Canadian Crossing

Le Grande Orange makes it into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame

Long before Andre Dawson wore #10 in the Montréal outfield, #10 belonged to Le Grande Orange — Rusty Staub — an original member of Les Expos.

Though Staub only played three seasons north of the border, he will be inducted this June into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.

Staub was embraced not just for his reddish-orange hair but also because he learned the French language. Staub played for the Montréal Expos from 1969-1971 and the last half of the 1979 season. The #10 is retired for both Staub and Dawson by the Expos.

Milwaukee Brewers General Manager Doug Melvin (Chatam, ON), long-time left-handed pitcher Rheal Cormier (Moncton, NB), and the 2011 Canadian senior national team will also be inducted in the June ceremony.

Cormier pitched for St. Louis, Boston, Montréal, Philadelphia, and Cincinnati in a career that spanned from 1991-2007. Cormier also pitched for Canada in the 2006 World Baseball Classic and the 1988 and 2008 Canadian squads in the Summer Olympics.

For those who deride the Montréal market for baseball should really go back and see the way the original Expos were warmly welcomed to La Belle Province. Expansion teams are by definition cast-offs from other teams. Coming to a new team in a new country with a different primary language, the fans really loved those players, especially those who learned the language. The Florida Marlins haven't seen that kind of love, ever.

The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame is in St. Mary's, Ontario. St. Mary's is just northeast of London and west of Kitchener/Waterloo, not too far from Stratford in southern Ontario.

What activities remain on your Canada bucket list?

Labo(u)r Day usually means the end of the travel season, but the days after Labo(u)r Day start the thought process for where to go next summer.

Based on anecdotal information, Americans do a better job at seeing their country than Canadians do. At least, this is what Canadians have told me when I tell them where I've been in the Great White North.

True, the lack of passports among Americans is a key reason why they don't cross borders, much less leave the continent. And the percentage of Canadian passports is higher, but not that much higher.

I do have my own list of places I would love to see in Canada. Some of them aren't terribly practical, but most of them are somewhat realistic.

• Alberta from Calgary to Edmonton with stops in Banff, Lake Louise, and more
• Stay in all the Fairmount hotels, especially the Chateau Frontenac
• Visit the polar bears in Churchill, Manitoba
• Spend one night at the ice hotel in Quebec City
• Go to Canada's Baseball Hall of Fame in St. Marys, Ontario
• Travel to Newfoundland and Labrador and watch the time change to the half-hour
• Dance with the Acadians in New Brunswick
• See the Roughriders in Regina with a watermelon on my head
• Skate … and fall on the frozen Rideau Canal
• Explore the wilderness of British Columbia
• Visit Yellowknife in the Yukon Northwest Territories around the Summer Solstice.

I have been to four provinces so far: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and British Columbia. The only province where I have gone beyond major cities is Ontario. This year will be limited to Ontario and barely that, but 2012 offers more promise.

And I have done a number of cool things in Canada, from going up in the CN Tower to taking a seaplane from Vancouver to Victoria, BC and back to whale watching in Halifax.

So weigh in, Canadians and Americans alike, where would you want to go in Canada and what would you want to do?

You might also want to consider this recent Globe and Mail online slideshow featuring 15 places to see in Canada before you die. Hey, not too much time left in this year's summer.

And if TIFF, the Toronto International Film Festival, is on your list, well, this year's festival runs through September 18.

Submit your choices in the comments section, or give us feedback on my choices or the slideshow.

CFL Week 7: Tape delay all the way

The CFL on the NFL Network goes from all-live last weekend to all-tape this weekend as the NFL begins its pre-season schedule.

U.S. insomniacs are excited about the prospect of watching Edmonton at Montréal Friday morning at 3 am Eastern and the Battle of Ontario on Sunday morning at 4:30 am Eastern.

You should realize that the NFL Network has allowed 3 hours for the Eskimos-Alouettes clash but only 2½ hours for the Argonauts at the Tiger-Cats. The influx of taped pre-season NFL games is likely the reason for the odd slot. If the game ends in regulation, and the halftime is taken out, you could get a game in a 2½ hours timeslot, but the only other time the NFL Network did that this year, we lost a few minutes of the game.

We had mixed emotions about the NFL Network decision last Friday to switch games. The chance to see Vancouver's Empire Field in beautiful HD was too good to pass up, but the Roughriders-Lions game featured the league's two worst teams while Edmonton at Winnipeg, the previous scheduled game, featured the CFL's two best teams.

We were also hoping to see Arland Bruce in a Lions uniform, but he spent the game in street clothes on the sidelines.

The field and the stands looked really nice and was great to see the mountains in the background. I remember a similar landscape when I watched the Vancouver Canadians minor league baseball team play at Nat Bailey Stadium in Queen Elizabeth Park a few years back. Vancouver is truly a beautiful city that loses some of that charm when broadcasting from an indoor stadium.

