Canadian Crossing

Canada notebook: Justin Trudeau leads Liberals, R.A. Dickey on '60 Minutes'

 

We now have our 5 participants for the 2015 Canadian federal election race. Stephen Harper, Thomas Mulcair, Elizabeth May, and Daniel Paillé now have their Liberal equivalent: Justin Trudeau.

Trudeau won the Liberal leadership race on Sunday, replacing interim leader Bob Rae.

The NDP had its convention over the weekend, trying its best to steal Trudeau's thunder. Thomas Mulcair was endorsed by 92.3% of the NDP delegates.

The Liberals have 2½ years to convince Canadians to put them back on top, and somehow gain back the anti-Conservative vote from the NDP.

Previous coverage:

Will Justin Trudeau be the Liberal Party savior?

Trudeau has the name recognition, based on his father, former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, and he is from Quebec, the province that may have the most votes up for grabs in 2015. Trudeau has to win over the 905 Toronto suburbs and B.C. without too much vote-splitting with the NDP in key ridings.

A lot of those borderline ridings have Conservative representation where the incumbent got well under 50% of the vote.

Mulcair and the NDP are also trying to change its image. The new NDP constitution is more centrist, and Mulcair is trying to seem "less angry," though that is more of an accusation from the Harper government than based in reality.

Harper and his cronies will try their best to blow away the Liberal leader with negative ads, just as they did with Stephane Dion and Michael Ignatieff. Trudeau will need to fight back against the negative tide, being the third Liberal leader in the last 3 federal elections. Since Trudeau has experience in the boxing ring, he'll have that edge. But the fight will be a long one, and may likely extend well beyond the next 30 months.

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R.A. Dickey has a story made for "60 Minutes." Horrible tales of sexual abuse suffered as a child. Struggling major and minor league career. Cheated on his wife. The knuckleball helped change a lot of that around, and proceeded to win the Cy Young Award last season.

The Toronto element of that chapter was more of an afterthought, except to say that Dickey is off to a rough start as a Blue Jay. Dickey won his first game as a Toronto Blue Jay on Saturday. Cynics might point out that this is the first game on the road, away from the domed Rogers Centre. When Dickey gets his knuckleball going indoors, the Blue Jays will breathe easier.

With Jose Reyes out until at least the All-Star break, the Blue Jays will have to work much harder just to keep up in the American League East Division.

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Porter Airlines is known as the small airline flying out of the Billy Bishop lakefront airport in Toronto. Porter flies to places Ontario-East along with U.S. destinations such as New York, Washington, Boston, and Chicago.

Porter wants to redefine its role to serve "Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, California, Florida and the Caribbean" starting in 2016. And the airline wants to do so with Canadian-made Bombardier CS100 jets.

For those who have flown Porter (present company included), these new jets are considerably bigger than the jets Porter has flown. In order to fly the new jets at Billy Bishop, runways will have to be expanded. This means expanding the airport further into Lake Ontario.

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Speaking of travel between Canada and the United States …

The U.S. presidential permit is set, so the new Detroit-Windsor bridge can start construction. Right?

Land acquisition is the next step in the long and winding road (bridge) on this journey. Construction is expected to start in 2015, perhaps 2016. The bridge should be done by 2020 (great vision), assuming no other hindrances from Matty Moroun or anyone else.

This bridge was needed 10-15 years ago. NAFTA is 20 years old this year.

In the meantime, you can check out our coverage of the Daily Show's take on the new bridge project.

Montreal has more than a supporting role in '42'

For those who suffered through the well-intentioned "The Jackie Robinson Story" from 1950 where Jackie Robinson plays himself, the idea of a modern adaptation of this story hitting the big screen in 2013 brings excitement. But will this modern version tell the story of Jackie Robinson and his crucial time in Montréal?

We've seen still shots of Robinson wearing a Montréal Royals uniform from his time in 1946, so that is an encouraging sign.

Today is Jackie Robinson Day, the anniversary of Robinson's 1947 debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers. But the film should give Montréal and the Royals its due. After all, Montréal proved to be a vital buffer as Robinson started his pro career.

The Robinson family appreciated how warm and inviting Montréal was for them. The way Montréal treated them is truly part of why Robinson was able to succeed at the Major League level. If Robinson had to go to Atlanta or another Southerm city for minor-league ball, this story could have had some awkward turns.

