All Allan Simpson had was a passion for baseball 25 years ago.
He had been the general manager of the rookie-class Lethbridge Expos in 1975, and before that he spent three summers with the Alaska Goldpanners, serving as sports editor of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.
Simpson had a dream and passion, but he didn't have a visa allowing him to head south to the United States.
He started the All-America Baseball News in his garage in White Rock, B.C., and drove across the border to Bellingham, Wash., where he had a post-office box. The Bellingham Herald published his first issue, which rolled off the press in early 1981.
"I didn't think a magazine entitled Baseball America with a Canadian mailing address would sell," Simpson used to joke.
Miles Wolff, owner of the Durham Bulls, bought the paper in 1982, re-named it Baseball America and moved the offices to Charlotte, N.C., with founder Simpson as editor.
Five days ago, Simpson walked away from Baseball America 25 years after founding the magazine. Squeezed out after he helped it grow to the point where it surpassed The Sporting News as "The Baseball Bible," whether it be on a college campus, a single-A park or a major-league clubhouse.
Simpson's was an only-in-America success story made in Canada. Just as Peter Gammons, then with The Boston Globe, and Tracy Ringolsby, now with The Rocky Mountain News, changed the way baseball was covered. Both have won the J.G. Taylor Spink award and both are inducted into Cooperstown. Like those two, Simpson changed the business as well.
In his very first issue, Simpson tabbed Mike Moore of the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles and Joe Carter of the Wichita State State Shockers as the first two picks in the 1981 June amateur draft.
Simpson is credited with increased coverage of the draft, suggesting a prospects game, which now takes place every all-star game week and is entitled the Futures Game.
Simpson always was an advocate of international competition, which grew into the recently-concluded World Baseball Classic.
His top prospect lists -- top 400 high schoolers, top 300 collegians, top 100 pro prospects, top 10 organizational prospects -- were debated and disputed but were can't-miss reading from Key West, Fla., to Fort McMurray, Alta.
With Paul Beeston no longer the CEO of Major League Baseball, it could be argued that along with Milwaukee Brewers general manager Doug Melvin and Canadian director of national teams Greg Hamilton, Simpson was one of the top three most influential Canadians in baseball.
His departure was a sad day for the magazine.
But Simpson will not be out of work for long.
STREAKING
Vladimir Guerrero bumped his consecutive-game hit streak against the Texas Rangers to 39 games. The Los Angeles Angels outfielder had hits in all three games against Texas, a streak which began when the ex-Montreal Expo joined the Angels in 2004 and is the longest hitting streak against a team since divisional play began in 1969.
Guerrero took the mark from Ken Griffey in 2005. When he was with the Seattle Mariners, Griffey hit in 35 consecutive against the Cleveland Indians.
Two of the top five streaks against a single team, since 1969, belong to former Blue Jays. George Bell hit in 34 straight against the Indians from 1985-87, while Paul Molitor hit in 32 consecutive against the Chicago White Sox from 1993-96. Molitor's mark equalled that of Cincinnati's Dave Parker against the Pittsburgh Pirates, 1976-79.
HOT START
Etobicoke's Joey Votto is hitting .333 with three homers and eight RBIs at double-A Chattanooga.
"We think he has the chance to hit 40 homers and drive in 100 runs a year for us some day," Cincinnati Reds scout Johnny Almaraz said. "He has come a long way."
