C's debut new uniforms; Petit excelling at MLB Level

Sorry, delayed post after I wrote this last Tuesday...

It’s been a long time coming, but the Canadians have finally revealed their new 2008 jerseys, to the public. While I’m not as keen on the road jerseys as I am the alternate black and home white, these jerseys are still a huge step forward from the variations of team jerseys since the short-season inception back in 2000.

While wearing the white jerseys, the team will sport the popular red hat, as well as wearing white pants. On the road, it’ll be black and grey from head to toe, with the black hats, grey uniforms and grey pants. When the club wears the ‘Alternate’ Jersey, which is solely to be worn on Saturday nights, it’ll be the black hat and either white pants at home, and grey on the road.

(Nat Bailey Stadium - Vancouver, B.C.) - The Vancouver Canadians Baseball Club introduced a trio of uniforms set for wear during the 2008 Northwest League season. The uniforms were unveiled at Nat Bailey Stadium by Canadians owners Jake Kerr, Jeff Mooney and President Andy Dunn.

Minutes before the Canadians trotted out their newest look, the baseball club paid tribute to past Vancouver professional teams by inviting 1954 Vancouver Capilano’s Arnie Hallgren, 1965 Vancouver Mountie’s Ozzie Chavarria, 1997 Vancouver Canadians’ slugger Chris Pritchett, as well as Elmer Morishita representing the 1941 Vancouver Asahi Japanese professional club. All four gentlemen wore jerseys and hats from their playing era.

The Canadians home white uniforms sport red lettering with grey outline stating the word "Canadians" across the front. The white home jersey marks the first time the Canadians have worn all white since 1999.

The C’s stayed consistent with their road colours remaining with a grey uniform with black lettering etched in white with "Vancouver" marked across the front. The Canadians will wear a New Era 59/50 black hat with their road grey.

Vancouver rounded out their look for the 2008 season with a black alternate jersey that the club states will only be worn for games on Saturday. This marks the first time in the Canadians 30-year history that a Vancouver team will take to the field in a black jersey. The Canadians primary mark will cover the left breast of the jersey and the club will alternate wearing white pants at Nat Bailey Stadium and grey away from home.

The black is pretty much last year’s home jersey, in a different colour, and with a new logo, but it looks much better than the previous years’ jersey. The white home is reminiscent of the Spokane Indians home jersey, while the road grey is almost completely identical to the Chicago White Sox’ road uniforms.

Petit does well at major league level:

After ex-C’s SS Gregorio Petit was called up to The Bigs over the weekend, it came with a lot of expectations. During Spring Training, he almost made the club, and having seen him in person, he could’ve been a starter he was playing so well. Well, after two games at 2nd base, he’s doing exceptional. He’s batting .375, with 3 hits in 8 at-bats, with four strikeouts. One strikeout came with a tying run on third in the 8th inning with one out (on Sunday), but he’s young, so you can’t fault him too much. He’s just getting his feet wet.

Way to go Greg!

Pair of ex-Canadians done with pro ball:

Two 2007 RHP’s from the Canadians are done with professional baseball…for now. RHP Bryan Collins (left) was released by Oakland, after spending the last month and a half at Papago Park, participating at Extended Spring Training. He struggled last season in Vancouver, but he had some great stuff, and it’s too bad the system was so crowded he had to be let go before even heading up to Kane County.

The other guy who left the A’s was Lee Land, a closer who joined the C’s late in the season from the Cape Cod League. He raised more than a few eyebrows, but suffered an arm/elbow injury with four games left in the season, and didn’t report to Phoenix until Extended Spring Training. He retired from the organization on Sunday. After four years of four schools, including one where he didn’t even pitch due to an injury, I’m guessing he felt it was time to hang up the cleats.

On a happier note, RHP Brent Lysander and Catcher Dusty Napoleon (thanks for the heads-up Melissa!) were sent to Kane County this morning, with Lysander set to pitch later tonight.

