Vancouver Canadians

MiLB infobox
name = Vancouver Canadians
founded = 2000
city = Vancouver, British Columbia
misc =

uniform
class level = Single-A (2000-present)
past class level=
current league = Northwest League (2000-present)
conference =
division = Western Division
past league =
majorleague = Oakland Athletics (2000-present)
pastmajorleague =
nickname = Vancouver Canadians (2000-present)
pastnames =
ballpark = Nat Bailey Stadium (2000-present)
pastparks =
leaguechamps =
divisionchamps = 2004, 2005
misc6 =
owner = Vancouver Professional Baseball Partnership
manager = Rick Magnante
gm = Andrew Seymour
president = Andy DunnThe Vancouver Canadians are a minor league baseball team located in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Canadians are the Northwest League affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. As of the 2008 season, they are the only Canadian team in the "affiliated" minor leagues—i.e., part of the farm system of a Major League Baseball team. This came about after the Ottawa Lynx moved to Allentown, Pennsylvania.

History

As a minor league baseball franchise (dating back to 1979 in Medford, Oregon), the Canadians have had players such as José Canseco, Rod Beck, Rickey Henderson, Scott Brosius, Jason Giambi, Tim Hudson, Nick Swisher, Jeremy Brown, Troy Glaus, Sammy Sosa, Jason Windsor, Joe Blanton, Rich Harden, Travis Buck, Sean Triplett, Danny Putman, Dallas Braden and Miguel Tejada. The current incarnation of the Canadians was established in 2000 after the AAA Canadians moved to Sacramento, California and became the Sacramento River Cats (which is now an affiliate of the Athletics; the team formed after Medford, Oregon's Southern Oregon Timberjacks relocated to Vancouver. The team became affiliated with the Los Angeles Angels, among others).

Vancouver was a heavy player in the early history of the Northwest League, a charter member in every version of the league that would eventually form the NWL, notably as the sole team that survived the collapse of the Western International League in 1922 when it reformed in 1937, winning four pennants in the WIL (1942, 1947, 1949, 1954) as the Vancouver Capilanos (1939-1954). However, even though they were the final champions of the WIL, Vancouver was not part of its reformation into the Northwest League, due to the NWL's shedding of all of its Canadian teams in order to focus on the American Pacific Northwest.

The Canadians announced January 10th, 2007 that Rick Magnante would return as Manager for 2007, as well as pitching coach Craig Lefferts, who entered his 4th season as the pitching coach. Former Vancouver Canadian slugger Chris Pritchett was named the team's latest hitting coach in May 2007.

Since February 7, 2007 the Canadians have been owned by a local ownership group, Vancouver Professional Baseball Partnership, who intend to keep the team in Vancouver and initiate extensive upgrades to Nat Bailey Stadium. The stadium will be restored to a state similar to when it opened in 1951 with murals and trees adorning the outside, in addition to modernization improvements to the rest of the stadium.

The Canadians announced that former Washington Nationals marketing guru Andy Dunn would become the President and General Manager of the Canadians, on January 7, 2008.

For the 2008 season, the team has many 'headline names' on the roster, including Jeremy Barfield, son of Jesse Barfield and brother of Josh Barfield. The team, as of August 13th, is in last place in the Northwest League's Western Division.

ee also

*List of baseball teams in Canada

External links

* [http://www.canadiansbaseball.com/ Vancouver Canadians Official Site]
* [http://lf4l1994.blogspot.com/ Road Kill Sports Blog]
* [http://www.natnotes.com/ Notes From the Nat Unofficial Blog]