As a Royal, Robinson helped lead his team to winning the Little World Series. Ken Burns' documentary "Baseball" recounted the story of excited fans chasing Robinson to the train when he left Montréal.

"… the narrator quotes Sam Maltin, a stringer for the Pittsburgh Courier: 'It was probably the only day in history that a black man ran from a white mob with love instead of lynching on its mind.'"

While telling all of Robinson's story is really important, reminding people of the Montréal legacy is also crucial because the story brings the perception of Montréal as a baseball city closer to reality.

Previous coverage:

Jackie Robinson's Montréal apartment honored by Canada and United States

Like most expansion cities, Montréal had its start as a minor-league franchise, a farm team with the Brooklyn Dodgers. The team existed from 1897–1917 and from 1928–1960.

Legendary managers Sparky Anderson, Gene Mauch, and Tommy Lasorda all played there. Hall of Fame outfielder Roberto Clemente also started out in Montréal. Any Brooklyn star of the 1940s and 1950s came through Montréal; Duke Snider was a player and later a broadcaster of Les Expos.

If you travel to Montréal, you can see the Jules Lasalle statue of Jackie Robinson outside Olympic Stadium.

photo credit: "42"/Warner Brothers

2013 Toronto Blue Jays preview

MLB Extra Innings free preview
Date	Opponent	Time
April 2	Cleveland	7:07p
April 3	Cleveland	7:07p
April 4	Cleveland	7:07p
April 5	Boston	7:07p
April 6	Boston	1:07p
April 7	Boston	1:07p
All games at Rogers Centre. All times Eastern. All feeds via Rogers Sportsnet.

You've memorized the names: Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, Melky Cabrera, and R.A. Dickey (left). Yeah, the Toronto Blue Jays picked up a few players in the off-season.

As someone wise once said, you still have to play the games. Still, when your team hasn't made the playoffs since Kim Campbell was prime minister, you are allowed to get just a little excited.

The Blue Jays still play in the American League East, and even with a second wild card, the team has to finish at least 3rd in the division to have a shot at the play-in wild-card game.

The team does have a few "old" faces coming back: Jose Bautista is still good, Edwin Encarnacion came off his best major league season. Brett Lawrie will be diving like a maniac once his rib injury heals.

Highly regarded prospects Travis D'Arnaud and Noah Syndergaard went to the New York Mets in the R.A. Dickey deal and gave up prospects to the Miami Marlins for the veterans. This team is ready to win now.

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TBS early schedule
Date	Opponent	Time
April 28	@ New York Yankees	1p
May 12	@ Boston Red Sox	1:30p

Canadians can watch plenty of Toronto Blue Jays games on Rogers Sportsnet. As for U.S. viewers, the MLB Network will come through with some games. ESPN might have one telecast north of the border, likely against one of its hometown teams (Yankees and Red Sox); after all, Chris Berman probably needs a codeine run. TBS will have the Blue Jays on, but mostly (exclusively) when they play the Yankees or Red Sox.

The MLB Network announces games as the season progresses. The Blue Jays have a primary game on the network as Toronto visits Yankee Stadium on April 25 (7p). The team is the backup game on April 13 at Kansas City (available in Cincinnati and Pittsburgh or via rainout) and April 26 in New York (available in Atlanta and Detroit or via rainout).

MLB Extra Innings (see above) will have a free preview of the first week of Blue Jays games, subject to availability, starting with the home opener Tuesday against Cleveland.

Fox TV has a package of Saturday afternoon and evening games throughout the season. Only 29 teams will get appearances on Fox; there are 30 teams in the major leagues. For at least the second year in a row, the Blue Jays will not be on Fox.

So even with exciting new players, and a chance to make the playoffs on the 20th anniversary of their last World Series championship, the TV landscape is "same as it ever was."

New exciting players aren't enough to get the Blue Jays more exposure. Winning might not be enough either, since the Blue Jays are in Canada. But winning will help and while Fox won't step up, if the Blue Jays advance to the American League Championship Series, Fox has to carry the Blue Jays coast-to-coast.

The best revenge is making the playoffs.

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photo credit: Nathan Denette / THE CANADIAN PRESS

NHL the week in preview: March 29

The schedule is a bit light over the Easter weekend, but the upcoming NHL Center Ice free preview means a lot more hockey starting Monday.