And, on the Canadians front, 2007 Catcher Dante Love is expected to come back to Vancouver, to platoon with Juan Nunez, a Latin catcher currently catching pitches in Stockton, due to an injury within the Ports.

One month until Opening Day; plenty of Canadians involved in moves within the A's system

There are 29 days until the Vancouver Canadians will open their gates for the fans, on Opening Day. The Canadians club is full of expectations this season, with new uniforms, a new logo, an improved stadium, and many returning players.

Stars like Dan Hamblin and Grant Desme may return this year, due to injuries, as will Justin Frash, Dante Love and probably HBP king JD Pruitt.

A Oaklandclubhouse.com story yesterday with A's Player Development official Keith Lieppman said Catcher Dante Love (circa 2007 Canadian) will be back in black and red this season, with Juan Nunez who is currently catching balls in Stockton, filling in for Raul Padron who's out with a Steroid suspension.

Also from the story, came word that 2007 Canadians hurler Lee Land has retired from professional baseball. He's been in Extended Spring Training since April, and was expected to head back to Vancouver or up to Kane County. The only problem was that Land suffered an arm/elbow injury late last season, and it's rumoured those injuries were still lingering at the time of his retirement this weekend.

RHP Bryan Collins was released by the A's, and you have to feel bad for the Texas native. In a crowded C's bullpen, Collins was almost the odd-man out, getting put into very tight situations. He ended the year with a 1-1 record, and an ERA of 6.59. In 27 innings he allowed 20 earned runs, and struck out 25 batters. Good luck Bryan!

The C's will be making a splash of their own this week, revealing their 2008 uniforms. They are absolutely stunning, even though anything is better than the jerseys they've worn since 2005. But if you want a sneak peek at the jerseys, go to the Vancouver Canadians website, go to 'Coaches' under their roster page, and there are slight pictures of the managers and coaches wearing the new home jerseys.

Speaking of the C's, there are still a ton of last year's players that haven't been assigned to another A's affiliate.

On the hill, there's Inoel Deaza, Pedro Figueroa, Fabian Gomez, Jose Guzman and Brent Lysander, while position players Dante Love, Julio Rivera, Dusty Napoleon, Justin Frash, Dan Hamblin (Injury), JD Pruitt and Grant Desme (Injury) still remain off a team roster.

While I believe Figueroa and Guzman were released, I'm not quite certain. I'll look into that.

Success is the word at Nat Bailey last weekend, unless you're a T-Bird

Yesterday proved to be a busy, yet successful day for the Nat Bailey faithful, as well as the Lewis-Clark State Baseball team.

UBC’s baseball team lost their opening round game Thursday, before staying alive on Friday with a grand slam by Senior Mike Styrna. They then, however, lost to College of Idaho Friday night, ending their 2008 season on home turf.

COI advanced to the final, where they faced Lewis-Clark State on Saturday.

VANCOUVER — The Lewis Clark State Warriors jumped out to a big lead in the first inning and never looked back on their way to winning the Region 1 championship by a score of 15-4 over the College of Idaho Coyotes.

With one out in the bottom of the first, LC state went on a rally that saw six straight Warriors reach base and five runs come in. That would be all the offence they needed to win the Region 1 title, as the
Coyotes were held to four runs off seven hits in five innings of work by Warriors starter Blaine Hardy, with Justin Mace throwing four no-hit innings in relief to seal the deal.

LC state finished with 17 hits, including at least one hit in every inning but the sixth. All but two of their starters registered at least one hit in the game, with Mike Rivera’s four hit performance leading the team.

With the win, the Warriors have earned the right to host the Super Regionals, which get underway on May 15 in Lewiston, Idaho.

So once again, Lewis-Clark State pulls away with the Region I title. It’s bad enough they get an automatic berth into their own NAIA World Series, but why do they have to compete in Region I? It sucks if you’re a UBC fan.

Many good things came out of this season, though. Scott Webster and Senior Fletcher Vynne each cranked five home-runs, and DH Ryan Pilgrim hit four, with a few years still left at UBC, and Seniors Matt Chester (who went out injured a few weeks ago) and Mike Styrna (Grand Slam Friday) found their groove, hitting .350 and .336 respectively. They combined for 50 RBI and four home-runs as well as 21 extra-base hits.


