Blue Jays highlight upcoming banquets and fundraisers

It's the time of year for fundraisers for baseball clubs, and there are a handful coming up in Alberta. Several of these have a Blue Jays related theme.

First of all, there is the University of Calgary Dino's baseball and fastball annual fundraiser dinner.  Last year, they had Hall of Famer Goose Gossage,  and in previous year's they've had such great as Tim Raines, Fergie Jenkins, Bill Buckner and more.  This year's guest is Gregg Zaun, who might be better known to Canadians as an analyst on Sportsnet than he was when he was a catcher in Toronto. He has some unpopular opinions, is sometimes controversial, but never dull!  Listening to him will certainly make for an entertaining evening. The dinner is on Thursday Feb 6th, tickets are $200 and can be purchased by calling (403) 220-7749.

The Lethbridge Bulls also have a former Blue Jay as their Legends of Sports Gala will feature Hall of Famer Roberto Alomar. This event is being held on February 22nd and includes dinner, dance and silent auction.Tickets range from $100 to $200. To get your tickets or for more information, please contact  chelsea.mereska@bullsbaseball.com or call (403)320-2025 .

The Okotoks Dawgs annual awards banquet will feature another Blue Jay second baseman, Homer Bush. This event is on Saturday February 1st, tickets are $100 and can be purchased by calling (403) 262-3294.

Another fundraiser is an online silent auction by the Vauxhall Academy, where you can get to watch the Jays home opener, a hockey game, and another Jays/Yankees game during a 4 night stay in Toronto which includes airfare. You need to submit your bid by noon on January 30th, details are here.

The Badlands Baseball Academy will be holding their annual Gala Evening & Fundraiser on Thursday January 30th. This reception will include dinner, a silent and a live acution. Tickets are $75 and can be purchased by calling (403) 664-2200

As well, the Prairie Baseball Academy will be hosting their annual awards banquet on January 25th. Aaron Lavorato will be the guest speaker, and he will not only talk baseball but also share his experience with the Rickshaw run he was involved in to raise money for cancer. There will be a live and silent auction with items including jerseys of Mariano Rivera, Bo Jackson and Roberto Alomar as well as a fly fishing trip down the Missouri and lots more.  Tickets are $50 a plate or a table of 8 for $350.  Contact info@prairiebaseball.com for tickets or more information.

If you're a baseball fan all these events all promise to be a lot of fun, and are a great way to support local baseball.

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If you have a baseball team, league or organization in Alberta that is holding a fundraising event, send me the details (to BaseballinAlberta@gmail.com)and I'll add it to here, and promote it on twitter @baseball_in_ab

Strong showing for Alberta in Best of the West

Alberta sent four teams to the Best of the West 18U Invitational Tournament held in Kamloops, and had a very strong showing.   This is an annual invitational tournament that features the best teams in Western Canada.

In round-robin play, the Prairie Baseball Academy (PBA) from Lethbridge, went 3-0 to get the overall first seed in the playoffs, while the Okotoks Dawgs also went undefeated to secure the 2nd playoff spot.  Meanwhile Calgary's PBF Redbirds and the Vauxhall Jets went 2-1.  Vauxhall secured the 3rd playoff spot by winning their pod, while Calgary waited for the results of a Langley Blaze - White Rock Tritons match to see if all four teams in the playoffs would be from Alberta.  However, the Blaze won to finish with an identical 2-1 record and got the wildcard berth edging out the Redbirds on tiebreaker rules.

This left 3 out of 4 Alberta teams, and 1 of 8 BC teams playing for medals.  In total Alberta teams went 10-1 against teams from BC in round-robin play, as Calgary's lone loss was to Vauxhall.

Memorial fund set up for baseball players

By now everyone has heard about the tragedy that took the lives of Mitch Maclean, Tanner Crawell and Tabitha Stepple.  When I first heard about the murder-suicide, my initial reaction was "Shit. Wonder what led to that?" And I assumed it was some kind of domestic family dispute, and didn't think about it much more.  Then a few hours later when I saw on twitter that these were young baseball players who were alumni of Vauxhall, and had played for PBA and the Lethbridge Bulls, my reaction changed to "OH! SHIT!" and my heart sank.  Hey - I'm not a perfect human being.  I know I shouldn't have felt any differently.  A life is a life.  But somehow I felt closer to these young men.  I could relate to their hopes and dreams.  I could only imagine how their families felt. It hit me a lot harder than a random anonymous murder.  The baseball family is a fairly close knit group.   I might have umpired games these boys played in.  I might have cheered for (or against) them from the stands.  In baseball, fans say derogatory remarks about players or teams ("Yankees Suck!"),  teams battle against each other, coaches argue with umpires, umpires eject players, but in the end there are no hard feelings. We all love the game and there is a mutual respect among all the participants.  

But this post isn't about me and my feelings.  It's about helping to spread the word on how we can help out.  A memorial fund has been set up for these baseball players.  To donate, please visit any Bank of Nova Scotia Branch and tell them you are donating to the "Tanner Craswell and Mitch McLean Memorial Fund" or account number 00059 0157317.   From the comfort of your couch you can also send an email money transfer to tcmmmemorialfund@gmail.com.  (Please note the spelling. It's the boys initials TC and MM followed by Memorial Fund).   For more information please take a look at the Prairie Baseball Academy, the Lethbridge Bulls  or the Vauxhall Baseball Academy websites

A trust fund has also been opened for Tabitha Stepple.  Please contact the Northside Scotia Bank in Lethbridge for details.

A trust fund has also been set up for the lone survivor of this senseless massacre, Shanya Conway, who is currently recovering.  You can donate through the TD Canada Trust bank.
Branch #80679
Account#6480005

Hope all my readers have a safe holiday season.

Dale Anderson leads Seton Hall to NCAA Regionals

There are 64 teams who earned an entry into the annual NCAA baseball tournament to ultimately crown a College World Series Champion.  There are several Canadians playing on these rosters, but only one player is from Alberta. That is Strathmore's own Dale Anderson.  Read my article about how he helped the underdog Seton Hall Pirates beat #1 UConn on the way to win the Big East Championship, and are now playing in the NCAA Regionals.

Many Albertans projected to be among first Canadians drafted

The Canadian Baseball Network has an updated Canadian draft list.  12 young players from Alberta are on the list, including 5 of the first 17.
Those 5 are:
#8 - Ryan Thompson - a right handed pitcher from Fort McMurray, playing at Franklin Pierce University

#10 - Adam Paulencu - also a RHP, from Spruce Grove and playing at the Vancouver Island Baseball Institute

Hendriks gets scholarship

Brendan Hendriks from Cochrane, who is currently playing at Vauxhall has accepted a scholarship with Midland College.   He will be playing for the Chaps, who are in the NJCAA Division 1, at Midland Texas.  Hendriks is currently trying out for the Canadian National Junior Team as well.