The Vancouver Canadians start their 2013 summer baseball season on the road today against the Tri-City Dust Devils in southeastern Washington.
The two-time defending Northwest League champion Cs open their campaign at Gesa Stadium in Pasco, Wash., but before leaving town, players talked about Nat Bailey Stadium and Vancouver fans like theyve hit the draft jackpot.
Its going to be unbelievable, left-handed pitcher Bobby Brosnahan told reporters Wednesday. Its a great atmosphere here. You can go to higher levels and still not get as many fans as this. Its a pretty special experience.
As the first Ontario collegiate player ever drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays, University of Guelph alum Shaun Valeriote grew up idolizing Joe Carter. The infielder is one of three Canadians on the Canadians and is in Vancouver for the first time.
I know that the crowd is great. There is a lot of energy and it speaks to how baseball is growing in Canada, he said.
Valeriote joins Eric Brown, a right-handed pitcher from Ontario drafted from the UBC Thunderbirds, who will get the start when the Canadians open at home June 17 against Spokane.
No one travels a shorter distance than Justin Atkinson, the Cs third homegrown prospect, who played for another Canadian team the national one when he represented the country and Whalley at the Little League World Series. He was drafted in the 26th round two years ago and comes to Vancouver from the Bluefield Blue Jays of the Appalachian league.
The 25-man roster will fluctuate as Jays prospects are called up and moved around the clubs different development teams, but returning players come to Vancouver already familiar with their surroundings.
Brosnahan, a six-foot, 24-year-old from Michigan, returns to Vancouver for his second single-A short season with the Canadians and will get the start Friday against Tri-City. In the long offseason, the pitcher said he added a cutter (a type of fastball) to his repertoire.
New additions like Valeriote have learned something more than the reputation of Nat Bailey fans from returning players such as Brosnahan.
Ive heard a lot from the boys. Ive hear its a blast, said Valeriote. Im jealous, too some of them are walking around with rings and thats what I want to do this year: get a ring.
Its in the back of our minds, said Brosnahan. Its always our goal coming here. I definitely think we can do it.
Since March, the Cs second-year manager Clayton McCullough was in Toronto assisting the Blue Jays and, among other things, catching in the bullpen. The spectre of a threepeat motivates excellence, he said, but the development and advancement of young players is his ultimate goal.
Any time you put kids in a winning type environment, they enjoy coming to the ball park more, theyre playing for something more than just working on their own stats and how theyre doing, said McCullough, named the Northwest League manager of the year in 2012.
Players are right to care about the numbers they put up, he said, and being a good teammate is part of the equation.
They want to get to the big leagues one day and a lot of it is putting up numbers and stats, but when your on a winning team guys understand being unselfish at times is a good thing to help the club win and ultimately that ends up boding well for your own future.
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