Family ties
THE ANNUAL BASEBALL CANADA BANQUET BRINGS PLAYERS AND THEIR MENTORS TOGETHER
To the cynic, it can sound a little sappy, the way members of Canada’s baseball society t alk about each other. It’s a tightknit family, they say. The bond is unique, they insist. They joke and poke, but they always have each other’s back.
All of that is true, and it is rei nforced each January when Baseball Canada, which runs the country’s outstanding national programs, holds its annual fundraising banquet in Toronto. From established stars like Russell Martin to glittering prospects like 17-year-old Andrew Yerzy, the gathering attracts a crowd of remarkably talented devotees. To understand how much they care about the program and each other, all one needs to do is watch and listen.
So it was no surprise on Saturday, when the 14th such assembly convened, to hear two Blue Jays talk about the boost they received in troubled times from a couple of Canadian comrades.
For Michael Saunders, it was Cincinnati star Joey Votto who offered wise counsel four years ago when Saunders wondered if he was flaming out of the big leagues. For Dalton Pompey, it was minorleague coach Stubby Clapp, a beloved figure in Baseball Canada circles since his playing days, who offered simple advice.
Saunders, who was born in Victoria, B.C., is expected to be the Blue Jays’ everyday left- fielder in 2016. But after his first three years in the majors with Seattle, his career slash line was .196/.263/. 306.
“It got to the point where I questioned whether or not I belonged,” he said before Saturday’s banquet.
Later, on stage to present an award in front of a packed ballroom, Saunders said Votto helped him emerge from his funk. Votto already had won an MVP award; Saunders was trying to hang on to his job. But during a two- hour conversation, Saunders said, Votto told him to quit worrying about failure and the expectations of others.
“I just kind of made the decision to not care anymore — don’t be scared to strike out, don’t be scared to make a fool of yourself out there, it’s going to happen to everybody,” Saunders said in a prebanquet scrum.
“And I think once I got over that part of playing very tentatively and scared to fail is when I was allowed to have fun, ease up a little bit and go out there and play the game. The biggest jump is continuing to play like you did in the minor leagues when you first get called up, and not be playing against the names on the back of the jerseys. Instead, you’re playing against the name on the front. It was a big maturation process for me, a big growing part of my career.”
Pompey, a native of Mississauga, Ont., came far and fast at age 21 — a little too fast, as it turned out. His spectacular 2014 season spanned three minor- league levels, prompting a September promotion to his hometown team and then, following spring training, an opening- day assignment in Yankee Stadium.
He lasted a month in the bigleague outfield. By then, his slashline mirrored the figures Saunders had compiled after three seasons. The Jays not only demoted Pompey to the minors, they dumped him back in Double-A.
For Toronto’s opening- day centre- fielder, it was a shocker. But in Double-A New Hampshire, his mentor was Stubby Clapp, the five- foot- eight former infielder from Windsor, Ont., whose 11 pro seasons included a cup of coffee with the Cardinals in 2001 and several star turns for Team Canada.
When Clapp started to talk, Pompey was reminded of advice he’d received in rookie ball in 2011 from manager Dennis Holmberg, who has tutored Toronto prospects for more than 35 years.
“( Clapp) told me, and Dennis Holmberg told me back in the day, if you do like three to five things a game to help your team win, you earn your paycheque that day,” Pompey said. “That’s the approach I started to take — if I can help the team (by doing) three things a game, whether that’s making a diving catch, throw a guy out, walk, runs scored, whatever. It simplified the game for me and put less pressure on getting hits or getting RBIs.”
Clapp’s lesson: keep it simple. Or, as Pompey put it, listing “attainable goals every day that I could set for myself. It kept me grounded and helped me excel.”
He did excel at New Hampshire, then at Triple-A Buffalo, and on Sept. 1 he was back in Toronto for a playoff drive. Perhaps most memorably, he stole second and third in quick succession in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series, but his potential tying run was stranded as the Jays lost 4-3 to the Royals.
Pompey enters spring training this year in a different situation from a year ago. With Saunders slotted as the left-fielder and Kevin Pillar and Jose Bautista locked in at the other two outfield spots, Pompey looms as the likely fourth outfielder.
He says he is determined not to put undue pressure on himself. He hopes he has learned not to obsess over spring-training stats. He insists he will focus on the Stubby Clapp mantra: attainable goals, every day.
“I know that the results will be there if I do that,” he said.
During Saturday night’s awards ceremonies, player after player mounted the stage to recall fond memories of playing in international competition with Team Canada. To a man, they lauded national teams director Greg Hamilton, the multi- talented coach and administrator who keeps the engine running. And everyone talked about the family ties that bring the clan together each January in Toronto.
There were plenty of laughs, tall tales and shop talk. And opportunities too for the kind of quiet chat that can help a player find traction when times are tough. Michael Saunders and Joey Votto can vouch for that. So can Dalton Pompey and Stubby Clapp. When Canadian baseball people cross paths, that sort of thing happens a lot.