Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast

Episode 71: Devery Van De Keere

The Van De Keere name is synonymous with baseball in the Barrhead area, northwest of Edmonton. Keith was a standout pitcher with the Barrhead Blue Jays and was a member of the Canadian National Team before turning his attention to coaching and teaching. He was Baseball Alberta’s Ted Rudd Minor Coach of the Year in 2000 and 2002 and was made a Baseball Alberta Life Member in 2011.
So it’s pretty easy to see why his son, Devery, would pick up a bat and excel at the sport. A star with his hometown teams as a youngster, he went onto Phoenix Junior College and Louisiana-Lafayette before being drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 48th round of the 2007 MLB Draft. After a couple of years with Idaho Falls in the Pioneer League, he went down his own path, traveling the world while playing and coaching.
Now 34, Van De Keere is in Vancouver and has his eyes set on wearing the maple leaf again. We chatted with him earlier this week about where he’s been, where he’s going and some of the lessons he’s learned along the way.

Episode 70: 2020 Vision

With 2019 in the rearview mirror, Ian and Joe sit down to talk about some of the stories that stick out in their minds from the last year and look ahead to what's in store for 2020. Plus, we have a conversation with Jordan Blundell of the Edmonton Prospects as the team now has some certainty heading into the summer after a few questions were raised about what the City of Edmonton had in mind for RE/MAX Field.

Episode 69: State of Alberta's Game 2019

What a year it was for baseball in Alberta. From the all-star performance of Calgary's Mike Soroka to the top-notch talent making names for themselves at the university and college levels to the grassroots game in every community, it was another year to remember. In the final episode of the 2019 season, we chat with Baseball Alberta's Darren Dekinder about the sport, the year that was and what's to come in 2020.

Episode 68: Chris Shaw

Even before his professional baseball career began, Chris Shaw was no stranger to visiting places unknown. He started following his dream in high school by moving to Alberta to take advantage of an opportunity with Dawgs Academy in Okotoks. He later went on to play for the college Dawgs before being selected three times in the Major League Baseball Draft. He eventually signed with Baltimore and spent several seasons in their farm system before joining Quebec of the Canadian-American Association in 2019. Shaw is back in Calgary training and hoping to gain the attention of another Major League team. We caught up with him recently to talk about his journey, what he's working on now and what's in store for 2020.

Episode 67: Strive For Success

We first chatted with Drayton Valley's Shane Dawson about a year ago when he welcomed Toronto Blue Jays catcher Danny Jansen to his new Strive Baseball Program in Calgary. Fresh off a stint as pitching coach for Alberta at the 2019 Canadian National Women's Championship in Okotoks, Dawson invited former teammates Ryan Borucki and Anthony Alford to come to Calgary to take in some of the sights and sounds and to coach some of the province's young talent a thing or two about making it to the pros.

Episode 66: Mike Frostad

Mike Frostad has had a unique vantage point from his perch in the dugout over the years. The Calgary native spent 22 years with the Toronto Blue Jays organization, starting with the Baby Jays in Medicine Hat and eventually six seasons as the big club’s assistant athletic trainer. He has held that same position with the Atlanta Braves over the last two years. The University of Calgary grad has many accolades to his name and still calls Alberta home in the offseason. Recently, Frostad was one of the speakers at Little League Alberta’s Coaching, Training and Leadership Conference in his hometown. During a break between sessions, he sat down with our own Ian Wilson to talk about his journey to the majors, his day-to-day workflows and the other Mike from Calgary.

Episode 65: Baseball Alberta Players of the Year

What a weekend it was in Edmonton as Baseball Alberta held its annual general meeting and convention, which included the year-end awards highlighting the athletes, umpires, volunteers and the many others who make the baseball community in our province all that it is. In this week’s episode, we chat with 16U Girls & Open Women's Award winner Ellie Jespersen, 15U 'AAA' winner Conor Pote and 18U 'AAA' winner Donovan Wallace about the awards and what it mant to them to be recognized at a provincial level.

Episode 64: Status Reports in Sylvan Lake & Brooks

A couple of major pieces of news came out of the recent Western Canadian Baseball League annual general meeting. One was that Sylvan Lake was getting a franchise for the 2021 season, while the Brooks Bombers would be under a new ownership model. Aqil Samuel joins us to talk about the Central Alberta situation, while Bombers president and Brooks Regional Ballpark Association chairman Jason Thomasen updates his team's transition.

Episode 63: Mike Soroka & Bruce Walton

A whirlwind winter at home is in store for Calgary’s Mike Soroka. The Atlanta Braves all-star isn’t just waiting to find out if he will be named the National League’s Rookie of the Year, which he was named a nominee earlier this week. But he has already started touring around this province, speaking at a number of events. He was a guest at Geoff Freeborn's Sidearm Nation camp this past weekend in Calgary, where he was joined by former Medicine Hat and Toronto Blue Jays pitching coach Bruce Walton, who spent this past season with the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp.

Episode 62: WCBL State of the Union

The Western Canadian Baseball League's annual general meeting generated quite a number of storylines heading into what promises to be a busy off-season. We sit down with league president Kevin Kvame to discuss the summer of 2019, the future of the Yorkton Cardinals and Melville Millionaires, a new ownership strategy with the Brooks Bombers, a new team in Sylvan Lake and much more.

Episode 61: Making Their Pro Debuts

What a summer it was for many baseball players who saw their dream of turning pro come true. For two former Dawgs Academy products, it might have come a little later than expected, but they're certainly happy to be where they're at now. We chat with PEI's Cole MacLaren and Alberta's Matt Lloyd about getting called up and playing at different levels of professional baseball.

Episode 60: Shari Of All Trades

She has traveled all over the world to work on some of the biggest baseball productions. Edmonton's Shari Reiniger joins us to talk about her journeys in the game, the state of the Canadian baseball scene and her love of the Braves (including watching Calgary's Mike Soroka pitch in the MLB playoffs).