And if you did tune in to see Friday night's game, you saw TSN sideline reporter Farhan Lalji doing play-by-play. Chris Cuthbert's father had passed away earlier in the week. Lalji has roots in Vancouver, and under the circumstances, called a pretty good game. Cuthbert has called hundreds of hockey and football games, but Lalji did rather well, given his comparative inexperience.

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Depending on your cable package, you had another chance to see Empire Field over the weekend. The expansion MLS Vancouver Whitecaps played on Galavision Sunday night against the equally inept Chicago Fire. What made this even more surprising was that based in Chicago, the game wasn't on local TV but I was able to see the national telecast.

Now my French is not that good (Je parle tres petite Francaise), but my Spanish is even worse. Still, you could follow the soccer game pretty well, despite the language barrier.

The feed was a little blurry and definitely not in HD, but the field looked even better for soccer than football.

You didn't see much of anything outside the stadium. When the ball was at the far right on your screen, and the goalie was kicking it down the field, you could see the mountains in the background.

Amazingly, both the Lions and Whitecaps will give up Empire Field once BC Place is back and running in September. The football move is expected and totally understandable. But soccer in the United States thrives in more intimate settings. If the Whitecaps continue to struggle, their fan base will seem really tiny inside huge B.C. Place.

Canada eliminated from World Baseball Classic

It's sad when you are the home team in a world tournament and you can't win a single game. And it's sad when you go 2-1 in 2006 and lose on an obscure tiebreaker, yet go 0-2 in 2009.

Canada might not have been the favorite against the United States, but the Canadians were expected to beat Italy. However, the Italians came ready to play and downed Canada 6-2 earlier tonight at Rogers Centre in Toronto.

There was some controversy over holding off Scott Richmond, the best of a beleaguered pitching staff thanks to injuries and other commitments (Ryan Dempster), to a possible game against Venezuela. But this team shouldn't have had to get to this point.

Italy, shut out against Venezuela on Saturday, scored a single run in each of the first four innings. Canada could only muster a Jason Bay 2-run double in the 4th inning.

The lack of decent pitching can certainly take some blame. But the expected potent offense didn't really show up. The major league stars did pretty well, though 41-year-old Matt Stairs went hitless in the tournament.

But Canada's double play combination went hitless (Chris Barnwell, Pete Orr) — difficult to score when your leadoff hitter can't get hits.

This team struggled in every major category. And the hustle of 2006 wasn't there in Toronto.

The Canadians do seem like they have some upcoming talent. If the major league pitchers can stay healthy, Canada should do better in 2013. But until then, they will have four years to think about how they did.

The series continues in Toronto. The United States has already advanced and will play the winner of the Venezuela-Italy contest on Tuesday. The championship game is Wednesday, though Tuesday's winner and the U.S. will go to Miami.

WBC notebook: Promoting Cuba in Canada on U.S. television

World Baseball Classic starts with "World." So U.S. viewers saw something they aren't used to seeing: an ad for Cuba tourism.

On the right-field wall was a sign for visiting Cuba: gocuba.ca. There were more ads in the outfield at these games, and players are even wearing ads on their uniforms. But the one ad applied to the rest of the world, but not the United States: visiting Cuba.

The perception to most Americans is the illegality of visiting Cuba. But that ban only applies to the U.S. Canadians and the rest of the world can travel to Cuba without penalty. Those in the U.S. can travel to Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam — all countries where the U.S. fought wars in the 20th century. Yet Cuba is still forbidden.

There are exceptions, some of which include not spending money in Cuba. But the ESPN cameras did capture an ad for traveling to Cuba — truly a treat for American viewers — even if right now, they can't legally take advantage of the offer. But Canadians can.

Canada loses thriller, but should have beaten U.S.

The U.S. wanted revenge after losing to Canada in the World Baseball Classic in 2006. In the 2006 contest in Phoenix, Canada jumped out to a 8-0 lead before the U.S. came back to make it close, with a final score of 8-6.

The Americans got the upper hand in that tournament, advancing to the second round. But the U.S. wanted to beat Canada when the two teams played in Toronto.

At Rogers Centre, the U.S. team edged Canada 6-5 before 42,314 in the opener of Pool C in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. The Canadians let chances slip by, including leaving the bases loaded in the first inning. Pete Orr, known for his speed and bunting, missed a golden opportunity to drive in a run from third with two out in the 6th inning.

Box Score from U.S.-Canada in Toronto

While the U.S. also blew chances to score more runs, the pressure was on Canada due to its thin bench and less than stellar pitching.

Many teams were unable to get some of the MLB players to be on their squads, mostly due to injury. Ironically, one of the U.S. players added at the last minute, Adam Dunn, hit the game-winning home run. But no country lost as many quality pitchers as Canada did.

Ryan Dempster (Cubs), Rich Harden (Cubs), Jeff Francis (Colorado), Erik Bedard (Seattle), and Eric Gagne (Brewers) were unable to pich for Canada.

Where Canada lacked in pitching, the team made up with the stick. Prominent Canadians in the Major Leagues include Russell Martin (C-LA Dodgers), Joey Votto (1B/LF-Cincinnati), Justin Morneau (1B-Minnesota), Jason Bay (OF-Boston), and Matt Stairs (1B-OF, Philadelphia).

