Dinos Soar

It’s been a while since chants of “Lanny! Lanny! Lanny!” called out from Calgary fans in support of their sports hero.

In this case, the boosters weren’t serenading Hall-of-Fame hockey player Lanny McDonald, who won a Stanley Cup with the Flames in 1989.

This chorus was part of the scene on the afternoon of Monday, May 22nd as a red-clad Alex Lanigan took the mound at Spitz Stadium in Lethbridge.

Jurassic Park

After years as a player with the University of Calgary Dinos, Cam Williams finally got to take to the field as the team’s coach this spring.

Always smiling, the 25-year-old is excited about the prospects of building up the program’s reputation.

He would also like to create some continuity in the program still aiming for its first Canadian Collegiate Baseball Conference crown.

The Book on Jonah

Jonah Arseneau has been able to one-up his fellow Alberta baseball products.

In November, the Calgary Bucks pitcher and outfielder announced his commitment to Minot State University.

While many others have done the same in 2020, Arseneau also announced he would be playing for New Zealand’s 18U National Team as they try to get into the 2021 WBSC World Championships in Florida.

We talked about that and much more with Arseneau in a recent episode of Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast.

Rundown

It started with just a slight blurring of his vision. But by the age of 12, Myles Creran was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

That prognosis didn’t stop him and now the University of Calgary Dinos utility-man is sharing his story in hopes of proving positivity and activity can help someone else.

Going the Distance with Kinsella

For William Steele, the Kevin Costner baseball movie Field of Dreams offered an introduction to the world of Alberta author William Patrick Kinsella. It was a common entry point for many fans of the Order of Canada recipient. What Steele didn’t know at the time was that he would devote decades of his life to researching and writing about the controversial author and his literature.

The result of Steele’s labour is the recently-released biography Going the Distance: The Life and Works of W.P. Kinsella. The book provides an extensive look at Kinsella’s early life, his adult years working odd jobs, and his ultimate success as an author. It also explores the Edmontonian’s writing – which generally fell into two categories: baseball stories and aboriginal tales – and the response to his somewhat controversial books.

Our own Ian Wilson of Alberta Dugout Stories had an hour-long conversation with Steele about Going the Distance.

1 Thru 9: Taylor Roberge

Taylor Roberge will get to play in the stadium that he considers to be the “nicest field” he’s played on.

The trouble: the Calgary native will be suiting up for the enemy.

The Dinos hurler took a few minutes before the Alberta trip to answer our questions for “1 Thru 9.”

1 Thru 9: Mike Ozga

Think of it as a “Getting To Know..” feature, baseball-style.

“1 Thru 9” is a look at some rapid-fire questions and answers with Alberta products playing in the Western Major Baseball League.

We start with Edmonton Prospects infielder Mike Ozga.

If a Record Falls at Foothills Stadium …

It was an underappreciated moment for an underappreciated ball player, who was playing in an antiquated ballpark.

But when Cam Williams went 4-for-4 on April 27th against the Thompson Rivers University (TRU) WolfPack, it was also a record-setting day for the 21-year-old third baseman.

Playing in relative obscurity for the University of Calgary Dinos of the Canadian College Baseball Conference (CCBC) – a six-team league featuring post-secondary student athletes from Alberta and British Columbia – Williams was well aware of the record he was chasing.

From the Cornfields to Calgary

Before there was a Field of Dreams – be it the movie starring Kevin Costner, or the actual Iowa ball diamond etched into a cornfield – there was just a guy day-dreaming in a classroom about baseball.

In this case, it was the teacher.

We look at Alberta-author W.P. Kinsella’s time as a professor at the University of Calgary.