Tuesday, November 11, 2003
And they can sing too
By BOB ELLIOTT -- Toronto Sun
The white and blue school bus lurched through the jammed and darkened streets of Panama City early yesterday morning.
No one mistook it for a church group on the way home from choir session.
Three times on the 40-minute trip from Estadio Nacional, a victorious Team Canada burst into O Canada.
And when the bus jerked to a stop outside the Hotel Riande Aeropuerto, players disembarked and sang it again in the parking lot.
That sweet song -- no matter how off-key -- celebrated Canada qualifying for its first Olympics in baseball. Canada had been at the 1988 Seoul Olympics when baseball was a demonstration sport.
The chorus began where most good things on a bus begin -- at the back.
Going east-to-west along veterans row were Mike Kusiewicz of Nepean, Todd Betts of Scarborough, Stubby Clapp of Windsor, Ryan Radmanovich of Calgary and Jeff Guiel of Langley, B.C.
"Singing on this team was a team effort," Clapp said. "Singing or swinging, you name it, it was a team effort."
In the afterglow of the upset triumph and tears and champagne, O Canada can sound as if sung by heavenly angels or Sheryl Crow. Maybe. Maybe not.
"We're all pretty bad singers, I don't see any guys going on to singing careers," Betts said.
Why should they look for a day job? Team Canada is going to the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Canada and Cuba earned berths by making it to the final of the Americas qualifying tournament. Cuba defeated Canada 5-0 in that game last night but nothing much was at stake.
Day in, day out, Team Canada fielded a lineup of eight left-handed hitters. Day in, day out, opposing countries started -- and usually relieved with -- a lefty.
Canada beat Puerto Rico 8-5 in 11 innings on a Betts tie-breaking homer, beat Mexico 8-2 and lost 7-2 to Cuba in preliminary play. Canada then beat Columbia 14-6 in the quarters and clinched an Olympic berth with an 11-1 semi-final win over Mexico.
"I just tried to stay out of the way," manager Ernie Whitt said. "Having so many left-handed hitters made my job easy. Options? Well, we could have gone nine out of nine lefties."
Whitt may play down his role, but the fact is he has managed Canada twice -- going 5-1 in Winnipeg at the Pan-Am Games in 1999 and 5-1 to clinch the Olympic berth.
"A trip to the Olympics bodes well for the future of Canadian baseball," Whitt said.
Will the Blue Jays minor-league catching instructor manage Canada?
"I certainly hope I'm asked and that the Blue Jays allow me to go."
Canada hit 17 homers to wrap up its berth. Justin Morneau of New Westminster, B.C., hit his fifth homer, a two-run shot in the clincher.
Radmanovich, Pierre LaForest of Hull and Clapp also went deep, Clapp ending it with a solo homer in the bottom of the seventh, making the run differential 10.
"I've never had a walk-off shot, even Little League," Clapp said. "When I got to the plate (after rounding the bases), I got a beating, but it was a good beating."
Whitt praised his players for binding together so quickly and losing their egos. Canada had big-time production from those with big-league time in 2003, such as Morneau (Minnesota Twins), LaForest (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) and Victoria, B.C.'s Chris Mears (Detroit Tigers).
The veteran crowd did the job -- as it did in Winnipeg: Brampton's Matt Logan, Orangeville's Jeremy Ware, Tillsonburg's Mike Meyers, Mears, Clapp, Radmanovich and Betts.
"We finished what we should have finished in 1999," Betts said. In Winnipeg, Canada beat the U.S. and Cuba only to lose to Cuba in the semi-final. Much like the U.S. lost 2-1 to Mexico in Panama and was eliminated.
How much empathy does Clapp have for the U.S.?
"What comes around goes around," Clapp said.
Into the hotel bar they happily trudged to hoist one or two and act like Crazy Canucks on this happy, anthem-singing Canadian evening.
"The Canadian baseball community is closely knit," Morneau said. "We've all played against each other, we check on each other via the Internet. We came to play for our country -- playing for my country I kinda got locked in."
So, Morneau was asked, what kind of cerveza do they serve in Panama?
"Balboa, Panama and Atlas," Morneau said, as a made-in-Canada Tragically Hip song played in the background. "But I'm sure it will gone by the end of the night."
