Glew: BWDIK - Aumont, Brash, Carter, Clarke, Diamond, Stairs, Walker
Baseball legend Matt Stairs (Fredericton, N.B.), first on left, visited the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame on Wednesday with his 13U team from New Brunswick. Photo: Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.
August 23, 2026
By Kevin Glew
Cooperstowners in Canada
Some Canadian baseball news and notes:
Stairs visits Canadian ball hall with 13U team
On Wednesday, longtime big league slugger Matt Stairs (Fredericton, N.B.) visited the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame with his 13U team from New Brunswick.
Stairs is an assistant coach on the New Brunswick squad that’s competing in the 13U National Championships in Woodstock, Ont., this weekend.
The Canadian baseball legend and his team were given a tour of the museum – including pausing to see his plaque – and they then practiced on a Hall diamond.
Stairs grew up in Fredericton, N.B. and honed his skills at the National Baseball Institute and with the Junior National Team. He was signed by the Montreal Expos in 1989 and made his big league debut with them on May 29, 1992.
Over the next four seasons, Stairs split time between triple-A, the Expos, the Chunichi Dragons of the Japan Central League and the Boston Red Sox, before inking a deal with the Oakland A’s on December 1, 1995.
After belting 10 home runs in 61 games with the A’s in 1996, Stairs walloped 27 homers the next campaign. He followed that up with 26 and 38 home runs in 1998 and 1999 respectively and drove in more than 100 runs in both of those seasons to become the first Canadian to register back-to-back 25-home run, 100-RBI campaigns.
Stairs was traded to the Chicago Cubs after the 2000 campaign and over the next 11 seasons, he suited up for 10 different teams, including the Toronto Blue Jays in 2007 and 2008. During that time, he developed into one of the best pinch-hitters in big league history. For his career, Stairs clubbed a major league record 23 regular season, pinch-hit home runs.
In all, Stairs’ career spanned 19 big league seasons and he hit 265 homers, the third-most by a Canadian. He was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015.
Walker statue to be unveiled outside Coors Field today
A statue of Canadian baseball great Larry Walker (Maple Ridge, B.C.) will be unveiled outside of Coors Field in a pre-game ceremony today.
“The number being retired, and you walk in the ballpark and I see 33 out there, trust me, it melts my heart,” Walker told MLB.com in January. “It’s a pretty cool honour. And then when that phone call comes and says we’re going to put a statue outside of the ballpark that’s going to be there forever … it’s out of this world.”
After beginning his career with the Montreal Expos, Walker signed with the Rockies prior to the 1995 season. In his decade as a player with the Rockies, Walker was an All-Star four times. He also won five Gold Glove awards and three batting titles and was voted the National League MVP in 1997.
In 2020, he became the second Canadian to be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, joining legendary Cubs pitcher Fergie Jenkins (Chatham, Ont.).
Walker will also join Jenkins as the only Canadian players to have statues outside of big league stadiums. A statue of Jenkins was erected outside of Wrigley Field in 2022.
Fellow Cooperstowner and longtime Rockies teammate Todd Helton will also be honoured with a statue on September 19.
Both bronze statues were created by Colorado sculptors George and Mark Lundeen of Lundeen Sculptures.
*Thanks to my friend Dan Haugh for reminding me of the Walker statue ceremony.
Brash nears rehab assignment for Mariners
Seattle Mariners reliever Matt Brash (Kingston, Ont.), who has been sidelined since June 10 with a right lat strain, threw off a mound for the first time in over two months on August 15, according to MLB.com.
He was set to have two more mound sessions this week and then begin a rehab assignment. If everything goes well, Brash could return to the M’s in September.
On Friday, the Mariners moved the 28-year-old right-hander to the 60-day injured list but this was strictly a procedural move to free up an immediate 40-man roster spot. It will not impact Brash’s timeline for return.
Brash has had two tenures on the IL with the lat strain this season. After being out from May 1 to May 20, he reaggravated the injury in early June.
When healthy, Brash has been one of the best set-up men in the majors. He is 3-0 with a 0.54 ERA in 20 appearances, spanning 16 2/3 innings this season.
A Kingston Thunder grad, Brash is in his fourth campaign with the Mariners. In total in his MLB career, he is 17-11 with eight saves and a 3.06 ERA with 242 strikeouts and 86 walks in 190 games (five starts).
Wilkinson embraces “Tugboat” nickname, but don’t ask him to sign it
Okotoks Dawgs alum Matt Wilkinson (Ladner, B.C.) started and pitched two scoreless innings against the Cleveland Guardians in his major league debut with the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday.
Since his call-up, the 6-foot-0, 250-pound lefty has garnered a lot of attention for his “Tugboat” nickname. On Friday, Wilkinson told Sportsnet’s Blue Jays Talk podcast that he has embraced the nickname, but just don’t ask him to include it in his autograph.
“The only thing that really ticks me off is when somebody asks me to write it on a card just because it’s long,” he told Sportsnet.
He said he is asked to sign “Tugboat” almost every time by fans.