We got a limited preview when the season started, but didn't get an "All-Star Break." So having this week (thanks to baseball) and hopefully, having a final week will come close to a normal season.

Unlike the real "All-Star Break," sharing channels with MLB Extra Innings means fewer options for Canadian feeds and fewer repeats.

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NHL Network

Saturday
New York Rangers @ Montréal, 7p (CBC simulcast)

Tape delayed
Friday Winnipeg @ Pittsburgh, 3p
Thursday Montréal @ Philadelphia, 1p

CBC

Saturday
Toronto @ Ottawa, 7p (nationwide except Quebec)
New York Rangers @ Montréal, 7p (Quebec)
Vancouver @ Edmonton, 10p

TSN

Wednesday
Montréal @ Philadelphia, 7:30p

NHL Center Ice free preview

Monday
Winnipeg @ New York Rangers, 7p
Carolina @ Montréal, 7:30p
Calgary @ Edmonton, 9:30p
Vancouver @ San Jose, 10:30p
Tuesday
Ottawa @ Boston, 7p
Winnipeg @ New York Islanders, 7p
Wednesday
Edmonton @ Calgary, 10p
Thursday
Philadelphia @ Toronto, 7p
Winnipeg @ Montréal, 7:30p
Edmonton @ Vancouver, 10:30p

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The NBC Sports Network games are national, but Ed Olczyk seemed particularly angry about Boston's start. Pierre McGuire wasn't happy either. They had every right to critically analyze that element of the game (also Montréal was playing well). But you shouldn't be rooting for anybody on a national game, even if that team doesn't play in your country.

In the 3rd period, Doc Emrick referred at one point to fans watching that aren't rooting for either team. Emrick made it clear that some fans watching the NBC Sports Network telecast were rooting for the Habs. Not as many as NBCSN wants, but a helluva lot more than NBCSN thinks are there.

The NHL Network has had a habit of rebroadcasting the NBCSN feed the following afternoon. From a perspective standpoint, it would be nice for NBCSN to show the TSN feed the next day, so audiences can compare and contrast the two national telecasts.

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Jarome Iginla is a great Canadian player who was playing on a Canadian team, the face of a franchise that was fairly invisible in Canada and literally invisible in the United States.

Now Iginla is in Pittsburgh, and the Flames, looking to the future, didn't get a whole lot in return. Two college players not high on the Penguins depth charts and a 1st-round pick that won't be that high. Jay Feaster had a better deal with Boston, and probably would have had an even better deal with a team not on Iginla's list. Vancouver would have been glad to give up what Pittsburgh gave up, but the Canucks had no chance.

The only winner in the deal is the Pittsburgh Penguins. Iginla goes to a crowded roster of talent, including newly acquired Brendan Morrow, but he won't get as much playing time as he is used to in Calgary. Plus, by dictating where he would go in a narrow time frame, Iginla hurt the Flames in what they could get back.

Jay Feaster may have done the best he could in this window, but the Flames needed to have a plan to trade Iginla, and this couldn't have been it. And while the Flames will eventually get some help, that help is years away, and without the optimism of their provincial rivals, the Edmonton Oilers.

The NBC Sports Network spent both breaks Wednesday talking about Jarome Iginla. The sad part is they only mentioned him because of the upcoming trade. Iginla deserves better in a lot of ways. NBC, NBC Sports Network, and the NHL Network will have more reasons to mention him; too bad it took being traded to an American team for that to happen.

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Rick Ball was needed because CBC had a full list of games last weekend. Mark Lee and Greg Millen handled things in Winnipeg on Friday night.

Ron MacLean and Don Cherry were in Montreal for their tour of Canadian cities for the 60th anniversary of Hockey Night in Canada. Last stop, which will have to be soon, is Ottawa.

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Winnipeg is leading the Southeast Division, but had a good opportunity to add some daylight as the struggling Capitals came to Winnipeg for back-to-back nights. The Capitals outscored the Jets in the two games 10-1. Dustin Byfuglien scored 9:51 into the 3rd period Friday night for the Jets only goal.

The Friday night game was Winnipeg's second straight loss to the Caps at MTS Centre on a CBC national feed. Washington posted a 3-0 shutout on Winnipeg in that CBC Saturday matinee.

The Jets need to be better on the national stage, and should take better advantage of teams traveling far to get to Winnipeg.

