December 22, 2022

Baseball Canada

The passion and knowledge for Canadian baseball, its vast history, the players, the games, and the ability to share these incredible stories are what makes this person an asset to the Canadian baseball community. A scribe who leaves no stone unturned when it comes to telling stories and promoting baseball north of the border, Baseball Canada is honoured to name Kevin Glew (Dorchester, Ont.) as the recipient of the 2022 Bob Elliott Media Recognition Award.

Glew’s interest in baseball began in his Southwestern Ontario home with his father, Ralph, telling stories of Mickey Mantle and grew through his affection for the Toronto Blue Jays of the late 80’s and early 90’s to where he set his focus on becoming a sportswriter by entering Carleton University’s journalism program from 1992-96.

Glew’s work has been appeared on such platforms as CBC.ca, Sympatico Sports, Baseball Digest, Baseball America, MLB.com and Sports Market Report, but his passion truly shines thru via his efforts with the Canadian Baseball Network website and his personal “Cooperstowners in Canada” blog and associated Twitter account.

The Canadian Baseball Network, a Bob Elliott creation that aims to cover everything Canadian baseball has led to a connection between Elliott and Glew that has spanned nearly 20 years.

Glew wrote about Elliott when he was honoured in Cooperstown in 2012. In May of 2016, Glew became the editor of the Canadian Baseball Network. 

"We tried to hire him two years before -- unsuccessfully," said Elliott. "Kevin is a passionate Canadian baseball junkie -- no matter if the player is a high school draft, a minor-leaguer on the rise or a member of Cooperstown or St. Marys where he used to work for years.

"I'll tell you when we knew we had hired the right man. Paul Beeston (former Blue Jays president) phoned a few years back and asked 'Have you ever heard of Kevin Glew and his Cooperstowners in Canada blog? A friend just told me about him. He is three times as good as you.'"

Glew’s weekly "But What Do I Know" column on his blog is must-read material for any Canadian baseball fan while his longform stories truly shine light on some incredible, untold Canadian baseball stories.

Social media, via his @coopincanada account on Twitter, is where Glew shares some truly unique Canadian nuggets. A historical glance dubbed “On this Day” will give long-time Toronto Blue Jays and Montréal Expos’ fans a trip down memory lane leaving many to say, “I remember that!”. Stats, facts and figures on current and former Canadian pros provides information and informs his audience in a place where you simply can’t receive the info anywhere else. It is truly a must follow!

Another of Glew’s passions, the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in St. Marys, Ont., has benefitted for over 20 years from Glew’s work where he’s researched and written numerous features on Canadian-born major leaguers.

Congratulations, Kevin!

The Bob Elliott Media Recognition Award is named after Bob Elliott, a former winner (2012) of the BBWAA Career Excellence Award, the highest award given by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA), presented annually by the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Elliott covered both the Montréal Expos and Toronto Blue Jays during a distinguished career that spanned four decades, but it’s Bob’s long-lasting contributions to Canadian baseball and raising the profile of Canadians in the game and telling their stories which has resulted in this award being named after him. The Kingston, Ont. native’s Canadian Baseball Network website has been a go-to source for information for years from Canadian baseball sandlots all the way to the big leagues. When a Canadian reaches the majors, chances are the Canadian ball community read about them years earlier via Elliott and the Canadian Baseball Network. His coverage of Canadian prospects eligible for the annual MLB Draft has must read material for years while his annual Top 100 Most Influential Canadians in Baseball list has provided deserved recognition for many year-over-year. It’s through Bob’s work that he’s forged relationships across Canada allowing him to tell great Canadian baseball stories to this very day.

Bob Elliott Media Recognition Award recipients:

2020-Mike Wilner
2021-Alexis Brudnicki
2022-Kevin Glew