Canadian baseball scene enjoying moment in sun

It’s been a spectacular week for baseball in Canada — past, present and future. The past will be honoured at St. Marys, Ont., on Saturday morning with the induction of Carlos Delgado, Matt Stairs, Corey Koskie and Felipe Alou. The present is represented by the resurgent Blue Jays and their eight-game winning streak that has moved them a game above .500, back in the division race. Baseball’s future was on display with 30 young Canadians selected in MLB’s June draft. A solid week. HALL OF FAME: If you’ve never been to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in St. Marys, do yourself a favour. Take your baseball-playing children and drive down there on Saturday morning. Make it a day.

The day begins with a street festival on the town’s main street. The tradition began a year ago and will see Blue Jays alumni out signing autographs, with activities all the way to the start of the ceremony at the hall itself at 1 p.m. This is the strongest class of inductees ever and includes Sun baseball columnist Bob Elliott, whose passion for Canadian amateur baseball made him a lock.

Delgado, Stairs and Koskie all played for the Jays. Stairs originally signed and made his major-league debut with the Expos. The manager, Alou, saved the franchise in 1992 when he took over from Tom Runnells and went on to a hall-worthy career. His wife, by the way, is from Laval, Que.

STREAKING: The Jays enjoyed their off-day playing golf in the club’s own tournament to raise money for the Jays Care Foundation, before heading to Boston in the early evening. The seasonhigh eight-game win streak has buoyed the spirits of fans and vaulted the team back into the AL East race which, for the first time in years, features a mediocre field of five.

The Jays completed a six-game homestand by sweeping the AL West-leading Astros and then the disappointing Marlins. All that after taking the final two in D.C. against a team that was supposed to run away and hide in the NL East. The Jays are now 6-3 in interleague play.

At Fenway Park starting Friday night, the Jays will be back to intramural play, inside the AL East after 26 straight games outside the division during which they went 14-12. Another streak is the club’s unusual 34 straight games without a save. They have had five blown saves since May 4, by Aaron Loup, Steve Delabar, Liam Hendriks, Roberto Osuna and Bo Schultz, but none in the ninth. The Jays came back, in fact, to win two of those five games.

DRAFTED: It’s a testament not only to Greg Hamilton’s junior national team program, but also to baseball at the community level across the country that 30 Canadians were selected in the 40 rounds of the June draft among 30 MLB teams. It’s the second-highest total trailing 2002, the year that featured lefthanders Adam Loewen and Jeff Francis in the first nine picks and third baseman Mark Teahen late in the first. There were 17 Canadians in 2014.

Including the first two prospects chosen this year, Mississauga first baseman Josh Naylor (12th by Marlins) and Calgary right-hander Michael Soroka (28th, Braves), there are 10 players from the current junior nationals, with eight more who played previously for their country. At the same time, that means 12 prospects made the grade via other routes. That’s a tribute to volunteer coaches and community baseball across the country.

Broken down by province, there were 18 players from Ontario, five from British Columbia, three from Alberta, two from Quebec and one each from Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The most active MLB teams in choosing Canadians were the Reds (scout Bill Byckowski) with five, the Blue Jays (scout Jamie Lehman) and A’s (scout Matt Higginson) with three and the Orioles (scout Tyler Moe), Cubs and Tigers with two apiece. A total of 19 of 30 teams drafted a Canadian.

The Blue Jays have a special family connection with two drafted players. Outfielder Brett Siddall (Canisius College) of Windsor was chosen by the A’s in the 11th round. He is the son of Jays broadcaster Joe Siddall, a former majorleague catcher. Infielder Mattingly Romanin (Chicago St. University) of Burlington was picked by the Jays in the 39th round. He is the son of Jays manager of baseball information Mal Romanin.

The Jays also chose Toronto native Connor Panas (third baseman) in the ninth round and Mississauga native Owen Spiwak (catcher) in the 10th round.

Yes, Canadian baseball has had a week to celebrate.