Votto went 4-5 with a HR and two RBI. Martin added a HR as well.

The crowd was very enthusiastic, and the over 40,000 crowd was one of the largest in the World Baseball Classic.

This year's format is double elimination. Canada plays Italy Monday night once again in Toronto. If Canada survives, it will play the loser of U.S.-Venezuela (from Sunday night) on Tuesday. Lose and they're out, but win and they could advance to the next round in Miami.

Coverage of the tournament airs on the ESPN networks and the MLB Network in the U.S. and Rogers SportsNet in Canada.

Canada draws U.S., Italy, Venezuela in World Baseball Classic

The experiment, part II begins in March: the second attempt at the World Baseball Classic.

In 2006, Canada played with the United States, Mexico, and South Africa. Despite going 2-1 (including a win over the U.S.), the Canadians did not advance past the first round. Hopefully, Justin Morneau, Jason Bay, and company will do even better for the maple leaf.

In 2009, Canada is in Pool C with the United States, Italy, and Venezuela. One advantage the Canadians might get this year is that all first-round games will be on Canadian soil, at Rogers Centre in Toronto.

The first round (double-elimination) takes place March 7-11. Canada plays its first game against the United States on March 7 at 2 pm EST.

In 2006, Canada downed South Africa 11-8 and edged the U.S. 8-6. But in losing to Mexico 9-1, the run differential turned out to be the tiebreaker.

Coverage in the U.S. is expected on the MLB Network and ESPN. The ESPN games will likely end up on TSN, but that hasn't been confirmed.

Ottawa Lynx to leave town in 2008

Canada is losing another baseball team. While the Ottawa Lynx aren't the Montréal Expos in terms of talent, the loss is still significant.

The new owners intend to move the team to Allentown, Pennsylvania, for the 2008 baseball season. The club will remain in Ottawa for the 2007 season as a Triple-A franchise for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Lynx Stadium, a 10,000-seat state-of-the-art palace built by Ottawa taxpayers in 1990, is considered to be one of the better minor league stadiums. But the team has had the poorest attendance record in the league, averaging just 1,000 spectators per game.

The Montréal franchise was poorly run by Jeffrey Loria (ask the Florida Marlins fans what they think of him). I confess I don't know why the Lynx have suffered. But baseball hasn't thought much of Canada lately, outside Toronto.

I hear baseball say they want to expand around the world. Just so you know, Canada is part of that world.

Canada goes from way up to way down

UPDATE: The United States downed South Africa 17-0 after 5 innings (the mercy rule kicked in). So Canada does not advance to the next round. Hopefully, the team can build on its successes and learn from its mistakes for the next World Baseball Classic in 2009.

The word "virtually" stands out in my story on Canada's win over the U.S. on Wednesday. All Canada had to do was beat Mexico, or lose to Mexico and give up less than 3 runs. Well, Mexico's 9-1 win means Canada is now virtually (there's that word again) out of the tournament.

Canada literally needs the U.S. to lose to South Africa, or it is gone from the World Baseball Classic. Roger Clemens pitches for the U.S. against S. Africa at 3 pm EST Friday in Phoenix.

Mexico has advanced already. Either the United States or Canada will advance, but not both.

So how does a team go from 2-0 to being out? The international tiebreakers play a role. The tiebreaker is most runs given up among the three teams that would be tied at 2-1. Canada gave up 6 to the U.S. and 9 to Mexico for 15 runs. The U.S. gave up 0 runs to Mexico and 8 to Canada for 8 runs. Mexico gave up 2 runs to the U.S. and 1 to Canada for 3 runs.

Also, having one team (South Africa) be nowhere near the others in terms of talent hurts Canada. If South Africa loses to the U.S., you have three 2-1 teams and one 0-3 team.

In the game against Mexico, Canada's lone run came in the bottom of the sixth on Pierre-Luc LaForest's bases-loaded walk. Jeff Francis took the loss for Canada.

Canada WBC schedule set

Canada's team in the World Baseball Classic will be in Pool B and play in the Phoenix area. So if you are going to be in Phoenix, check them out.

In lieu of baseball disappearing from the Olympics, this will be one of the few times players can shine for their respective countries. The Canada-U.S. game in particular will be intriguing.

The team will play three other countries in preliminary action. ESPN will carry the Canada-U.S. contest and selected other games. Rogers Sportsnet will handle all the Canadian games plus other selected games.

Canada WBC Schedule: Pool B
All times Eastern

Date 
Time 
Matchups 
U.S. TV 
March 7 
9 pm 
Canada v South Africa* 
2:30 am ESPN2 
March 8 
4 pm 
Canada v United States** 
4 pm ESPN2 
March 9 
8 pm 
Mexico v Canada** 
3 am ESPN 

* Scottsdale Stadium is where the San Francisco Giants train, a nearby suburb of Phoenix.
** Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks, in downtown Phoenix.