Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast

It's awards season in Alberta's baseball world with two major events held this past weekend by Baseball Alberta and Little League Alberta. We will wrap-up the Baseball Alberta awards later this week, but we open things up with the Little League Alberta awards. Our Joe McFarland hosted a session on traditional and social media before serving as emcee for the banquet. After it was all over, he sat down for a "state of the union" with president Kevin Kvame then continued his fireside chat with former Little League World Series competitor and current Vancouver Canadians athletic therapist Katie Reyes.
1:27 - Kevin Kvame
12:15 - Katie Reyes

We open up the show with a look at the news headlines, including Joe's pick for the new Edmonton Prospects name, which you can enter their contest here. Then he chats with a pair of Tampa Bay Rays prospects: Dawgs Academy and Okotoks Dawgs alum Tristan Peters and Grande Prairie Minor Baseball and St. Albert Minor Baseball alum Tyler Herron.
5:06 - Tristan Peters
22:21 - Tyler Herron

Erik Sabrowski really needs no introduction. The Edmonton native's journey to the majors has been well-documented, and we’ve been lucky enough to follow him for quite some time. This year, it went to another level as he got the call-up to the big leagues, became a big piece of the Cleveland Guardians bullpen during their run to the playoffs, and made some impressive appearances in the ALDS and ALCS. The St. Albert Minor Baseball, Absolute Human Performance and Edmonton Prospects alum is back home now and received a hero’s welcome in Edmonton, including getting to see his beloved Oilers play a few games and even being part of Wednesday’s Sportsnet broadcast with Gene Principe. It’s been a big year and it’ll get even bigger for the 27-year-old as he’s set to get married in just a few days. We talked about it all in this fantastic conversation. 

News from the baseball world is slowing down a bit, but we still have a few things to pass along. Then we go a little deeper into last week's unveiling of the 2025 Western Canadian Baseball League schedule. Joe explains why he loves the idea of the WCBL Rural Roots Game, then sits down with Pat Cassidy of the Edmonton Prospects to talk about the latest on the new Myshak Metro Ballpark in Spruce Grove and an upcoming name change.

Happy Halloween! Big congrats to the Los Angeles Dodgers on winning the World Series (take a look back at the Dodgers' history in Alberta with the Pioneer League's Lethbridge Dodgers here). After we get through the rest of the news from a busy week, we sit down with Vauxhall Academy's Hudson Kozicki (Sherwood Park) and Badlands Academy's Braxton Bussing (Coronation) to talk about their respective college commitments. Then we catch up with Dawgs Academy alum Jack Lines about getting drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 12th round of this past summer's MLB Draft.
3:42 - Hudson Kozicki
19:26 - Braxton Bussing
28:52 - Jack Lines

When we’re able to get in touch with a Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Houston Astros Hall of Fame member, among others, we roll out the red carpet. Such is the case with Terry Puhl, whose career kind of speaks for itself. A 15-year Major Leaguer and 18-year pro, with all but 15 games in the bigs coming with the Astros. He was an MLB All-Star in 1978 and was outstanding, particularly in the field and on the base paths. Puhl helped the Astros win their first ever NL West Division crown and postseason berth in 1980. He now lives in Texas, and we were fortunate to sit down with him to talk about his career this past week. Special thanks to Scott Crawford at the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame for helping us connect with Terry to line up this conversation!

We catch up with a trio of young men who have been jetsetting around North America in recent weeks chasing their baseball dreams. Seth Suer (Morinville) is coming off an appearance at the Prep Baseball West Coast Games, Ethan Pittman (Fort McMurray) traveled to the Arizona Fall Classic with the Brewers Scout Team, and Taye Thierman (Calgary) isn't done yet as he'll be joining the Baseball Canada Junior National Team at the Dominican Fall Instructional League Camp.
4:02 - Seth Suer
19:54 - Ethan Pittman
32:06 - Taye Thierman

They are an integral part of the game and sometimes umpires don't get the love they deserve. So when the Western Canadian Baseball League announced Kris Hartley was being named the Mitch Ball Memorial Award winner as Umpire of the Year, we knew we had to get him on the show. One thing most umpires have is stories to tell, and Hartley certainly has a few to share. We chat about his season and career highlights, what it meant to win the award, some of the trials and tribulations of being a sports official, and what the most gratifying part of the job is.

Talk about a hard-hitting edition of the podcast! We catch up with a trio of players who had 2024 seasons to remember, starting with Dawgs Academy and Okotoks Dawgs alum Matt Wilkinson, who had an incredible first professional year split between Single-A and High-A in the Cleveland Guardians system. Then we catch up with Western Canadian Baseball League Rookie of the Year and Top Canadian Carter Beck of the Saskatoon Berries. And we wrap things up with Dawgs Academy product and Canadian Futures Showcase Home Run Derby champion Tim Piasentin.
3:24 - Matt Wilkinson
16:08 - Carter Beck
29:54 - Tim Piasentin

First off, THANK YOU for all your support as we mark our 300th episode of the show! Whether it's your first or your 300th listen, we truly appreciate you taking the time each week since Oct. 2018. As always, we check in on the big news of the past week then we're joined by a trio of guests from the Canadian Futures Showcase. We'll hear from Dawgs Academy speedster Quincy Jenkins, Webber Academy slugger Cohen Miller and Saskatoon Berries Academy hurler Merek Yeager about their respective journeys in the game of baseball.
7:58 - Quincy Jenkins
20:59 - Cohen Miller
36:23 - Merek Yeager

What a few weeks it's been for Edmonton's Erik Sabrowski. The Absolute Human Performance alum continues to be a big piece of the Cleveland Guardians bullpen after getting called up at the end of August. We catch up with AHP founder Taylor Burns to talk about Sabrowski's journey and how Guardians games are now "can't miss TV" at their headquarters. We then catch up with Dawgs Academy alum Clayton Keyes, who has had a challenging couple of years after helping Southwestern win the NAIA championship in 2022. He made his pro debut this summer after a lengthy wait for a work visa. Then we head to the Canadian Futures Showcase to chat with Dawgs product and Junior National Team pitcher Max Poirier to talk about his journey from Saskatchewan to BC to Alberta.
5:58 - Taylor Burns
23:06 - Clayton Keyes
38:50 - Max Poirier

As the baseball season winds down this fall, we take a look at some of the big highlights of a busy week, then look ahead to the upcoming Canadian Futures Showcase in Toronto with four athletes who will be looking to make an impression. Hear from Dawgs Academy product Landon Kauffman (Vancouver), Vauxhall Academy outfielder Langdyn Cummins (Taber), Going Yard Goats outfielder Trentin Kooy (Saskatoon) and AHP Academy shortstop Miguel Tetreault (Fort McMurray).
4:53 - Landon Kauffman
23:44 - Langdyn Cummins
27:51 - Trentin Kooy
33:47 - Miguel Tetreault