Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast

Episode 50: 7th Inning Stretch Part 2

We have visited with several Western Canadian Baseball League stars over the summer for our 7th Inning Stretch features, but we haven't been able to share those conversations in podcast form much. This is our opportunity to catch up on some of the insight and, frankly, the hilarity of some of those chats. In this episode of #ADSPodcast, we revisit Ian Wilson's sit-downs with Okotoks Dawgs pitcher Andrew Yates, Medicine Hat Mavericks all-star Austin Soyka, Brooks Bombers slugger Josh McIntyre and Fort McMurray Giants ace Will Langford.

Episode 49: Little League World Series Assignments

Every January, umpires from across the globe hope to hear their names called for Little League World Series assignments. Over 90 officials will be asked to oversee seven different tournaments. Each of those events features one Canadian umpire and, this year, three of the seven Canadians hail from Alberta. We chatted with two of them prior to their events: Geoff Larsen (Calgary) who will be part of the Senior League Softball World Series in Lower Sussex, Delaware and Kevin Alenius (Calgary) who is heading to Taylor, Michigan for the Junior League World Series.

Episode 48: Blue Jays Academy Super Camps

Over the last few years, Blue Jays Academy has hosted Super Camps powered by Honda for kids between the ages 9 and 16 across the country. It’s a chance for the young athletes to learn some things from some Blue Jays alumni. This year, there were two stops on the nationwide tour in Alberta, Tuesday-Wednesday in St. Albert and Thursday-Friday in Okotoks. We took in the festivities on Thursday and chatted with Homer Bush and JP Arencibia.

Episode 47: "Edgar: An Autobiography"

This weekend, former Calgary Cannons and Seattle Mariners great Edgar Martinez will take his place amongst baseball's best ever in Cooperstown. The National Baseball Hall of Fame's induction ceremony will take place, where Martinez will be officially inducted along with Roy Halladay, Mariano Rivera and Mike Mussina as well as Harold Baines and Lee Smith. In the new book "Edgar: An Autobiography", author Larry Stone chronicles Martinez's path to Cooperstown. We chatted with Stone about the book, the Hall of Famer's time in Calgary and what team might have been interested in the third baseman's services had he grown frustrated enough with having to keep bouncing between the Cannons and Mariners.
LISTEN MORE: Episode 13 of the ADS Podcast entitled "From Calgary To Cooperstown"

Episode 46: Baseball Canada's Women's Invitationals Wrap-Up

What a couple of weeks it was in Okotoks for the Baseball Canada Women's Invitational Championships. Mother Nature had a few different pitches up her sleeve, but it didn't dampen the spirits of the competitors. In the end, Ontario claimed the title while Alberta earned bronze. Afterwards, eight Baseball Alberta players were named to the National Women's Team selection camp and five ended up being selected. We chatted with Redcliff's Kaitlyn Ross, who was named the tournament's best catcher, as well as Janice Willan, who served as Alberta's chef de mission while watching her daughter, Madison, also crack the national squad again.

Episode 45: The Pioneers - Calgary Cardinals

If Russ Parker's middle name isn't "Persistent", maybe he should look at changing it. After having been in discussions about bringing an affiliated team to Calgary for half a decade, he finally succeeded in 1977 with the Cardinals. In our final installment of "The Pioneers", we chat with Parker about joining the Medicine Hat A's and Lethbridge Expos as Alberta's contingent in the Pioneer League.

Episode 44: WCBL All-Star Game Wrap-Up

Mother Nature tried to rain on their parade, but the Western Canadian Baseball League's All-Star Game went off without much of a hitch in Edmonton over the weekend. Our own Ian Wilson was in the capital for the festivities and chatted with Home Run Derby Champion Kaleb Warden of the Lethbridge Bulls as well as special guest Matt Stairs. The former MLB slugger played with the Edmonton Trappers in 1996, a time that he believed changed his career.

Episode 43: Baseball Canada Women's Invitationals & WCBL All-Star Game

Assuming Mother Nature doesn't rain on our parades, a couple of major events are slated for this weekend in our province. Okotoks will be home to the Baseball Canada Women's Invitational Championships from Thursday to Sunday, while the Western Canadian Baseball League will host its first All-Star Game on Sunday in Edmonton. We chatted with Team Alberta coach Drew Boyer about what he expects out of his squad, while WCBL Commissioner Kevin Kvame stops by to talk about the first half of the season and the All-Star festivities.

Episode 42: The Pioneers - Medicine Hat A's/Blue Jays

Before the 1975 Pioneer League season had even started, officials were sniffing around at possible locations for expansion. Medicine Hat quickly became a front-runner, although a "fiasco" surrounding renovations at Athletic Park threatened to put affiliated baseball's start in the city on ice. But on June 25, 1977, the Medicine Hat A's made their debut. They would only last one year before the new Toronto Blue Jays would set their rookie-level roots in town, a relationship that lasted another 24 years. Medicine Hat Tigers play-by-play man Bob Ridley was there for the first few years as the initial voice of Pioneer League baseball and joined us to reminisce about his time calling baseball.

Episode 41: Joe Sergent & Ellie Jespersen

After a three-year stop with the Calgary Vipers, Joe Sergent decided to make a life in the area. Over the last three years, he has been a coach with the Dawgs Academy and Okotoks Dawgs. He shares some of his favourite stories with Ian Wilson in our latest episode. And speaking of Okotoks, the community will host the Baseball Canada Women's National Championships in early July and one of the young athletes looking to turn some heads is Ellie Jespersen, who will be joined by her two sisters on Team Alberta.

Episode 40: The Pioneers - Lethbridge Expos

Southern Alberta's love affair with baseball hit a fever pitch in the 1970's. After years of our own circuits and big league players barnstorming through, relationships were built to bring affiliated baseball to the masses. In the first of our three-part look at the Pioneer League's days in Alberta, we profile the lead-up to the first game for the Lethbridge Expos.

Episode 39: 7th Inning Stretch

Over the last week, we launched a brand new feature on our website called "7th Inning Stretch". It's a chance for Western Canadian Baseball League fans to get to know some of their favourite players, through chats with our Ian Wilson. Here are the first three he did, in audio form. Fort McMurray's Richard Ortiz, Okotoks' Will Hollis and Edmonton's Taran Oulton join us. And to mark Father's Day this past weekend, we give you a small sample of the chat Ian had with Mike Soroka's father, Gary.