Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast

Episode 258: Ernie Whitt & The Blue Jays Academy National Coaches Clinic

Welcome to the first episode of the 2024 season! While we've seen Old Man Winter return with a vengeance, it's easy to start dreaming about the upcoming summer baseball season. It actually starts with the preparation being done by coaches, aided this year by Blue Jays Academy bringing its annual National Coaches Clinic to Webber Academy in Calgary from January 19-21. TJ Burton from the Blue Jays joins us to set the stage for the event and what people can expect, then we get a bit of a preview of the festivities with long-time Baseball Canada head coach and former MLB catcher Ernie Whitt.

2024 Podcast Season Announcement

Greetings and salutations, friends! We hope 2024 is off to a great start for you and yours. It's that time of year again where we get things set up for the upcoming year, and we're excited to announce that the first episode of the 2024 season of Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast will arrive on Thursday, January 11. We also have some big plans for this year after a record-setting 2023 when it comes to web visits and podcast downloads. Thank YOU so much for all of your support!

Episode 257: Matt Coutney & Tristan Peters

We started the year with two pros (Damiano Palmegiani and Adam Macko), so why not finish the 2023 season with two more, in the form of Wetaskiwin's Matt Coutney and Manitoba's Tristan Peters. Coutney, who attended St. FX Academy and Old Dominion University, just wrapped up his first full pro season in the Los Angeles Angels system, while Peters, who went to Dawgs Academy and Southern Illinois University, spent the year with the Tampa Bay Rays Double-A affiliate.
1:41 - Matt Coutney
24:06 - Tristan Peters

Episode 256: Zoe Hicks

Zoe Hicks laughs when you ask her about where she’s from. Among her answers: Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Red Deer, Austria, Calgary, back to Manitoba, then off to US college and has now spent the last couple of winters back in Calgary. This last summer was a whirlwind though, as she played first base for Canada at the Women’s Softball World Cup, then third base at the Women’s Baseball World Cup, culminating with being named the Women’s National Team MVP. She’s had a fascinating journey in the game, not to mention a childhood full of dancing and recently working for the Los Angeles Dodgers. We recently sat down for a candid and amazingly energetic conversation.

Episode 255: 2023 Baseball Alberta Awards

It was a celebration fit for every Alberta community from Acme to Youngstown and from border to border to border to border. Baseball Alberta held its annual general meeting and awards banquet last weekend in Edmonton to talk about the year that was, look ahead to the upcoming year, and of course, hand out some hardware. We sit down with 18U 'AAA' Players of the Year Matthew Murray and Corbin Lochhead, Women's Open Player of the Year Tyra Stanich, new Baseball Alberta Life Member Ron Van Keulen and Baseball Alberta executive director Danielle Moffat to recap the festivities.
2:28 - Matthew Murray
7:02 - Corbin Lochhead
12:33 - Tyra Stanich
18:19 - Ron Van Keulen
23:38 - Danielle Moffat

Episode 254: The Soroka Swap, Baseball Hall Ballots & Heartfelt Stories

What a week it was for Alberta's baseball scene, which started on the night our last episode dropped. For those who might have missed it, Calgary's Michael Soroka was involved in a blockbuster deal between the Atlanta Braves and Chicago White Sox. Our Ian Wilson stops by for some analysis and thoughts on the trade, as well as Alberta's connections to the latest National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum ballot, and his personal story of community and connection with Brooks Bombers slugger Eric Rataczak.

Episode 253: Joe Young

We recap what has been a busy couple of weeks on the local baseball scene, including Matt Lloyd being named Baseball Canada's Men's National Team Most Valuable Player, Fort McMurray being named hosts for more national tournaments, a local look at the Arizona Fall League and a multitude of college commitments. Then we get to our guest, and the mere mention of Joe Young brings back a lot of memories for baseball scouts and insiders from the early-1990s. The 6-foot-4, 210 pound righthander made life miserable for men’s league athletes in Fort McMurray when he was just 14. In 1991, he won gold with Canada at the World Youth Baseball Championships, a team that featured Jason Dickson and Stubby Clapp among others. Two years later, Young was drafted in the third round of the MLB Draft by the Toronto Blue Jays, embarking on a six-year pro career that included the 1993 and 1994 seasons with the Medicine Hat Blue Jays. He played with and against some of the best young talent who later went onto become MLB players including Chris Carpenter, Roy Halladay and Michael Young, before retiring, coming back to the St. Paul area, where he is still involved in baseball and hockey. We sat down earlier this week to talk about his journey, including a chance encounter with ball player and future Hockey Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla.