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Too bad for Buffalo Sabres fans that they couldn't watch their team on the CBC Saturday night. Buffalo area residents can get CBLT Toronto via cable or antenna, but CBLT carried the Maple Leafs. Ironically, fans in Boston got to watch the Sabres-Canadiens, since the Bruins were blacked out.

The CBC should show its split hockey feeds over-the-air, so hockey fans could watch the Leafs on 5-1 and the Canadiens and Sabres on 5-2. And if your antenna is strong enough, invite a few friends over to watch the game on CBC.

Canada wins with punches and words in World Baseball Classic brawl

"Can't hurt us Canadians"

If you take anything out of the 2013 World Baseball Classic, Ernie Whitt's words summed up the brawl, the team's attitude in the tournament, and a slice of Canada in general.

"It's Saturday night. It's 'Hockey Night in Canada.' Don Cherry can't wait to get on the air."

No matter where Canadians are, even in the valley of the desert that is Phoenix, hockey brings them back to Canada. Larry Walker uttered those words after Saturday's brawl. Canada didn't start the battle, but they weren't going to back down.

MLB Network play-by-play announcer Matt Vasgersian noted during the Canada-Italy game of the significant size advantage Canada would have over Team Italy if there was a a fight. Catcher Chris Robinson (5'11") was the only starter below 6 feet, and he proved his toughness in the tournament.

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Don Cherry couldn't resists mentioning the Canada-Mexico brawl during Coach's Corner on Hockey Night in Canada (also seen as a NHL Network simulcast in the United States).

Cherry explained the idea of the run differential to Ron MacLean. Cherry heralded Jay Johnson's takedown of Mexico's Eduardo Arredondo after Arredondo threw a couple of punches and then ran off.

Ron MacLean had Walker saying, "Hey, it's Saturday night. We're just trying to get on Hockey Night in Canada. Don Cherry can't wait to show these highlights." I couldn't find that exact quote, but perhaps MacLean was paraphrasing Walker. In that vein, MacLean got it right.

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While the run differential was a part of some conversations, left out of most of the discussion was that the run differential cost Canada advancement to the second round in 2006. The United States, Canada, and Mexico all were 2-1 (poor South Africa was 0-3). Mexico beat Canada 9-1 in its only loss and the -8 run differential meant Mexico advanced and Canada didn't.

After the Italy mercy rule game Friday night, Canada needed as many run as it could score. Canada had every reason to be angry over 2006 and 2013, yet the Canadian players kept their cool. After all, Canada lost worse to Italy than Mexico lost to Canada, and the Canadian team kept it together.

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Canada had a feeling that someone was going to get hit by a pitch in the 9th inning. Chris Robinson beat that to the punch by bunting for a hit. If Arnold Leon had hit Rene Tosoni with the first pitch, Tosoni wouldn't have been happy but he would have quietly taken his base.

Everyone in the park knew what Leon was trying to do with pitch #1, pitch #2, and pitch #3. Leon's aim couldn't have been that bad. Maybe the first two pitches were existential, reflecting Robinson taking a base in the 7th inning by pretending the pitch had hit his toe.

If Leon had hit Tosoni on the first pitch, there would not have been a brawl.

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The World Baseball Classic was smart in not handing out suspensions. Mexico started the brawl and their run ended after the game (officially eliminated later that night).

The biggest fear was a suspension for Cale Iorg, who threw a bottle into the crowd after that bottle hit pitching coach Denis Boucher. Iorg's reaction was somewhat understandable, but throwing something back into the stands didn't look professional.

As bad as Iorg had done at the plate, Jonathan Malo was Canada's only other option at a crucial defensive position.

Walker was another target of a ball thrown from the stands. Good thing he was wearing a helmet. Those fans that threw items at Canadians on the field should draw lifetime suspensions from ballparks.

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When Vancouver had the riots after Game 7 of the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs, some noted that the rioters wrecked Canada's image of peace-loving people. This brawl probably does the same thing. Though Canadians fight plenty on the ice in hockey; the fact that they defended themselves on Saturday shows that they aren't looking for a fight, but are ready if a fight happens.

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photo credit: World Baseball Classic/MLB Network

Canada falls short in hopes for World Baseball Classic second round

The lows of the mercy blowout to Italy. The highs of blowing out Mexico plus an unforgettable brawl. And the game with the United States had highs and then lows.

