By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

The Mendham name in London isn’t quite as old as the ballpark along the banks of the Thames River.

Labatt Memorial Park traces the roots of its first line drive to 1877 when it was known as Tecumseh Park (until 1936), until the 2020 season when an exhibition game -- the Intercounty League’s London Majors against the Guelph Royals -- bumped the continuous-season streak to 144 years.

It’s been a while since the Mendhams broke in ... away back in 1958. That fall the New York Yankees, with Hall of Famers Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra and Whitey Ford, knocked off the Milwaukee Braves, with Hall of Famers Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews, Red Schoendienst and Warren Spahn in Game 7.

The Mendhams combined to play 23 seasons in all. Twin brothers Dan and Dave were London Majors in 1958. Dave named his son Dan, after his twin brother. Dan played nine seasons beginning in 1992 and then there is Dan’s son David, named after his grandpa, who played in London as a visitor for the Brantford Red Sox in 2018. Dan’s brother (and David’s uncle) Peter Mendham also pitched six seasons in the Intercounty Baseball League.

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The Mendham name has spread a long way the past few years, as David played in Florida, Oklahoma, Georgia and now South Carolina.

_ He attended Indian River State College in Stuart, Fla. in the fall of 2017, preparing for the spring of 2018. After Mendham arrived so too did Hurricane Irma, the first Category 5 hurricane of 2017. Roughly 6.5 million residents were ordered to leave, with mandatory evacuations for parts of Brevard, Broward, Citrus, Collier, Dixie, Duval, Flagler, Glades, Hendry, Hernando, Lee, Martin, Miami-Dade, Orange, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Lucie, Sumter, Volusia and Indian River, costing $77.2 billion in damages. A teammate took Mendham to Jacksonville and eventually he returned home.

_ Transferred to Warner, Oak. and the Connors State Cowboys earning Canadian Baseball Network all-Canadian Third Team honours in 2019.

_ Next, he hit .493 average (36-for-73) with a 1.401 OPS to earn Canadian Baseball Network First Team honours. Not only that ... with the most first-place votes he is the 2020 Canadian Baseball Network college Player of the Year, our 21st annual winner.

_ David spent the summer of 2020 with the Savannah Bananas, a college team in Georgia.

_ And now he is set to play this spring for the University of South Carolina Gamecocks in Columbia, SC.

As the commercials used to say “you’ve come a long way baby.”

He had 54 first-place votes, finishing ahead of RHP Logan Hoffman (Muenster, Sask.) of Northwestern State, who finished with 42.

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Back to the Mendhams gang with the London Majors. The twins broke in during the 1958 season, as Dan hit .288 with 13 extra-base hits and 16 RBIs in 32 games, while Dave batted .233 with four RBIs in 13 games.

The next year, Dan hit .300 with five extra-base hits and 18 RBIs, as Dave batted .167 in seven games.

While Dave retired, Dan hit .153 with four extra-base hits and eight RBIs in 1960 over 24 games. The next year Dan was hitless in two games and in 1964 his final season, he batted .129 with two RBIs in 10 games. Coaching first base, earning the nickname Buck … and then upgraded to Uncle Buck, he was able to watch his nephews Dan and Peter up close.

After playing 1991 with St. Thomas -- .277, three doubles, four homers, 16 RBIs in 26 games -- Dan joined the Majors. In his debut season at Labatt Park, he recorded a .263 average with three extra-base hits and nine RBIs in 28 games. Like the Toronto Blue Jays, he had a good year in 1993, hitting .313 with five doubles, a triple, four homers and 17 RBIs in 33 games.

Next came another strong year, as Dan hit .321 with four doubles, four homers and 31 RBIs in 35 games in 1994 as Peter joined the Majors for eight games, going 0-1.

In 1995, Dan hit .287 with six doubles, 14 RBIs in 35 games, while Peter had a 6.29 ERA and went 2-3 in 13 games in which he hurled 73 innings.

Then came a 20-RBI season as Dan batted .323 with eight doubles and a homer in 34 games, while Peter was 2-5 with one save and a 4.06 ERA in 13 games..

In 1997, Dan hit .271 with 23 RBIs in 36 games then drove in another 23 the next year thanks to five doubles and three homers, while batting .388 in 27 games, while Peter was 2-0 with a 5.93 ERA.

