Canada's national men's baseball team will rely on a mix of youth and experience for two major tournaments next month. The 24-man roster, which was announced Friday, includes nine players who will be making their national team debuts at the IBAF World Cup in Panama City, Panama (Oct. 2-15) and the Pan American Games in Mexico (Oct. 19-26). Another 11 players were members of the Canadian team last October that earned qualification for the two events at a qualifier in Puerto Rico.
“Given our recent success internationally, it is always exciting to see how we stack up against the world’s best,” said Baseball Canada president Ray Carter.
The roster consists of players that are not on Major League Baseball 40-man rosters. Among them are catcher Cole Armstrong (Surrey, B.C.), third baseman Shawn Bowman (Port Moody, B.C.), pitcher Nick Bucci (Sarnia, Ont.), first baseman Emerson Frostad (Calgary), pitcher Jimmy Henderson (Calgary), pitcher Mike Johnson (Edmonton), pitcher Chris Kissock (Trail, B.C.), shortstop Jonathan Malo (Joliette, Que.), catcher Chris Robinson (Dorchester, Ont.), outfielder Jamie Romak (London, Ont.) and first baseman Jimmy Van Ostrand (Richmond, B.C.).
Canada won bronze at the 2009 World Cup in Italy and bronze at the 1999 Pan Am Games in Winnipeg. “I am looking forward to once again representing Canada on a world stage,” said Ernie Whitt, who’ll be the team manager. “We have a mix of veteran national team players and talented newcomers which should provide an exciting and competitive group on the field.”
Whitt, who played 15 seasons in the majors, first managed the team in 1999 and will be leading the national team for the 10th time. The team will head to Cary, North Carolina, on Sept. 26 to play a three-game exhibition series against the United States, before travelling to Panama on Sept. 30. The World Cup also includes Puerto Rico, Japan, Greece, Chinese Taipei, Netherlands and the U.S. in the preliminary round.