Canada's ride at the 2013 World Baseball Classic was better than 2009, not as good as 2006, yet up 3-2 in the top of the 8th inning, we still have to wonder what might have been … .

Canada finished in 3rd place in Pool D with a 1-2 record with a 10-3 win over Mexico. The good news is that Canada won't qualify for the 2017 World Baseball Classic. If Canada had won on Sunday, the United States would have had to qualify in 2017. That mark goes to Mexico, which also finished 1-2 but lost the tiebreaker to Canada.

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Chris Robinson isn't a major league catcher, but he sure played like A.J. Pierzynski. Robinson's late slides in the 1st inning and 7th inning against Mexico were right out of Pierzynski's playbook. Robinson stood his ground with a crashing Karim Garcia, tagging him out in the 4th inning.

Even Robinson convincing the umpire that a pitch hit him in the toe in the 7th inning was something where Pierzynski would have been proud. And if Pierzynski would have played where running up the score was necessary, he so would have bunted to lead off the 9th inning.

Robinson's ability to bunt came up quite a bit in just 3 games. He laid down the sacrifice that the MLB Network announcers didn't like in the 4th inning against Italy. Robinson laid down a sacrifice bunt in the 5th inning against Mexico. There are major leaguers who could take bunting lessons from Robinson.

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Before Rene Tosoni became known for being hit by an Arnold Leon fastball against Mexico, he did have a cute moment. After a Canada double against Italy, Tosoni was shown in the Canada dugout making moose antlers above his head. So totally Canadian.

Even they were having fun with the Canadian stereotypes.

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Can't say Adam Loewen looked familiar, but the announcers reminded us that Loewen was the winning pitcher for Canada in the 2006 win over the United States. Loewen threw 3⅔ hitless innings against the U.S. team to get the 8-6 win.

Injuries forced Loewen to reinvent himself as a position player. Loewen now has the beard, missing from his pitching days, making him more unfamiliar.

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3 games isn't a fair representation, but Cale Iorg went 1-for-11 (.091) and Tyson Gillies went hitless in the tournament. Adam Loewen and Pete Orr each hit .200. Pitchers figured out pretty quickly that 7-8-9-1 for Canada wasn't going to do much. That lack of depth was going to hurt them, and manager Ernie Whitt had few options to replace them.

Eric Hosmer may have hit 8th for the United States, but he did drive home 3 runs with a double in the 9th inning off John Axford.

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Joey Votto was seen as a potential savior for Team Canada when he agreed to play. His .222 batting average wasn't much, but you could tell that his swing was 100% and his running ability is still not up to par. But Votto draws a walk better than just about any MLB player, drawing 5 walks and scoring 5 runs in the 3 games.

Votto may have hit .222 but his on-base percentage was .500. Gillies OBP was .000.

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Brett Lawrie, Russell Martin, Jason Bay, and Jesse Crain would not have helped beat Italy or made the win over Mexico any easier. But each of those players would have helped against the United States.

Canada showed that the country does have baseball talent. Michael Saunders had a wonderful series, winning the Pool D MVP trophy. Justin Morneau was back to his old form. Chris Robinson played above his head. And Canada's pitching handled the U.S. team, at least for the first 7 innings.

Get a leadoff hitter who can hit, a healthy Votto, some help up the middle, and a bit more depth and who knows what Canada could do in 2017.

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Matt Vasgersian brought out plenty of hockey puns and Canadian references scattered throughout the telecasts. The telecasts brought out elements of the countries involved in Pool D. But Vasgersian elaborated on nice things about Canada national parks and sincerely mourned the loss of Les Expos. The move on Friday allowed for Vasgersian and Jim Kaat to call the entire weekend. Kaat is underrated as a colour analyst, and Vasgersian has experience calling games for Fox and the MLB Network.

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Canada's best inning of the tournament didn't air on U.S. television. The first inning was lost due to overrun of the previous game. MLB Network interrupted the previous game to bring the United States-Canada game on time.

While having the MLB Network carry the entire tournament mostly worked out, the channel clearly couldn't handle the overspill for several games. There was no outlet for when games started other than you missed the action.

The World Baseball Classic offered an option for people to watch the games online, but only if you were a customer of Bright House, DIRECTV and Time Warner Cable. Either the MLB Network needs to give us a secondary outlet for the start of other games, or it needs to spread the wealth.

