It has taken 28 years, but Canadian baseball legend Ferguson Jenkins will finally receive his Order of Canada insignia next month. Jenkins' charity foundation announced yesterday that he would receive the insignia during a May 4 ceremony in Ottawa. The 63-year-old native of Chatham, Ontario, was invested as a member of the Order of Canada in late 1979 but didn't receive the insignia due to availability and scheduling issues. Jenkins played 19 seasons in the Major Leagues with the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers and Boston Red Sox. He is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York and of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in St. Marys, Ontario. He has a career mark of 284-226 with an ERA of 3.34 in 664 games (594 starts) and 267 complete games with 49 shutouts.
The Cleveland Indians Extended Spring Training Team scored early and never looked back as they defeated the Junior National Team by a final score of 9-2. The Indians had an 8-0 lead by the fifth inning before de juniors would respond in the sixth. Tanner Craswell from Charlottetown, P.E.I. drove in the Canadians’ first run of the game, which was unearned, to cut the deficit to 8-1. Kyle Fillier of Toronto, Ontario scored the second run for the Junior National Team in the seventh inning off a single by Leslie Williams of Scarborough, Ontario to make the score 8-2. However, the juniors could not get any closer as the Indians would add a run in the eighth inning to complete the game’s scoring. On the pitching side, Kyle Benoit of Brampton, Ontario allowed one run on two hits and struck out four in two innings of work, and Cameron Gray of Toronto, Ontario was perfect in his one inning pitched and registered a strikeout. Next up for the Junior National Team is the Extended Spring Training Squad of the Houston Astros at 1:00 pm on Wednesday.
It is with a sad heart that we report that former Baseball Canada President Richard Belec passed away today. This long time developer of baseball in his home province of Quebec and a driving force on the international baseball scene was most recently inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003. He will be sadly missed by the Baseball Canada family.
For some Junior National Team members, the first time at Spring Training Camp can be somewhat overwhelming. For Kyle Lotzkar of Delta, B.C., this is his first Spring Training Camp but at least he has experienced a Fall Instructional Camp, so the experience is not completely foreign. “You know what’s going on a little bit more,” says Lotzkar of his second time in Orlando. “I’m a little more mature and I can help out the new guys a little bit.” Kyle is relatively new to the National Teams Program, and in such he has not quite found his niche on the team. “I haven’t quite figured (my role) out yet,” says Lotzkar. “Once we go to the Dominican and further on, I can establish that.” For the new members of the Junior team, and all players for that matter, it can be difficult to adjust to a new work load and new surroundings. The guys who rely on talent alone learn they need to work harder to keep up with rest and improve on their focus. Kyle is no different. “More so on the mental side and the maturity process,” says Lotzkar of the areas he needs to improve. Kyle has been continuously improving on that as well as the physical side of the game. With continued growth and maturity, he will turn heads quickly as he moves on in his career.
Walks were the downfall of the Junior National Team as the pitchers gave up a combined 11 free passes on route to a 15-5 beating from Detroit Tigers Extended Spring Training team. Stosh Wawrzasek of Langley, B.C. got things started for the juniors allowing one run on two hits and struck out a pair in his two innings of work. It all unravelled after that as the Tigers would score three in the third and seven in the fourth to jump ahead to an 11-1 lead. The Tigers would add two more runs in the sixth and one more in the eighth before the Canadians would show some life offensively. The juniors would score four runs on five hits in the bottom of the eighth to close the gap to 14-5 as Michael Mutcheson of Morden, Manitoba; Victor Spencer of Burnaby, B.C.; Ivan Hartle of North Vancouver, B.C. and Marc Bourgeois of Granby, Quebec drove in runs in the inning. The Tigers would add one more in the top of the ninth to close out the game’s scoring. Next for the Junior National Team is a 1:00 pm game against the Extended Spring Training squad of the Cleveland Indians tomorrow.
A sacrifice and a 2 out single in the sixth inning was all it took today as the Atlanta Braves Extended Spring Training squad downed the Junior National Team 2-0 in exhibition play. Unlike yesterday’s high scoring affair, today was a pitchers duel throughout as both teams collected 13 hits combined. Seven for the juniors and six for the Braves. Philippe Aumont of Gatineau, Quebec started things off for the juniors as he went two solid innings allowing no hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Aumont was followed by Corey Pappel of Mississauga, Ontario who pitched two strong innings, allowing one hit, one hit batsman and fanned two hitters. Ryan Kennedy of Calgary, Alberta came in and shut things down in the fifth but would allow the winning run to score in the sixth. In total, Kennedy pitched two innings allowing two hits and two walks with two strikeouts. Evan Hildenbrandt of Abbotsford, B.C. was the other pitcher to allow a run, giving up a double and an RBI single to start the eighth, but in his two innings of work, he allowed only the two hits and one run with three strikeouts. Kyle Benoit of Brampton, Ontario pitched the ninth and only allowed one hit with one strikeout. Next for the Juniors is a 1:00 pm game versus the Detroit Tigers’ Extended Spring Training team on Monday.
