Great Moments in Canadian Baseball

Ian A. Andrews is a high-school social sciences teacher and editor of the New Brunswick Teachers’ Association’s Focus.

This companion book to Kendall’s very successful 100 Great Moments in
Hockey (1994), where the selected moments almost entirely involved
Canadian players, shows that despite baseball’s importance in Canada,
Canadians have participated at the major-league level in a marginal way
(only one-quarter of selected great moments in baseball involve
Canadians).

The exploits of Hall of Fame pitcher Ferguson Jenkins are chronicled,
and lesser-known Canadian players like Tip O’Neill, Dick Fowler, and
Goody Rosen are covered too. Several Canadian firsts—the first
major-league game in Canada, the first international all-star game, the
first Canadian World Series championship—are highlighted in one- or
two-page spreads. The Canadian connection with American folk heroes Babe
Ruth and Jackie Robinson is discussed, as is the Montreal Expos’ use
of Quebec pitcher Claude Raymond and the decision to start three
Canadians in one team’s major-league lineup for the first time
(Montreal Expos, September 6, 1993).

Kendall’s research brings attention to some past Canadian baseball
figures, filling 62 pages in an entertaining but superficial way. The
volume’s dozens of action and vintage photographs are well selected,
but none are in color and the captions are very brief.