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Some consumers, include myself, missed the top of the 1st inning of the Italy game because of the time change. Moving the game indoors from Salt River Fields at Talking Stick in Scottsdale to Chase Field in downtown Phoenix was genius, but nobody really explained why the game started 30 minutes sooner than scheduled.

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photo credits: Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports (top photo);
World Baseball Classic/MLB Network (antlers photos)

2013 World Baseball Classic schedule

Note: this file has been updated to reflect new starting time for the Italy game and new location.

2013 World Baseball Classic Pool D
Date	Opponent	Time	Location
March 8	@ Italy	4-14 (8)	Chase Field
March 9	@ Mexico	10-3	Chase Field
March 10	United States	4-9	Chase Field
All times Eastern. All games air on the MLB Network in the U.S. and Rogers Sportsnet in Canada

Matt Yallof and Jeff Nelson will call Friday's game from Salt River Fields at Talking Stick on the MLB Network, while Matt Vasgersian, Jim Kaat, and Sam Ryan will describe the action on the weekend games from Chase Field.

 

2009 World Baseball Classic
Date	Opponent	Score	Location
March 7	@ United States	5-6	Rogers Centre
March 9	Italy	2-6	Rogers Centre

 

2006 World Baseball Classic
Date	Opponent	Score	Location
March 7	@ South Africa	11-8	Scottsdale Stadium
Match 8	@ United States	8-6	Chase Field
March 9	Mexico	1-9	Chase Field

Canada plays U.S. in World Baseball Classic elimination game

If you had known that Italy was going to easily advance out of Pool D of the 2013 World Baseball Classic, and that Canada and the United States would play an elimination game to be the other team, you could have gone to nearby Las Vegas and made some nice money.

Jameson Taillon is one of the top MLB prospects, and pitched for the United States in the gold medal game in the 2009 Pan American Junior Championships. Taillon struck out 16 Cubans in the 6-1 win.

Yet Taillon is pitching for Team Canada (both parents born and raised in Canada). Derek Holland, who has major league experience, will go for the United States.

Winner goes on to the next round in Miami. Loser goes back to spring training. Coverage on the MLB Network and Rogers Sportsnet starts at 4 pm EDT.

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We'll have way more on the brawl in the wrapup Monday morning on CanadianCrossing.com. No suspensions will be offered up in part because one or both teams won't advance.

Smart move. Besides, if Arnold Leon had plunked Rene Tosoni on the first pitch, you never would have seen a brawl.

2013 World Baseball Classic analysis: Canada has a few names, but not much depth

Joey Votto will be in uniform and play for the Canadian national team for the 2013 World Baseball Classic. But we weren't sure about that until earlier this week.

Votto will likely alternate with Justin Morneau at 1st base and DH; Votto is recovering from a knee injury from last year that limited his abilities in the Cincinnati Reds postseason run.

With Justin Morneau (left) healthy again, Morneau and Votto (right) will help keep Cananda competitive as the country tries to advance to the second round. Unlike 2009, Canada is guaranteed to play 3 games. In 2013 and with Votto, Canada has a chance to advance.

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Votto will be in uniform for Canada, but Russell Martin decided to take himself off the roster after the Pirates and Team Canada said no to the thought of Martin playing shortstop for Canada.

"They both were uneasy about that," Martin said, "and I simply didn't want to catch. It's just too much grind. The catcher's out there the whole game, and it just takes your body so long to recover from catching 20 innings or so."

Martin's day job is catcher for Pittsburgh, the team he signed with in the off-season. But Martin didn't want to catch for Canada, and nobody else wanted him to play shortstop.

Previous coverage: Canada World Baseball Classic team has coaches, looking for a shortstop

The best solution would be for Martin to either DH or catch 5-6 innings per game, or not catch against Italy and/or Mexico, but maybe catch against the United States. Now with Martin off the roster, Chris Robinson, a AA catcher in the Baltimore organization, is now the starting catcher. Minor league catcher John Suomi will be the backup.

George Kottaras is Canadian and a major league catcher in the Kansas City camp. Kottaras wasn't on the original roster, and so Canada asks whether Kottaras will change his mind. Whatever Kottaras' mindset, his decision making is rather boring compared to Martin's process.