The future looks bright, with Pilgrim, Ben Torrie, Jon Syrnyk, Alex White, Scott Webster, Sammie Starr, Craig Leebosh, Jordan Pandoff, Bob Foerster and a handful of others (such as Sean Everest, Mike Elias, Nic Lendvoy and Nic Lindsay) all scheduled to come back next season on offence. On the hill, there wasn’t one ERA below 4.28, and one starting pitcher who hadn’t given up a home-run. Taylor King was injured for most of the season, which was a very bad thing, but he should be back next year.

Saturday was also a big day for the Canadians, who hosted a job fair, National Anthem tryouts, and it marked the first day for buying single-game tickets. Here’s how Jason Takefman summed up the day’s events:

All aspects of yesterday’s festivities were excellent: Our Job Fair and National Anthem tryouts attracted a lot of returning and new faces, our field crowned a champion (not the team we wanted, but a champion nonetheless), and fans ensured they got the best seats for all the big nights. Granville Island Brewing Opening Night Fireworks, Dayton Boots Hall of Fame Grand Opening with Rock Raines, and ‘The Hitman’ on July 10th were the most popular game choices.

Tons of great seats still remain for these games, but buy yours sooner rather than later. You don’t want to be turned away at the door like hundreds of fans at last year’s Opening Night.

Thunderbirds to host Region I Tournament

It should be a great weekend of baseball, starting 2:00 on Thursday, when NAIA Champion Lewis-Clark State battles Concordia-Portland, in advance of UBC’s tilt with College of Idaho at 6:00.

This double-elimination tournament takes place at Nat Bailey Stadium, hosted by the ‘Birds.

After winning one of a possible three conference games on the weekend in Caldwell, Idaho, UBC clinched the tournament, a huge advantage.

The Thunderbirds look to take back the Region I crown, two years after they made a remarkable run to the NAIA World Series. Will they repeat? Who knows, but they could go far, with the team they have.

From the UBC website:

CALDWELL, Idaho — The College of Idaho Coyotes swept the T-Birds in their double-bill season finale on Sunday to pull level with them in the Region 1 standings. However, UBC holds the head-to-head tiebreaker, and will host the Region 1 tournament beginning on May 8 at Nat Bailey Stadium.

The wins for the Yotes (17-7) gave The College of Idaho a share of the regional regular season pennant, but UBC won the all-important tiebreaker, giving the T-Birds the host site for next week’s Region I Tournament.

There you have it, 6:00 Thursday night, Thunderbirds and College of Idaho.

Press, Press and more Press

Have the Vancouver Canadians ever received so much ink, with just over six weeks until their season is set to begin? Most of their players for 2008 are still in College, playing for their respective teams, and probably a handful of them haven’t even graduated from High School. Yet, the C’s are more popular than ever, and they can’t stay out of the spotlight.

Whether it’s minorleaguebaseball.com, The Province or even the Canadian Press, GM Andrew Seymour and President Andy Dunn are certainly getting a lot of credit for promotions, mascots and much more, and so they should.

Let’s start off with the article from the Canadian Press:

The reincarnation of the Vancouver Canadians as a single-A team in the Northwest League is becoming a rare success story for minor-league baseball in this country.

Attendance is solid, the ownership is both local and strong, and, perhaps most importantly, a long-term commitment to the city has been made with a 25-year lease for Nat Bailey Stadium.

All of that is why Vancouver looks set to buck the woes that have killed minor-league clubs in other Canadian cities, leaving it the sole remaining outpost of affiliated ball north of the border.

"The Northwest League business model works real well for us," team president Andy Dunn said during a recent visit to Toronto. "I think what we need in Vancouver is just a good, strong, traditional minor-league promotional plan.

"We really play on the old throw-back, historic feel, both at the facility and with the promotions."

