(Picture Caption: Former Infielder Tyler Hughes will probably be at Nat Bailey on Saturday afternoon)

Go around the Lower Mainland, and ask a bunch of people who their favourite Canadian baseball team is, and the Toronto Blue Jays’ name will pop up more than often.  Occasionally you’ll hear, "Are the Montreal Expos still around", or even a "How are the Medicine Hat Jays doing these days?".  Even more rarely than that, the Vancouver Canadians name will come into the conversation.  

Never, have I heard mention of the UBC Thunderbirds Baseball team, other than at a T-Birds game at Nat Bailey Stadium.  The T-Birds have produced numerous pro ball players, most notably Brooks McNiven, who played at Nat Bailey in July 2003 as a member of the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes, and some no-name Jeff Francis. 

There have been a few T-Birds alumni that have made the minors but have since been cut.  Those players are Connor Janes (who played for the Yakima Bears), Cory Stuart (who reached the Yankees AAA team before getting cut this season), Derran Watts (the first UBC baseball player to be drafted), Mark Zamojc who played in the Florida State League with the Minnesota Twins in 2005, and Jeff Brewer, a Mets farm-hand that got cut after reaching the Kingsport Mets in 2004.  He had a brief stint in the Northern League with the Calgary Vipers.

There is also Joe Forest, who was a NDFA of the Philadelphia Phillies.  Forest signed in April, and in his first pro year, he was 4-1 with a 3.56 ERA against the rest of his rookie-ball competition in 30 innings.  He hasn’t been cut as of October 17th.

Back to the team itself.  The annual alumni game takes place this Saturday at the Nat.  Of course, Jeff Francis won’t make it back, but C’s webcaller Brent Mutis, Hitting Coach Cav Whitely and other alumnists will be there.   Last year, there were so many turn-ups they had to make three teams.  The game goes at  1 or 2 pm, following a UBC intrasquad game.   This is one of your first chances to see this year’s team, and it should be a good one.  Back to the alums, fan favourite Johnny Yiu and Cory Stuart will probably make the haul to the Nat, as will Brooks McNiven.

I mentioned a guy named Jeff Francis earlier, and he’ll be pitching Game 1 of the World Series for the Colorado Rockies next week.  More on him closer to the start of the series.