Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast

Episode 86: Cannons Retrospective Part 1

Believe it or not, it was 35 years ago that the Calgary Cannons made their Pacific Coast League debut. The Pacific Coast League squad would spend the next 18 years at Foothills/Burns Stadium, serving as the triple-A affiliate for the Seattle Mariners, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago White Sox and Florida Marlins during its tenure. In that first season, there was a lot of excitement across the province, especially in providing another chapter in the Battle of Alberta with the Edmonton Trappers having joined the PCL four years earlier. After a lengthy roadtrip to start the season, the Cannons were ready for their home opener on April 19, 1985. Unfortunately, Old Man Winter had other plans. We talk about that and much more with broadcaster and former Cannons PR guru Mark Stephen.

Episode 85: Jamie Campbell

It’s not just sports fans trying to grapple in this world without games to watch. The broadcasters who bring us those games also have some unexpected time on their hands, as they’re not spending hours at the ballpark or arena for the games, practices or media scrums. They also don’t get to have that guaranteed, daily connection with the fans. Sportsnet’s Jamie Campbell has found a way to bridge that gap, making a simple request on Twitter to get in touch with older fans looking to chat about baseball and just life in general. He took some time this week to talk about the initiative, as well as baseball collectibles and autographs, his memories of broadcasting in Edmonton and a fascinating tale about his first encounter with a young Mike Soroka.

Episode 84: Kelsey Lalor & Nicole Luchanski

Some very cool news over the last few days from Baseball Canada has led to this bonus episode of the #ADSPodcast. The Women's National Team award winners were unveiled late last week and we'd like to congratulate MVP Kelsey Lalor, Ashley Stephenson Award winner Amanda Asay, Futures Award winner Ellie Jespersen and Special Recognition Award winner Nicole Luchanski. You read that right: three of the four award winners are from Alberta. We caught up with Lalor and Luchanski about the honours and to catch up on what they have been up to since the last time we had them on the podcast.

Episode 83: "The Wax Pack" Author Brad Balukjian

We have had a ton of fun putting up stories about baseball cards on our website. So to stick with that theme, we thought we'd talk to someone who recently wrote a book about the cardboard collectibles. Brad Balukjian's new book is called "The Wax Pack: On The Open Road in Search of Baseball's Afterlife." It's a fascinating tale about tracking down former MLB players found in a pack of old baseball cards to answer that fun question we sometimes ask: whatever happened to that guy? Not only did we talk about the baseball side of things, but also the self-discovery roadtrip Balukjian found himself on in writing this book.

Episode 82: Chris Ewanik & Landen Bourassa

We know it's not Thursday, but with Opening Day supposed to be last week and many people chomping at the bit for baseball content, we thought we'd put together a bonus episode. This time around, we chat with Spruce Grove's Chris Ewanik and Lethbridge's Landen Bourassa. Both went through Prairie Baseball Academy, both underwent Tommy John Surgery and both had just returned to their college baseball programs when the news hit that their seasons would be ending abruptly because of the coronavirus pandemic. We chatted with them about what's happened since then and what they view as being "next".

Episode 81: Scott Gillespie & Graham Brunner

It has been a roller-coaster ride for many Alberta baseball products who were honing their trades in colleges south of the border. Not only were they dealing with the cancellations of their seasons, but they also had to deal with the logistics of getting back home in light of the coronavirus. We chatted with Prairie Baseball Academy grad Scott Gillespie and Dawgs Academy alum Graham Brunner about their respective journeys in baseball and what it was like to see their 2020 college seasons come to an abrupt halt.

Episode 80: Working Out In Uncertain Times

A lot of athletes have been left wondering how they should be handling the current coronavirus pandemic. With calls to stay home and limit time out, how do you make the most of the opportunity and stay in shape when the baseball season starts back up again? We chatted with Absolute Human Performance's Taylor Burns about some of the things he's recommending and some of the game-plans he is working on both physically and mentally.

Episode 79: John Ircandia

It is a baseball oasis in the heart of Southern Alberta. The Okotoks Dawgs and Dawgs Academy have quickly become a powerhouse in Canadian baseball. But it also has an interesting history that includes a highly-contentious move from Calgary. Behind the effort has been Managing Director John Ircandia. In this in-depth conversation, we wanted to go a little deeper, to get to the heart of what drives him day-after-day, what it was like to build the program in the early days and what it's like to be him now, stepping into Seaman Stadium or any of the facilities in Okotoks and see that a dream has become a reality.

Episode 78: Vauxhall Academy of Baseball Banquet

You know baseball season is just around the corner when all of the different programs across this province are holding their annual awards and fundraising banquets. Our own Ian Wilson headed south to Vauxhall Academy of Baseball last weekend and chatted with a number of people, including guest speaker Rance Mulliniks, current players Jackson Clemett and Carlin Dick, and Wall of Excellence inductee David Reiniger.

Episode 77: Black History Month

They were legends of the game, all went to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum and all made stops in Alberta. This episode of Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast features conversations about Satchel Paige, Leon Day and Andre Dawson. Joe McFarland and Ian Wilson sit down to talk about Ian's stories on Paige and Dawson, while Tom Kern chats with Joe about Day, who he wrote Day's Society for American Baseball Research bio.

Episode 76: Alberta Girls Baseball

The women's baseball program has been a point of pride in recent years in Alberta. With a handful of players representing the province on the national team each year, it has a great momentum behind it. But where do we go from here? We asked that and much more of Baseball Alberta Girls & Womens director Barb Northcott and technical coordinator Chris James in this conference call from a few weeks ago.

Episode 75: Landen Bourassa

He didn't go to an academy in Alberta, but Landen Bourassa made a name for himself south of the border anyways. The Lethbridge-born pitcher is getting ready for his first start in almost a year this weekend after undergoing Tommy John Surgery shortly after his first start of the 2019 season with the University of San Francisco. We talked about the 6'4" right-hander's upbringing, the injury and his mindset, which centers on believing in himself.