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2013 World Baseball Classic Pool D
Date	Opponent	Time	Location
March 8	@ Italy	2:30 pm	Salt River Fields
March 9	@ Mexico	2:30 pm	Chase Field
March 10	United States	4 pm	Chase Field
All times Eastern. All games air on the MLB Network in the U.S. and Rogers Sportsnet in Canada

Canada's spot in the 2013 World Baseball Classic was sadly not guaranteed. Only the 12 teams that won at least 1 game in 2009 had a guarantee to play in the WBC.

Back in September in Regensburg, Germany, Canada had to play in a qualifier with the Czech Republic, Germany, and Great Britain without its major league stars.

Even without its MLB players, Canada had an easy time in the qualifier with Great Britain (11-1), Germany (16-7), and Germany again (11-1).

Canada has pretty good hitters, though fielding a full major league lineup has been a problem. Canada's major issue is that its major league pitchers either are injured or don't feel that the WBC works for them.

Erik Bedard, Rich Harden, and Jeff Francis have had success in the majors but haven't been able to be significant factors for the World Baseball Classic.

Ryan Dempster is Canada's second-winningest MLB pitcher and tops among current Canadian pitchers, yet Dempster has never pitched for Canada and won't in 2013.

Several recognizable position players from the 2009 team are missing from the 2013 squad. In 2009, Corey Koskie was barely a MLB player but hadn't been the same since a 2006 concussion. Matt Stairs is retired. Mark Teahen was a MLB player in 2009 but isn't on the 2013 team (his MLB career is virtually done). Jason Bay has had the health problems of a Canadian pitcher (not good). And Russell Martin decided to not play rather than catch.

So who does Canada have? The three most recognizable pitchers are relievers John Axford and Jesse Crain and starter Scott Richmond. Justin Morneau has recovered well from his own concussion to be back. Joey Votto is coming off knee surgery, but should be a force at the plate. Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie anchors the top of the Canada lineup. Pete Orr is back, though his MLB time has always been limited. And Michael Saunders is the best in a weak pool of Canadian outfielders.

In other words, unless a few of the lesser-known players surprises us and them, Canada's stay will be the minimum 3 games.

If everyone who could play for Canada were healthy at one time, this team could contend in the middle of the pack. But WBC rosters depend on depth and, well, Canada doesn't have much depth.

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Canada warmed up with an exhibition win against Milwaukee (7-4) and lost to Cincinnati (12-2). When the schedule was released, people wondered which team Votto would represent, especially since he remained in the Reds camp.

"I don't want to play in that game with Team Canada. I'd be torn," Votto said.

Votto decided to play for neither team. Smart move.

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Matt Yallof and Jeff Nelson will call Friday's game from Salt River Fields at Talking Stick oOn the MLB Network, while Matt Vasgersian, Jim Kaat, and Sam Ryan will describe the action on the weekend games from Chase Field. The games will also air on Rogers Sportsnet.

Buck Martinez will do first and second round games in the WBC, so someone will replace him on Toronto Blue Jays spring training games.

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Photo from this site.

Toronto Blue Jays 2013 spring training games on MLB Network

Toronto Blue Jays Grapefruit League on MLB Network
Date	Opponent	Time
February 24	@ Detroit	Midnight
February 24	(ss) @ NY Yankees*	1p
February 28	@ NY Yankees (ss)	10p
March 2	Philadelphia	4p
March 3	@ Philadelphia (ss)*	1p
March 11	NY Yankees	3a
March 28	@ Tampa Bay	7a
March 29	@ Philadelphia	10a
March 29	@ Philadelphia*	7p
All times Eastern. All games tape-delayed except * for live telecasts. (ss) split squad

Unlike Fox, MLB Network isn't afraid to show the Toronto Blue Jays in action. The U.S. cable channel will carry 9 Blue Jays games in the Grapefruit League, 3 of them live.

With the limited number of teams in Florida, we'll see Toronto play Philadelphia 4 times and the Yankees 3 times with single appearances with Detroit and Tampa Bay.

All feeds will be local, so some of the feeds could come from Rogers Sportsnet.

The Blue Jays will also be featured on "30 Clubs in 30 Days" on March 2 during MLB Tonight on the MLB Network.

ESPN released its limited Spring Training schedule, and while all of their telecasts will be from Florida, none of them feature the Blue Jays.