Local Kids Make Good in the Bigs (Major League Baseball)

[WestCoastJoe]

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Fields of dreams

TOM HAWTHORN From Saturday's Globe and Mail

October 12, 2007 at 11:17 PM EDT

VICTORIA — As a teenager, Mike Saunders of Victoria excelled at every sport he played. He was a striker on the soccer pitch, a power forward at basketball and a goal-scoring centre in hockey and lacrosse.

College recruiters looking for hidden hoops talent in the hometown of Steve Nash offered scholarships. They were disappointed. The high-school student did not want to be the next Nash. He wanted to be the next Larry Walker.

British Columbia is producing a bumper crop of baseball talent. Justin Morneau of New Westminster was the most valuable player in the American League last year. Jason Bay of Trail was the rookie of the year in the National League in 2004.

On Thursday, Saunders watched on television as left-hander Jeff Francis won the opening game of the National League Championship Series.

The Colorado Rockies' ace was born in Vancouver and raised in suburban Delta.

"It's opened a lot of eyes that hockey is not the only sport that Canadians can play," Saunders said.

The 20-year-old outfielder is a few seasons away from launching his own major-league career. The prospect does not seem unlikely to him.

He has seen players only a few years older make the leap. One of his coaches as a teenager was Russ Harden, the father of Oakland Athletics pitcher Rich Harden.

Saunders, drafted and signed by the Seattle Mariners, has spent the past three seasons slowly climbing baseball's alphabet ladder. He spent most of this season in California with the High Desert Mavericks, hitting .299 and 14 home runs in 431 at-bats. Those numbers earned him a late-season promotion to Double-A with the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx.

His friend, Taylor Green of Courtenay, B.C., was chosen as the minor-league player of the year by the Milwaukee Brewers' organization. Green, a 20-year-old third baseman, batted. 327 in the South Atlantic League.

The two are part of the next rich baseball harvest from British Columbia, a province whose initials some say stand for Baseball Country.

A generation ago, the province remained a backwater of the summer game. Even obviously skilled players such as Larry Walker, who could hit, catch, throw and run, missed being culled by an army of scouts.

He was eventually signed as a free agent by the Montreal Expos. The signing bonus was $1,500 (U.S.), chump change in baseball's high-rolling world.

The outfielder soon established himself as the greatest position player in Canadian history. That his athletic talent went unnoticed convinced baseball to include Canadians in the annual entry draft, according to Walt Burrows, the Canadian supervisor for the Major League Baseball Scouting Bureau.

"The thinking was: 'How could we have missed this guy? You'd better get up there and cover the territory.' "

Burrows, who is based in suburban Victoria, says Canadians were overlooked because it was assumed they would be, at best, raw talent in need of tutoring. Not so any more.

"They're not filler players," he said. "They're impact players. They're all-stars."

That was not always the case.

The first athlete born in British Columbia to play in the major leagues was a miner's son from the gold-rush town of Barkerville. Bert Sincock pitched one game (42/3 innings) in 1908 before being demoted.

Forty-seven years passed before another B.C. player would get the chance.

Bob Alexander of Vancouver lasted all of nine games, recording a 1-1 pitching record.

Left-hander Ted Bowsfield of Vernon was the first to enjoy a real career, spending seven seasons in the American League with four clubs. Dave McKay of Vancouver became the first full-time position player from the province, spending eight seasons in the majors, beginning in 1975.

Most others, including his son, Cody, have stayed long enough for just a cup of coffee. They include right-handed pitchers Tom Harrison of Trail (one earned run in one inning pitched for the Kansas City Athletics in 1965) and Ken Crosby of New Denver (1-0 and no saves in 16 games with the Chicago Cubs).

The current crop of athletes from the province will enjoy more substantial careers, barring injury. Burrows credits the B.C. Premier League, a circuit for the province's top teenaged players, for nurturing talent.

The league was launched on a shoestring budget in 1995 by two amateur baseball coaches on Vancouver Island. Dave Wallace and Clyde Inouye wanted their high-school sons, Chris and Fraser, respectively, to continue playing baseball, which at that time would have meant moving to the Lower Mainland. A five-team league on the Island has expanded to 25 teams, including junior and college squads.

About 500 graduates of the league have gone on to postsecondary studies. Saunders and Green both honed their skills in the league, as did Morneau, Francis and Harden.

In January, Saunders was presented with an award by Francis. The lefty watched a highlight reel featuring the outfielder demolishing other left-handers. Francis told the audience he was glad a few more years would pass before he would have to face his fellow British Columbia native in a game.

Special to The Globe and Mail

[WestCoastJoe]

Larry Walker has paved a clear path for local kids into Major League Baseball.

It raises my interest somewhat in a sport I don't generally watch until October every year.

Way to go, Guys.

Justin Morneau - New Westminster

Jason Bay - Trail

Jeff Francis - Vancouver

Rich Harden - Victoria

Adam Loewen - Surrey

Ryan Dempster - Sechelt

[No Ordinary Joe]

Larry Walker has paved a clear path for local kids into Major League Baseball.

It raises my interest somewhat in a sport I don't generally watch until October every year.

Way to go, Guys.

Justin Morneau - New Westminster

Jason Bay - Trail

Jeff Francis - Vancouver

Rich Harden - Victoria

Adam Loewen - Surrey

Ryan Dempster - Sechelt

Not to nitpik or anything, but Jeff Francis is actually from North Delta. Yep, my neck of the woods. Go Jeff Go!

[WestCoastJoe]

Not to nitpik or anything, but Jeff Francis is actually from North Delta. Yep, my neck of the woods. Go Jeff Go!

I hear ya, NOJ.

The Colorado Rockies' ace was born in Vancouver and raised in suburban Delta.

The kid is worth fighting over.

I thought Adam Loewen was going to be the more successful of the two local pitchers who came up at the same time. Francis has jumped in front this year.

To the success of the local kids.