At one time at this Event, Baseball was played. In both 2004 and 2008, Canada had a baseball team at this event.
Seeing as this came about when I wasn't collecting as much, I have almost none of the players represented, so I'm borrowing heavily from the Trading Card Database here. For ease, I'll note the cards I own lol.
Today I'll cover 2004, tomorrow 2008.
In 2004, the Big Event was held in Athens, Greece. All told, Canada had 12 medals from the events. The baseball team had qualified and ended up doing well in the preliminary round, going 5-2. In the semi-finals, they lost to Cuba, then went on to lose the Bronze medal game to Japan.
Chris Begg is from Uxbridge, Ontario and was in the Giants system when he played for Canada.
He ended up taking the loss in the Semifinal against Cuba.
For the competition, he pitched 8 innings. 4 Earned Runs, 3 Strikeouts, No walks, and one Loss.
Todd Betts is from North York, Ontario.
He was playing for the Columbus Clippers when he was selected to team Canada.
For the competition, he was 5/30 .167 with 4 runs scored.
Richard "Stubby" Clapp was born in Windsor, Ontario and actually had major league experience. After playing in the majors with St. Louis in 2001, he went to Atlanta and Toronto. In 2004 he was in Syracuse.
In competition: 8/35 .229 1 HR, 5 RBI, 6 runs scored.
Eric Cyr was born in Montreal.
He made the major leagues with San Diego in 2002.
In 2004 he was in Salt Lake when he went to play for Canada.
In competition: 7.1 IP, 2 ER, 6 SO, 4 BB
Phil Devey was born in St Jerome Quebec.
He was on the San Antonio Missions roster when he joined Team Canada.
In competition: 1-0, 6.0 IP, 1 SO, 1 BB
Jason Dickson was born in London, Ontario.
He played for the Angels from 1996-2000.
In 2004 he was playing for the Somerset Patriots of the Atlantic League.
In competition: 1-1, 11 IP, 5 ER, 3 SO, 2 BB
I own this card!
Rob Ducey was born in Toronto, Ontario.
He was actually retired from professional baseball in 2004 but joined the team to play in Athens.
In competition: 0-6
Jeff Guiel was born in North Vancouver, British Columbia.
2004 was his last year in professional ball, spending it with Syracuse. His brother is Aaron Guiel.
In competition: 5/24 .208, 3 runs scored
Shawn Hill was born in Mississauga, Ontario.
In 2004 Hill was playing in Montreal and Harrisburg. He would have been in Harrisburg at the time of the Olympics in order for him to have been eligible.
Oddly enough, he spent time with the Jays later in his career, being one of a handful of Canadians to play for both Montreal and Toronto.
In competition: 1-0, 11 IP, 2 ER, 6 SO, 2 BB
Mike Johnson was born in Edmonton, Alberta. He played in the major leagues from 1997-2001 for Baltimore and Montreal.
In 2004 he was pitching for the hometown Edmonton Trappers, then Triple A team for Montreal.
In competition: 1-2, 13.1 IP, 13 ER, 5 SO, 4 BB
Ryan Radmanovich as born in Calgary, Alberta.
He ended up playing for the Seattle Mariners in the major leagues.
In 2004 he was on the Somerset Patriots of the Atlantic League.
In competition: 8/33 .242, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 4 runs scored
Simon Pond was born in North Vancouver, British Columbia.
He briefly played in the major leagues with Toronto, spending the majority of his time in Syracuse.
In competition: 1/16 .063
Pete Orr was born in Richmond Hill, Ontario.
Orr played in the majors from 2005-2013 with Atlanta, Washington, and Philadelphia. He was in Richmond in 2004.
He's not related to that other famous Canadian Orr.
In competition: 12/34 .353, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 8 runs scored
John Ogiltree was born in Toronto, Ontario.
In 2004 he was playing for New Hampshire in the Eastern League.
In competition: 4.2 IP, 2 SO
Kevin Nicholson was born in Vancouver, British Columbia.
He made the majors with San Diego, playing 37 games in 2000.
In 2004 he was playing for the Altoona Curve.
In competition: 0/6, 2 runs scored
Aaron Myette was born in New Westminster, British Columbia.
Myette played in the majors from 1999-2004 with the White Sox, Rangers, Indians, and Reds.
In order to be eligible, he would have been in Louisville, Cincinnati's Triple A team at the time.
In competition: 7.0 IP, 2 ER, 8 SO, 2 BB
Chris Mears was born in Ottawa, Ontario.
Mears made the majors with Detroit in 2003, He split 2004 between Erie and Toledo.
In competition: 4.1 IP, 3 ER, 1 SO, 1 BB
Pete LaForest was born in Hull, Quebec.
He played in the majors for Tampa, Philadelphia, and San Diego. In 2004, he was playing for the Durham Bulls.
In competition: 8/26 .308 2 HR, 4 RBI, 3 Runs scored
Mike Kusiewicz was born in Montreal.
In 2004 he was playing for the High Desert Mavericks of the California League.
In competition: 2.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 SO
Danny Klassen was born in Leamington, Ontario.
He played in the Majors from 1998-2003 for Arizona and Detroit.
In 2004 he was playing in Toledo.
This was also Klassen's first time playing for a national team.
In competition: 4/31 .129 4 RBI 6 Runs scored
I own this card!
Paul Spoljaric was born in Kelowna, British Columbia.
He played in the majors from 1994-2000 for Toronto, Philadelphia, Seattle, and Kansas City.
In 2004 Paul was playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Intercounty Baseball League
In competition: 1-0 5.1 IP, 4 SO, 2 BB
Adam Stern was born in London, Ontario
He played in the majors from 2005-2010 for Boston, Baltimore, and Milwaukee.
In 2004 he split between the Greenville Braves and Norfolk Tides.
In competition: 8/32 .250 4 RBI 6 Runs scored.
Andy Stewart was born in Oshawa, Ontario.
He played in the Majors in 1997 for Kansas City.
In 2004 he was on the Winnipeg Goldeyes.
In competition: 5/12 .417 4 RBI, 1 Run Scored
Jeremy Ware was born in Orangeville, Ontario.
In 2004 he was in Harrisburg and Edmonton in the Montreal system.
In competition: 5/14 .357 2 HR 4 RBI 3 Runs Scored.
That was 2004. Tomorrow I will look at 2008.
This was a fascinating retrospective. Luckily, I believe I read that baseball will be an Olympic sport again during the next go-around!
ReplyDeleteIt will be in the 2020 games.. It may only be for those games, but it will be there.
DeleteCool writeup. How did Team Canada fare?
ReplyDeleteThey were fourth in 2004. They went to sixth in 2008.
DeleteEven though not related to BOBBY ORR, most people may not be aware PETE ORR pretty much wore # 4 most of his time in the majors and minors, as BOBBY ORR was his father's favourite hockey player, so encouraged young PETE to wear # 4 from the earliest age he began playing organized sports.
ReplyDelete