The Junior National Team were still getting rid of some rust as they committed five errors on route to an 11-6 loss to the Houston Astros’ Extended Spring Training squad. The Astros scored runs in every inning except the first as Canadian starter Kyle Lotzkar of Delta, B.C. was able to shut the Astros down in his first of two innings pitched. Houston was able to jump out to a 7-0 lead by the fifth inning before Canada responded with some offense of their own. The juniors scored two runs on three hits in the bottom of the fifth off of doubles from Michael Mutcheson of Morden, Manitoba and Greg Wallace of Nanaimo, B.C., and an RBI single from Jordan Wideman of Mississauga, Ontario. The Astros would grow their lead to 9-2 in the seventh before Canada responded in the bottom half of the inning with two runs on a triple by Carter Bell of Courtenay, B.C. and a sac fly by Mutcheson, cutting the lead to 9-4. Coming to bat in the bottom half of the eighth with the score 10-4, Canada added two more runs when Kyle Fillier of Toronto, Ontario hit a two-RBI single to score Marc Bourgeois of Granby, Quebec, who reached on an error, and Brett Lawrie of Langley, B.C., who had doubled. By the end, the Astros scored 11 runs on 13 hits and committed two errors, while the juniors scored six times on 11 hits with five errors. Lawrie was 2-for-4 with two doubles and a run scored, Bell went 2-for-4 with a triple, RBI and a run scored, and Wideman went 2-for-2 with an RBI. Canada hits the field again tomorrow at 10 am as they take on the Atlanta Braves Extended Spring Training team.
Langley, B.C.’s Brett Lawrie has done a lot in a short amount of time with the Junior National Team. At 16 years old, Lawrie led Canada in hitting at the 2006 World Junior Championships in Cuba and nearly won the tournament’s batting title. With that performance among others, he was awarded the Junior National Team’s MVP award for last season. This is Brett’s second Spring Training camp with the junior squad, and with all that added experience under his belt, he sees himself being in the forefront in the clubhouse. “I feel I need to be more of a leader on this team,” says Lawrie. “I want to lead by example and help guys who haven’t been here before wherever I can.” Brett is letting his bat do the leading as he is picking up in Spring Training where he left off in World Championships and Fall Instructional League. But there is more to the now 17 year old than his abilities at the plate. He is a very vocal and approachable young man who can be seen mingling with everyone in the clubhouse. Off the field, he is respectful of the people around him. This is perhaps comparable to a Major League player which he models himself after. “I guess I look up to Derek Jeter because he’s a complete player and I like how he handles himself on and off the field,” says Lawrie. Although Brett currently admires Jeter from afar, he dreams, like many other young ballplayers, to get to the ultimate stage. “Once I’m done here, I hope someday I can play in the majors,” says Lawrie. To see him play, there is no doubt that Brett has the potential to make it far in the game, and with his continued success and willingness to learn and improve at his craft, it is very possible that he will someday compete against, or even with the man he admires.
The Junior National Team flew in to Orlando on Friday night to begin the ninth year of the annual tradition of Spring Training Camp in the sunny state of Florida. 34 players from across Canada are vying for a spot on the team which will compete in the World Junior Championships in Edmonton next year. The team will spend their first full day together in team meetings, taking the team photo and taking the field for the first team practice of the week. The young men will then take the field for practices and eight exhibition games against Major League Extended Spring Training teams throughout the week, facing off against the Houston Astros, Atlanta Braves, Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians twice each. On Sunday the 29th of April, the juniors will go their separate ways until they get together again for the Dominican Summer League tour in May.
The Mizuno Junior Elite Development Camp took place last weekend at the Rogers Centre and all fifty 15-16 year old kids got a taste of the big league experience by receiving some of the best instruction in the country and learning some new drills and techniques to the game of baseball. After the players reported on the Friday night, they were treated to the first of three Toronto Blue Jays games on the weekend. The on-field and off-field instruction began the following day with two “Life Skills” seminars. The first seminar was on strength and conditioning with former Blue Jays Strength and Conditioning Coach Jeff Krushell, who showed the kids proper stretching techniques and exercises to help prevent injuries and increase strength and endurance. The second seminar was a presentation by Mizuno Canada to introduce the players to some of the new equipment they have to offer and the importance of having the proper and comfortable equipment. After the second Blue Jays game, the players hit the field for some on-field instruction with some of the Blue Jays coaching staff, lead by third base coach Brian Butterfield with pitching coach Brad Arnsberg and first base coach Marty Pevey. With the help of coaches form across the country, the young men were put through several infield and outfield drills as well as bullpen sessions for the pitchers and catchers in the group. Following that was batting practice where groups would rotate from fielding to the batting cages to hitting. During this, pitchers were shown the Blue Jays weight training facility and show more exercise techniques. On the Sunday, it began with two more “Life Skills” sessions, first with Blue Jays Director of Canadian Scouting Kevin Briand who discussed career planning and talent assessment, followed by a presentation by Baseball Canada’s Director of National Teams Greg Hamilton about the National Teams Program. Once the kids took in their final Blue Jays game of the weekend, they took the field at Rogers Center for more instruction from the coaching staff, beginning with baserunning drills followed by additional infield and outfield drills along with catching instruction and pitchers fielding practice. Now all the practice for the weekend was done and it was time for the inter-squad game on Monday. The group would be split in to two teams, one coached by Brian Butterfield and the other by Marty Pevey. The coaching staff and scouts were on hand to evaluate the players in a game that saw 23 pitchers and all position players see action. Highlights of the game include Shane Kraemer of Chilliwack, B.C. and Steven Inch of Edmonton, Alberta to be the only two pitchers to face the minimum with Kraemer striking out one, while Inch fanned a pair. All pitchers with the exception of two recorded at least one strikeout in their inning of work. Offensively, Jordan Wong of Calgary, Alberta went 1-for-3 with a RBI triple, two walks and a run scored. Stephen Brien of Mount Pearl, Newfoundland was 1-for-2 with a double and a walk and Jose Torralba of Mississauga, Ontario was 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. With all that said, Team Pevey beat Team Butterfield 10-5 in the scheduled 12 inning game. After the game, the group was treated with appearances by Blue Jays Manager John Gibbons, pitchers Roy Halladay and A.J. Burnett, and third baseman Troy Glaus for some instructional tips, autographs and photos. To see the photos of the event, click here.
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