Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast

We have had a ton of fun putting up stories about baseball cards on our website . So to stick with that theme, we thought we'd talk to someone who recently wrote a book about the cardboard collectibles. Brad Balukjian's new book is called "The Wax Pack: On The Open Road in Search of Baseball's Afterlife." It's a fascinating tale about tracking down former MLB players found in a pack of old basebal...

We know it's not Thursday, but with Opening Day supposed to be last week and many people chomping at the bit for baseball content, we thought we'd put together a bonus episode. This time around, we chat with Spruce Grove's Chris Ewanik and Lethbridge's Landen Bourassa. Both went through Prairie Baseball Academy, both underwent Tommy John Surgery and both had just returned to their college baseball...

It has been a roller-coaster ride for many Alberta baseball products who were honing their trades in colleges south of the border. Not only were they dealing with the cancellations of their seasons, but they also had to deal with the logistics of getting back home in light of the coronavirus. We chatted with Prairie Baseball Academy grad Scott Gillespie and Dawgs Academy alum Graham Brunner about...

A lot of athletes have been left wondering how they should be handling the current coronavirus pandemic. With calls to stay home and limit time out, how do you make the most of the opportunity and stay in shape when the baseball season starts back up again? We chatted with Absolute Human Performance 's Taylor Burns about some of the things he's recommending and some of the game-plans he is working...

It is a baseball oasis in the heart of Southern Alberta. The Okotoks Dawgs and Dawgs Academy have quickly become a powerhouse in Canadian baseball. But it also has an interesting history that includes a highly-contentious move from Calgary. Behind the effort has been Managing Director John Ircandia. In this in-depth conversation, we wanted to go a little deeper, to get to the heart of what drives...

You know baseball season is just around the corner when all of the different programs across this province are holding their annual awards and fundraising banquets. Our own Ian Wilson headed south to Vauxhall Academy of Baseball last weekend and chatted with a number of people, including guest speaker Rance Mulliniks, current players Jackson Clemett and Carlin Dick, and Wall of Excellence inductee...

They were legends of the game, all went to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum and all made stops in Alberta. This episode of Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast features conversations about Satchel Paige , Leon Day and Andre Dawson . Joe McFarland and Ian Wilson sit down to talk about Ian's stories on Paige and Dawson, while Tom Kern chats with Joe about Day, who he wrote Day's Society...

The women's baseball program has been a point of pride in recent years in Alberta. With a handful of players representing the province on the national team each year, it has a great momentum behind it. But where do we go from here? We asked that and much more of Baseball Alberta Girls & Womens director Barb Northcott and technical coordinator Chris James in this conference call from a few weeks ag...

He didn't go to an academy in Alberta, but Landen Bourassa made a name for himself south of the border anyways. The Lethbridge-born pitcher is getting ready for his first start in almost a year this weekend after undergoing Tommy John Surgery shortly after his first start of the 2019 season with the University of San Francisco. We talked about the 6'4" right-hander's upbringing, the injury and his...

The baseball season is getting closer! We're less than a week away until pitchers and catchers report for Spring Training. We thought we'd catch up with a pitcher and catcher from Alberta hoping to turn some heads. Vauxhall Academy's Adam Macko enters his first spring training after being drafted by Seattle in 2019, while Dawgs Academy's LaRon Smith is going into his second after being drafted by...

Blair Kubicek moved to Lethbridge in 1995 with the goal to help get the Prairie Baseball Academy off the ground. He ended up coaching the team for 15 years while helping grow the game of baseball all over this province. He and five others will be inducted into the academy's new Hall of Fame this coming weekend, and we chatted with "Coach Kubicek" about the long list of accolades he has received (i...

Emerson Frostad's journey in baseball took him to places a kid who grows up in a hockey-dominated world could have only dreamed of. From his days with the Calgary Dawgs program before they moved to Okotoks to Lewis-Clark State College to being drafted by the Texas Rangers in 2003 and playing for Baseball Canada at the Olympics and Pan-Am Games, Frostad did it all. Now a corporate lawyer in Calgary...

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 ea...

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 R...

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 t...

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 sp...

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...

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...

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 'AA...

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 Thomase...

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...

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.

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.

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).

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. W...