DUNEDIN, Fla. – Enough already with the bellyaching about all the talented players not suiting up for Canada at the World Baseball Classic. Yes, the roster has issues, and certainly the national team isn’t all it can be heading into the fourth edition of the tournament. But to continue lamenting those not here is to not appreciate those who are, and to lose sight of the ongoing culture that makes the Canadian team tick.
So props to Ryan Dempster, Eric Gagne and Pete Orr for coming out of retirement to play, and to Justin Morneau for putting a job search on hold to strap it on, and to Scott Richmond for crossing the Pacific to toe the rubber, and to last-minute subs Ryan Kellogg, Jesen Therrien and Mike Reeves for answering the bell. At short events like the Classic, the unlikely is far more possible due to sample-size randomness, and the desire and readiness of motivated players can make a real difference.
“You still have to play the game,” manager Ernie Whitt said Monday as the Canadians gathered at the Toronto Blue Jays’ Bobby Mattick Training Center for their first workout. “But sometimes if you just put together a team for a short period of time, all they’re thinking about is themselves. The fact that we talk about the team atmosphere and doing whatever it takes to win a game – that’s what they do. I guarantee that if I asked Morneau to bunt, he would bunt. We check our egos at the door. That’s what we try to do. We come out and try to win as a team.”
Toronto Blue Jays Radio
Freddie Freeman likes Team Canada’s chances at the WBC
Originally aired March 06 2017
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It’s into that ethos that a first time national team player like Reeves, a 26-year-old catcher who played at single-A Dunedin last season in the Blue Jays system, joins the fray. Added to the team last week when Texas Rangers prospect Kellin Deglan withdrew because of a shoulder injury that requires surgery, he’ll back up starter George Kottaras and is beyond grateful for his opportunity.
“I was so honoured,” Reeves said of the feeling when director of national teams Greg Hamilton offered the spot. “I had a little inkling the morning of because (Blue Jays minor-league catching co-ordinator) Ken Huckaby, he said, ‘I talked to Ernie Whitt about you this morning.’ I said, ‘Huck, what did you say?’ He said, ‘I told him the truth.’ I said, ‘I hope that’s good news.’ Greg gave me the call after our camp day, and I just felt honoured. I had the shivers because this is one of my dreams. My brother played for the junior national team, he’s 10 years older than me, and I got to watch him do that. I missed out on that opportunity and this is my chance and it’s an honour.”
Reeves’ brother Jeff, a former pitcher, is the reason he’s catching at all. It started in their native Peterborough, Ont., when 14-year-old Jeff decided to get some work in with four-year-old Mike behind the plate.
“He has me squatting down and I missed the ball and it knocks out my four front teeth,” said Reeves. “So I go into the house with my teeth to my mom (Karen) and I show her my teeth and I said, ‘Look what Jeff did.’ She said, ‘Next time, catch the ball.’”
Among the pitchers Reeves will be catching in the coming days are Dempster and Gagne, national junior squad teammates in 1993 and ’94 bookending their international careers at the Classic.
Dempster will get the start for Canada in Thursday’s first-round opener against the defending champion Dominican Republic and no one is exactly sure what to expect. The 39-year-old threw a for-old-time’s-sake bullpen last summer to former Chicago Cubs bullpen catcher Corey Miller http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/canada-needs-dempster-gagne-just-feel-good-stories-wbc/, felt surprisingly good and is now charged with trying to keep a fearsome lineup at bay for a few innings.
The native of Gibsons, B.C., hasn’t thrown a competitive pitch since helping the Boston Red Sox win the 2013 World Series.
“After I stopped playing my arm went like a turtle in its shell, it kind of climbed back inside there and didn’t want to let me throw a ball,” said Dempster, adding later: “I like where I’m at. I feel like I can go out there and compete, and at least give us a chance to win a game.”
Should he, Game 2 starter Nick Pivetta, a Philadelphia Phillies prospect who’ll take on Colombia, or whoever starts the third game against the United States, a decision that will depend on the standings after the first two contests, hand the ball over with a lead, Gagne will be waiting to help close things out.
The former Cy Young Award winner from Mascouche, Que., hasn’t been in the big-leagues since 2008 with the Milwaukee Brewers. Then back and shoulder issues cut short attempts to pitch in 2009 and ’10. But in August 2015, the part owner of the Trois-Riveres Aigles of the independent Can-Am League was encouraged by a 4.1 inning start he made for the team against Quebec.
A five-inning, one-run outing last September in the season-finale for the Can-Am’s Ottawa Champions prompted him to reach out to Hamilton and say, “Hey, if you guys need me, if you guys want me, I’ll keep working out, hopefully I can make the team.”
“I didn’t want to retire, I wanted to keep playing, but injuries and all that stuff, it’s never fun,” said Gagne. “I feel like I can still do it, and that’s probably the fire never really left me. I’ve always been involved in baseball, I’m passionate about it, I love what I do. If I can still get people out, I’d love to do that. I’m just trying to enjoy the ride. I’m 41 years old, so it’s going to be a short one, but it will be fun.”
Whereas Dempster is viewing the Classic as a one and done deal – “It’s not a comeback trail, it’s just a comeback to represent my country and I’m excited to do that,” he said – Gagne is hoping to find a big-league job.
He said he’s already worked out for five clubs, and given that expected closer John Axford withdrew from the Canada’s roster Sunday due to personal and professional reasons, Gagne is likely to see some leverage work during the Classic.
“That’s going to be a good gauge to see how I feel after, and with the adrenaline,” said Gagne. “It’s one thing to throw on the side, but with adrenaline in a real game situation, I’m going to have a chance to see what my stuff is.”
That goes for the Canadian roster as a whole. Sure, the national team will miss Joey Votto, James Paxton, Jameson Taillon, Michael Saunders, Brett Lawrie and Axford, among others, but they have 28 players who are good to go, and who opponents would be wise not to overlook.
“If it’s a long series you look at it and say, ‘Well, we really don’t have a chance.’ But you play any game at any certain time, anything can happen,” said Whitt. “We’ve seen that in the past, we’ve knocked off some big guys before and we’ve been beaten by some little guys before.
“That’s why you go out and play the game, and that’s all I ask of my players.”
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