|
My All-Canadian-born All-Star Team I thought it would be fun to put
together a roster of the greatest Canadian-born ballplayers and these are my
choices:
Starting Lineup:
Jimmy Wood, 2b
Tip O’Neill, lf
Larry Walker, rf
Justin Morneau, 1b
Jason Bay, cf
George Selkirk, dh
Corey Koskie, 3b
Charles Marvin “Pop” Smith, ss
George Gibson, c
Rotation:
Fergie Jenkins
Russ Ford
“The Only” Nolan
Erik Bedard
Rich Harden
Relief:
John Hiller
Eric Gagne
Jesse Crain
Rheal Cormier
Ron Taylor
Reserves:
Russell Martin, c
Matt Stairs of-1b
Arthur Irwin, if
Jeff Heath, of
George Wood, of
Terry Puhl, of
A position-by-position rundown:
Catcher
If Russell Martin continues to play like he did in 2007, he’ll be an easy
choice within a year or two and will add much-needed batting punch to the bottom
of my lineup. But for now I’m very comfortable going with a great glove
man to steady my pitching rotation in Gibson.
First Base
His MVP season last year makes Morneau an easy choice.
Second Base
Jimmy Wood is a forgotten great of the very early days of baseball.
Although raised in Brooklyn, the censuses identified French Canada as his
birthplace.
Shortstop
Not a strong position, so I’ll go with Smith, who had several excellent years in
the mid-1880s. William Akin’s
biographical sketch of Smith sums up his credentials. In reserve, I
need a glove man so I’ve naturally selected Arthur Irwin, the man most responsible for getting fielders other
than catchers and first basemen to wear gloves.
Third Base
At first this looks like another weak spot, but Corey Koskie had a very nice
career (assuming it’s over). Compare his career .367 on base percentage
and .458 slugging percentage to Hall of Famers like Roberto Clemente (.359,
.475), Kirby Puckett (.360, .477), and Tony Perez (.341, .463), and you’ll see
what I mean. Another plus is that Koskie's brother is the setter for the
Canadian national volleyball team.
Outfield
Very strong with current star Bay, the recently retired Walker and Tip
O’Neill, who had a short but outstanding career in the 1880s. George
Selkirk also had a short but excellent career and I’ve slotted him in as dh,
with a stellar reserve crew of Heath, George Wood, Stairs and Puhl.
Starters
A Hall of Famer in Jenkins anchors my rotation, and if Ford is allowed to use
his emery ball he should be able to come close to duplicating his 26-6 rookie
season. Bedard and Harden are still young (and Harden disturbingly
injury-prone), but I picked them for their tremendous potential, which Bedard is
now starting to realize. If troubles arise, I’ve got “The Only” Nolan able
to go in and pitch every day! Nolan spent most of his life in Paterson,
N.J., but the 1870 and 1880 censuses list Canada as his birthplace.
Relief
A nice bullpen made up of recent and current relief aces, including the now
obligatory situational lefty in Cormier, set-up man in Crain and closer in
Gagne. But I’ll also rely heavily on having Hiller and Taylor from the
days when relievers were locked into narrow roles and could come into any
situation. Taylor will also double as the team doctor, which reminds me
that I have an excellent core of support personnel:
Broadcaster: Jack Graney, pioneer ballplayer-turned-announcer
Groundskeeper: John Murphy, subject of my book,
Level Playing Fields
Umpire: Bob Emslie
Manager: Bill Watkins
Coaches: Fred Lake, Dave McKay
Team Historian: Bill Humber
Writer in Residence: W. P. Kinsella
Poet Laureate: George Bowering
The team also has nice geographic balance, with a core from Ontario but
selections from seven other provinces:
NS (Smith), NB (Stairs, Cormier), PEI (G. Wood), PQ (J. Wood, Gagne), MB (Koskie,
Ford), SK (Puhl), BC (Walker, Bay, Harden)
I think it’s a pretty darn good team, eh? |