Episode 252: Levi Moon

It was only supposed to be a one-year deal to try playing baseball internationally. Yet, here we are, six years later, and Levi Moon is still traveling the world playing the game he loves. The Red Deer product has had a fascinating journey in the game, starting at home before becoming part of the first Badlands Academy team in Oyen. He went onto play at Niagara Community College, but injuries forced him to stay closer to home, finding a spot with Prairie Baseball Academy. It was on the advice of head coach Todd Hubka and some of his former teammates that he try his luck across the ocean. The former Moose Jaw Miller Express utilityman has now played baseball in Germany, Austria, Australia and has spent the past couple of seasons in Sweden. The 27-year-old has quite the story and has quite the stories to tell, from his dad Cam’s sports influence as a play-by-play announcer for the Red Deer Rebels and now the Edmonton Oilers, to becoming a bit of a travel junkie.

Episode 251: Harold Northcott

When you think baseball in Central Alberta, one family name is synonymous with the game: Northcott. And while he may too humble to admit it, Harold Northcott is an Alberta baseball legend. The Clive, Alberta native had a storied playing career which took him to Eastern Oregon University, where he helped the Mountaineers set team records for wins in each of his three seasons. That’s where he also earned the nickname “The Giant Killer” for becoming the first pitcher in school history to beat two games against big PAC-10 teams. Northcott went on to represent Canada on the international stage a number of times, including being named the most valuable Canadian at the 1985 Intercontinental Cup. He started his coaching career in 1988, helping guide numerous teams in St. Paul, Rocky Mountain House and elsewhere to provincial titles. He’s also served as the Canadian National Youth Team pitching coach in the 1990s, which featured names like Jordan Zimmermann, Ryan Dempster and Eric Gagne, then coached with the National Senior Team at the Pan Am Games amongst others. His wife, Barb, is heavily involved in the game, and all three of his kids – Dustin, Chad and Heidi – all blazed their own trails in baseball. Recently, a little birdy by the name of Brad Mills told us that his long-time friend was being inducted into the EOU Athletics Hall of Fame this month. As it turns out, the recognition was a long time coming, as was this great conversation I had with Harold Northcott last week.

Episode 250: Okotoks to host 2024 WCBL All-Star Game

Plenty of big news items coming out of the Western Canadian Baseball League this week, with the biggest being the announcement that Okotoks will host the 2024 All-Star Game. Our Ian Wilson caught up with WCBL president Kevin Kvame and managing director of corporate sponsors and marketing Mark Stiles to talk about the selection process, while Dawgs general manager Tyler Hollick and head coach Lou Pote discuss the ins and outs of putting together the mid-summer classic for a third-straight season.

Episode 249: Alberta’s Rise on the National Stage

It started as a simple question our Joe McFarland posted on Twitter/X shortly after Nathan Flewelling (Innisfail) picked up the Home Run Derby crown at the Canadian Futures Showcase and Simon Baker (Cochrane) at the Canadian Futures Showcase: does Alberta punch above its weight when it comes to baseball in Canada? It elicited a number of replies, DMs and texts, leading him write an opinion piece for our website and to expand on his thoughts on this episode of the podcast. We're also joined by long-time Canadian baseball coach and influencer John Milton, who provides some context to what he saw in Ontario and what he thinks needs to happen for Alberta to enter the conversation as a powerhouse in Canada.

Episode 248: Leo Cote, Ben Prediger and Josh Burgmann

Plenty of catching up to do on this week's episode and all three guests were fantastic. Hear from Dawgs Academy (via Quebec) product and Oregon State commit Leo Cote about his great summer, former Baseball Alberta Midget-AAA Player of the Year and Sylvan Lake Gulls catcher Ben Prediger and Vauxhall Academy/University of Washington alum and head scout/director of player personnel for the BCHL's Nanaimo Clippers Josh Burgmann.
2:55 - Leo Cote
22:38 - Ben Prediger
47:43 - Josh Burgmann