Itinerant ballplayer makes stop in Kitchener
Panthers outfielder has criss-crossed the globe playing ball
KITCHENER — Zach Johnson’s baseball resume has more unpredictable turns than a knuckleball.
The Cranbrook, B.C., native played college ball in California, signed with the St. Louis Cardinals, suited up in Virginia, the Okotoks and Medicine Hat, played winter baseball in Puerto Rico and then with the Rockingham Rams in Australia.
The past three seasons he’s played in front of European crowds as part of the Baseball-Bundesliga in Germany, where he was most recently traded to a team in the Netherlands.
So, yeah, the outfielder’s route to the Kitchener Panthers this summer has been a whirlwind.
“What’s really cool is the style of baseball everywhere is a little bit different,” he said. “You can see little pieces that are kind of unique to the area.”
Johnson, hitting .302 in 13 games since arriving earlier this month, is due back to his European team after the Intercounty Baseball League season wraps up.
While he’s here, he hopes to help end the Panthers’ 17-year championship drought.
“Once we’re done hopefully winning the championship here, I’ll head back,” he said. “But I came here to win a championship.”
The left-fielder was signed by Scott Ballantyne, Panthers’ director of player recruitment, who coached Johnson’s former roommate Jeff Hunt when he played at Laurier.
Johnson — who’s had five hits in his last two games — has given the Panthers a reliable veteran presence in left field and professional at-bats. He’s been an impactful replacement for outfielders Andy Leader and Zarley Cina, who are returning to their college teams next month.
We might not think of Germany as a baseball nation, but the game is on the rise there. Most of the players in the league are German-born, and it’s a strong circuit, said Johnson — who won the Triple Crown in 2016 with the Mannheim Tornados before joining the Mainz Athletics.
“It’s definitely growing. I think the World Baseball Classic has been a huge contributor to that,” he said.
Major League Baseball is spending a lot of money in Europe, opening baseball academies that are grooming the next generation of players, and more actively scouting players.
Young Germans are growing up cheering for homegrown big leaguers like Max Kepler, of the Minnesota Twins.
And Donald Lutz, who broke in with the Cincinnati Reds, has been good to Johnson, whose career has flourished there, and now calls it home with his girlfriend.
Johnson decided to cross the Atlantic at the encouragement of a mentor in his hometown, who had played in the Netherlands.
“I took the opportunity. I didn’t really know too much about it, other than it was a pretty competitive league. It’s been great,” he said.
The Panthers, who are keeping pace with the Barrie Baycats for first place in the IBL, host Burlington at 7 p.m. on Sunday.