[…]


"Most of the fans are coming out for the entertainment experience more than they are the baseball experience," said Dunn. "So
part of your fanbase is the die-hard baseball fan and they’re going to notice the difference, the other part of your fanbase is looking for the entertainment experience, so they want the fireworks show or to see the San Diego Chicken or an inexpensive night on the town that’s a great experience.

"If you give people a reason not to come, they’ll always find it. That’s the mentality you have to look at it with. Yeah, it’s not a triple-A franchise but it’s still professional
baseball."

That’s only a bit of the article, and if you’re even the smallest fan of Canadians baseball, you still need to check it out.

Now, moving onto Marc Weber’s article focusing more on the promotional aspect of the team:

Andrew Seymour is a one-man dream team of theme, but the Vancouver
Canadians’ new GM says the main plot line this season will be good, clean, family fun.

That’s not to say the man who brought Billy Donovan Night, Bobble-Butt Night and Mike Tyson Ear Night (see sidebar) to the Florida State League’s Fort Myers Miracle won’t go a little goofy on occasion. Just that he knows the topical humour so popular in Florida isn’t necessarily needed at the Nat.

"In the Florida markets, each night you’ve got to dress it up a bit," said Seymour, a Torontonian who goes way back with new president Andy Dunn, a two-time Florida State League executive of the year."With Vancouver there’s a tradition of people coming out to Nat Bailey so you don’t have to get too silly, too risque. You don’t have to have whoopee cushion night every third Sunday."

[…]

The Canadians, who open the season at home on June 17, will soon
announce their Superstar Series — a list of celebrity appearances — and that’s where Dunn’s connections come in. Five A&W Sunday Family Fun Days will be a blast for kids, and Dunn wants to ramp up the classic nooners — make them a one-stop shop for business types. "I want fans to be able to get shoe shines and hair cuts," he said. "I’m trying to find a laundry service that will partner with us."

If anyone, thought that 9 years ago, this team would be as successful and as organized as they are today, I wouldn’t have believed them.

It says they’ll ’soon’ announce their Superstar Series, but I guess they didn’t tell Minorleaguebaseball.com that, because during their interview with Andrew Seymour, they posted the names of those Superstars, as well as the team’s new mascot which will be revealed in less than a month. Since that time, they’ve taken the Superstars, and the mascot off the site.

I’ve quoted enough articles, so you can check out Seymour’s interview for yourself, and it is a great read.

41 days until Opening Day, single-game tickets go on sale next Saturday at 10 AM.

Canadians announce full 2008 season schedule

The promotions for 2008 are supposed to be exceptional, especially with new GM Andrew Seymour (left) at the helm, but looking at the schedule right now, it looks even greater than anticipated.

(Nat Bailey Stadium - Vancouver, B.C.) - The Vancouver Canadians introduced their full 2008 schedule with promotions, game times and opponents. The C’s gearing up for their 9th season in the Northwest League will open up the summer at home against the Tri City Dust Devils on Tuesday, June 17th, 2008 at 7:05pm.

Vancouver will host nine fireworks nights over the course of the Canadians 38-game home schedule including Canada Day as well as include seven weekday ‘nooners’ and five A&W Sunday Family Fun Days, all 1:05pm starts.

The promotional schedule is packed with a number of great nights for fans of all ages including a new Superstar Series that will have celebrity appearances throughout the season. The Canadians have more than a dozen great giveaways at the gates this season including batting helmets, old school lunch boxes and jersey t-shirts.

Single Game Tickets for the 2008 Vancouver Canadians season go on sale Saturday, May 10th at 10am. Fans looking to grab a seat for their favorite events can head down to the Nat Bailey Stadium Box Office, visit the C’s website at http://www.canadiansbaseball.com or call the Box Office at 604-872-5232. All fans who purchase tickets on Saturday, May 10th will be eligible for the chance to win an autographed bat from one of the legends in our Superstar Series as well as a ‘Meet and Greet’ with that star!