“Topps wanted me to do it for like 7,000 cards and I said, ‘Yeah, not happening,'” said Wilkinson. “That’s probably the only downside of the nickname.”
33 years ago today, Carter homered three times for Blue Jays
Thirty-three years ago today, Joe Carter belted three home runs for the Toronto Blue Jays in their 9-8 loss to Cleveland at SkyDome.
This was the fifth, three-home run game of Carter’s career, which, at the time, set an American League record for most three-home run games. Carter is still tied for second-most, three-home run games behind only Mookie Betts, Johnny Mize and Sammy Sosa who have six, three-homer games on their resumes.
Andreopoulos has new position with Blue Jays
Alex Andreopoulos turned 54 on Wednesday. In my birthday post for him, I referred to him as the Blue Jays’ bullpen catcher – a position he has held for many years (and is still listed at on the Blue Jays’ website).
However, it was pointed out to me by Facebook follower Brendan P. Donohue that Andreopoulos is no longer in that role. Todd Erskine, another astute Facebook follower, checked in with Andreopoulos for more information. It turns out Andreopoulos was quietly promoted to the position of major league operations coordinator. Thank you to Brendan and Todd for filling me in. And congratulations to Andreopoulos on his new role!
A Toronto native, Andreopoulos has spent more than three decades with the Blue Jays, primarily in a bullpen role. Prior to his tenure with the Blue Jays, he was a catcher for eight minor league seasons, including a stint with the Ottawa Lynx in 2002.
Anniversary of Aumont’s MLB debut
It was 14 years ago today that right-hander Phillippe Aumont (Gatineau, Que.) made his major league debut with the Philadelphia Phillies.
The 6-foot-7 right-hander hurled a scoreless eighth inning against the Cincinnati Reds in the Phillies’ 4-3 win at Citizens Bank Park. Aumont got two ground outs and a fly out in the inning and issued a walk to Miguel Cairo.
The Junior National Team alum would eventually pitch parts of four big league seasons with the Phillies.
Clarke closing in on return with Athletics
Outfielder Denzel Clarke (Pickering, Ont.) appears to be close to returning to the Athletics after being on the injured list since April 22, first with a bone bruise in his right foot and then a severe left hamstring strain.
He has gone 5-for-10 in four games since starting a rehab assignment with the triple-A Las Vegas Aviators on Tuesday. The A’s are hoping he’ll back in early September.
Prior to his injury woes, Clarke was 9-for-53 (.170 batting average) with six RBIs in 22 games in his second MLB season.
In March, the 25-year-old Toronto Mets grad was a key member of Canada’s World Baseball Classic squad. He started in centre field in all five games and scored three runs, while also knocking in two.
Clarke made his MLB debut with the A’s in 2025. In 47 big league contests last season, he batted .230 with three home runs, eight doubles and two triples.
Following his promotion last season, he made several highlight reel catches in centre field for the A’s, which made him the first player to win the MLB Electric Play of the Week award in three consecutive weeks and earned him the Capital One Premier Play of the year at the MLB Awards.
Selected by the A’s in the fourth round of the 2021 MLB draft, Clarke is in his sixth pro season.
Diamond signed by Braves 19 years ago
On this date 19 years ago, left-hander Scott Diamond (Guelph, Ont.) was signed as an amateur free agent by the Atlanta Braves.
Diamond would pitch three seasons in the Braves’ organization before he was selected by the Minnesota Twins in the Rule 5 draft in December 2010.
The Canadian southpaw ended up pitching 59 big league games over parts of four seasons with the Twins and Blue Jays, finishing with a 19-27 record and a 4.50 ERA. He had 161 strikeouts in 344 innings.
Bateman excelling for Blue Jays
Outfielder Brett Bateman, whom the Blue Jays acquired from the Chicago Cubs as part of their trade deadline deal for right-hander Kevin Gausman, has been outstanding at the plate and in the field for his new club.
Heading into Sunday’s game, the speedy 24-year-old is batting .321 with 18 hits – including three doubles and a triple – in his first 13 games with the Blue Jays. He also owns a .367 on-base percentage.
TSN StatsCentre shared this graphic on X to illustrate how good Bateman has been:
Galarraga’s MLB debut
Forty-one years ago today, Andres Galarraga made his big league debut with the Montreal Expos.
He pinch-hit for Expos first baseman Scot Thompson in the eighth inning and struck out against Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Carlos Diaz at Olympic Stadium.
“The Big Cat” would hit just .187 in 24 games for the Expos in his first taste of big league action that year, but over the next six seasons, he developed into a Silver Slugger Award and Gold Glove Award-winning first baseman with the Expos.
Most MLB Home Runs by Canadian-born players in 2026
17 – Liam Hicks (Toronto, Ont.)
13 – Owen Caissie (Burlington, Ont.)
10 – Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.)
10 – Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, B.C.)
8 – Tristan Peters (Winkler, Man.)
8 – Jared Young (Prince George, B.C.)
7 – Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Montreal, Que.)
3 – Edouard Julien (Quebec City, Que.)
2 – Bo Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.)