep playing baseball.