August 30, 2011

August updates - National championships and more

Alberta had some success at the National stage, but ended up with no championships.
The Senior Men's team participated in Miramichi, NB and went 2-3.  Alberta did not field a team in the Junior division.  As mentioned previously, the Midget team took home a silver medal in Regina, losing to Ontario in the final.  The Bantam team also took a silver in Vaughan, ON,  losing to Quebec in the final game. Alberta sent 2  Peewee teams to the Western Championships in Nanaimo, BC, but neither one of them played in a medal game, as the host team took gold.

August 23, 2011

August youth recap

It was a busy month for Alberta baseball-playing youth.

The August long weekend was the end of the Baseball Alberta Provincial Championships where teams fought to earn the right to represent Alberta at Western or Canadian championships.
At the Midget level, Foothills were crowned champions at the Performance level, and went on to the Nationals where they represented our province well, but ultimately lost to Ontario for the National Championship. Camrose were the Competitive champions, and went on to play in the Western Canadian AA Championship, where they went 1-3 in round-robin play, and did not qualify for the finals.

August 12, 2011

Help make a Bill Lee movie

As a Red Sox fan I have been fortunate to have been able to meet several former players, including Jim Rice and Bill Buckner, but one of my favourite highlights was when I met Bill Lee. The opportunity arose when he participated in a charity slo-pitch game, right here in Calgary. Before the game he was talking to the fans, and I asked him to sign my copy of his autobiography The Wrong Stuff. I told him how much I had enjoyed reading it, and that his book was part of my inspiration in trying to "make" my son a lefthander so he'd have some advantages in playing ball. I told him that as a baby whenever he picked anything up with his right hand, I'd gently slap it and put it in his left hand. When I started rolling a ball to him, I'd encourage him to catch with his right and throw it with his left. He looked at my son who was about 5 at the time, then at me, shook his head and said I was crazy! Being called crazy by Bill Lee is about as big of a compliment as anyone could ask for :)

August 03, 2011

MLB Power Rankings - August edition

Now that the trade deadline is done and for the most part, teams have made the changes they need for the last 1/3 of the season, here are the latest power rankings.  Numbers in brackets are movement from last month, and their high/low rank for the season.   Look at previous rankings for explanations of how the teams got to where they are. 


#1 – Philadelphia (--, 1/2) – I  may have mentioned this before – but there are some guys who know how to pitch a ball pretty good out in Eastern Pennsylvania.   Getting Hunter Pence at the deadline wasn’t a necessity but certainly doesn’t hurt.