2008 VANCOUVER CANADIANS NORTHWEST LEAGUE SCHEDULE

DATE DAY OPPONENT TIME STADIUM PROMOTION

6/17 Tues vs. Tri City Dust Devils 7:05pm Nat Bailey Opener & Fireworks
6/18 Wed vs. Tri City Dust Devils 7:05pm Nat Bailey Superstar Appearance
6/19 Thurs vs. Tri City Dust Devils 7:05pm Nat Bailey Seat Cushion Giveaway
6/20 Fri vs. Tri City Dust Devils 1:05pm Nat Bailey Nooner
6/21 Sat vs. Tri City Dust Devils 7:05pm Nat Bailey Fireworks

6/27 Fri vs. Eugene Emeralds 7:05pm Nat Bailey
6/28 Sat vs. Eugene Emeralds 7:05pm Nat Bailey Mini Bat Giveaway
6/29 Sun vs. Eugene Emeralds 1:05pm Nat Bailey A&W Family Fun Sunday
Batting Helmet Giveaway

6/30 Mon vs. Everett Aquasox 7:05pm Nat Bailey Dog Day of Summer
7/01 Tues vs. Everett Aquasox 7:05pm Nat Bailey Canada Day Fireworks
7/02 Wed vs. Everett Aquasox 1:05pm Nat Bailey Nooner

7/09 Wed vs. Spokane Indians 7:05pm Nat Bailey
7/10 Thurs vs. Spokane Indians 7:05pm Nat Bailey Superstar Appearance
7/11 Fri vs. Spokane Indians 1:05pm Nat Bailey Nooner
7/12 Sat vs. Spokane Indians 7:05pm Nat Bailey Fireworks
7/13 Sun vs. Spokane Indians 1:05pm Nat Bailey A&W Family Fun Sunday
Jersey T-Shirt Giveaway

7/20 Sun vs. Yakima Bears 7:05pm Nat Bailey Fireworks
7/21 Mon vs. Yakima Bears 7:05pm Nat Bailey
7/22 Tues vs. Yakima Bears 7:05pm Nat Bailey
7/23 Wed vs. Yakima Bears 7:05pm Nat Bailey Superstar Appearance
7/24 Thurs vs. Yakima Bears 1:05pm Nat Bailey License Plate Frame Giveaway

7/31 Thurs vs. Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 7:05pm Nat Bailey Fireworks
8/01 Fri vs. Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 1:05pm Nat Bailey Nooner
8/02 Sat vs. Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 7:05pm Nat Bailey ZOOperstars

8/12 Tues vs. Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 7:05pm Nat Bailey Superstar Appearance
8/13 Wed vs. Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 7:05pm Nat Bailey
8/14 Thurs vs. Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 1:05pm Nat Bailey Nooner & Mouse Pad Giveaway
8/15 Fri vs. Boise Hawks 7:05pm Nat Bailey Old School Lunch Boxes
8/16 Sat vs. Boise Hawks 7:05pm Nat Bailey Fireworks
8/17 Sun vs. Boise Hawks 1:05pm Nat Bailey A&W Family Fun Sunday
Batting Glove Giveaway
8/18 Mon vs. Boise Hawks 7:05pm Nat Bailey BirdZERK
8/19 Tues vs. Boise Hawks 1:05pm Nat Bailey Nooner

8/23 Sat vs. Everett Aquasox 7:05pm Nat Bailey Fireworks
8/24 Sun vs. Everett Aquasox 1:05pm Nat Bailey A&W Family Fun Sunday
Kids Cap Giveaway
8/25 Mon vs. Everett Aquasox 7:05pm Nat Bailey Team Photo Giveaway

8/29 Fri vs. Eugene Emeralds 7:05pm Nat Bailey
8/30 Sat vs. Eugene Emeralds 7:05pm Nat Bailey Fireworks
8/31 Sun vs. Eugene Emeralds 1:05pm Nat Bailey A&W Family Fun Sunday
Umbrella Giveaway

Three superstar appearances, 7 nooners and a bunch of other great promotions including the tons of free swag available at the gates, and ‘A&W Family Fun Sunday’. 7 more long weeks.