Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast

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).

Episode 59: Soroka, Sabrowski & Black Sox

Joe and Ian get together again to chat about all that's been going on lately involving Atlanta Braves rising star and Calgary's own Mike Soroka as well as some of the stories we'll be working on as the winter months approach, including some historic pieces on the Black Sox scandal's connection to Alberta and the ten Alberta women who played in the All American Girls Professional Baseball League. We also get an update from Edmonton's Erik Sabrowski on how recuperation has gone after he underway Tommy John surgery.

Episode 58: Les McTavish & Max Grant

Imagine: being in high school, flying across the country to play at THE Major League Baseball stadium in Canada: Rogers Centre. Or for some of us, it’s still Skydome. At any rate, since 2013, the Tournament-12 has been held there, showcasing the best talent in our nation and providing coaching from Blue Jays greats like Roberto Alomar, Lloyd Moseby, Jesse Barfield and George Bell, to name just a few. We caught up with Vauxhall Academy coach Les McTavish, who not only coached at T12 again this year but was the manager for Team World at the recent New Balance Baseball Future Stars Series International Week. And one of his pupils at Vauxhall and the T12, Max Grant, joins us to talk about that experience and coming to Alberta from Fredericton, New Brunswick.

Episode 57: Dedicated

The baseball community in our province wouldn't be what it is without the amazing work done by so many. From the players and coaches to the staff members, parents and volunteers, the work doesn't go unnoticed. And in some cases, it leads to a lasting legacy. We chat with St. Albert Minor Baseball Association President Kurtus Millar and long-time Foothills Major Baseball Association member Glen Hansen about having facilities named after them earlier this summer in their respective communities.

Episode 56: Tyler Hollick, Andrew Yusypchuk & Matt Wilkinson

What a year it has been for Dawgs Academy. After posting a 60-12 record including four major tournament wins, the 18U Black squad was named the third-best 18U travel team in North America by Perfect Game. We chatted with Dawgs Academy GM Tyler Hollick to talk about the team and what's to come in Okotoks. We also chatted with pitchers Andrew Yusypchuk and Matt Wilkinson, as they are among the 150 athletes taking part in the annual Tournament-12 in Toronto, showcasing the best young talent in Canada.

Episode 55: A Decade After The Vipers Win Golden League Title

On September 12, 2009, the Calgary Vipers became the first team from the city to claim a professional baseball championship. We chat with Medicine Hat-born slugger Drew Miller and current Okotoks Dawgs and Dawgs Academy coach Joe Sergent about that season and some of their memories of their days in the Golden Baseball League.