In 1999, Dan was over .300 again (.310) with nine doubles and 18 RBIs in 31 games.

In 2000, the final year for both, Dan hit .300 with six doubles, four homers and 22 RBIs in 34 games. That meant he was a .300 hitter for six of his final eight seasons. Peter also pitched in his final three games that season.

The four Mendhams, spanning two generations, combined to play in 420 games with 1,709 plate appearances and 1,484 at-bats. They had 429 hits, scoring 226 runs with 69 doubles, seven triples, 28 homers and 241 RBIs. On the mound, Peter was 8-17 with two saves and a 6.30 ERA in 218 2/3 innings.

Dan’s uncle was playing seniors slo-pitch for former Majors manager Ken Benjamin’s Benny and the Jets team Kellogg’s in 1958. He died running out to his spot in right field between innings. He “went with his jock on … the way to go,” is one comment we’ve heard about dying on a ball field. Or as someone who laid in an ambulance after crashing at the annual Okotoks Dawgs banquet in 2019 “going out at a ball banquet … is there a better way.” His twin brother Dave passed in 2009.

Following his playing career with the Majors, Dan scouted 10 years for Walt Burrows (Brentwood Bay, BC) head of the Canadian wing of the Major League Scouting Bureau. He was involved in evaluating 1B Nick Weglarz (Stevensville, Ont.) a third-round pick of the Cleveland Indians.

Since then he has helped coached with the Ontario Nationals and the Ontario Expos. He also helps hitters at The Lab. London has three indoor facilities: Adam Stern’s Centerfield Sports, Mike Lumley’s The Batter’s Box, and The Lab.

Ontario Nationals grad David Mendham (Dorchester, Ont.), left, and Chris Mondesi, nephew of former Toronto Blue Jays OF Raul Mondesi, clink lids after a grand slam.

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David Mendham was without a team when he attended a showcase at the Ontario Blue Jays facility in Mississauga. There were scouts there and zero interest was shown. Yet, Sean Travers, then an Ontario Blue Jays coach, was impressed enough to call coach Perry Keith at Connors.

And now we have the first Canadian Baseball Network Player of the Year from Ontario since Toronto Mets’ grad Connor Panas (Toronto, Ont.) of the Canisius Golden Griffins in 2005.

In this shortened spring Mendham

_ Led all Canadian collegiate players in hits with 36, one more than Westcliff Warriors Adam Rossit (Stoney Creek, Ont.) and three more than Drew Reilly (Cambridge, Ont.) of Keiser Seahawks.

_ Was second with 10 doubles, one behind Canuck leader Tyler D’Alessandro (London, Ont.) of the Salem Tigers.

_ Was third in RBIs with 26, one behind co-leaders Nick Seginowich (Victoria, BC) of the Angelo State and Rossit.

_ Was third with an OPS of 1.401, behind Ryan Humeniuk (Stonewall, Man.) of the Louisiana-Monroe Rajin Cajuns at 1.710 and Brayden Cust (Edmonton, Alta.) of the Coly Trojans, who was 1,598.

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The list of winners of Canadian Baseball Network Player of the Year (most first-place votes for the All-Canadian team):

2020 _ INF David Mendham (Dorchester, Ont.) of the Connors State Cowboys, who had 54 of 62 first-place votes (87.1).

2019 _ LHP Ryan Johnson (Winnipeg, Man.) of Lubbock Christian Chaps, he had 54 of 59 first-place votes (91.5%).

2018 _ DH Edouard Julien (Quebec City, Que.) of the Auburn Tigers, who garnered 43 of 52 ballots (82.7%).

2017 _ OF Christopher Acosta-Tapia (Laval, Que.) of Oklahoma Wesleyan Eagles, received first-place votes from 41 of 51 (80.3%) voters.

2016 _ LHP Guillaume Blanchette (St-Constant, Que.) of Lubbock Christian Chaparrals 51 of 51 (100%) first-place votes.

2015 _ 3B Connor Panas (Toronto, Ont.) of the Canisius Golden Griffins, 33 of 45 ballots (73.3).

2014 _ 2B-OF Craig-St. Louis (Gatineau, Que.) of the Seminole State Trojans, 50-for-59 (84.7).

2013 _ LHP Ryan Kellogg (Whitby, Ont.) of the Arizona State Sun Devils, 50-for-65 (76.9).

2012 _ 2B Maxx Tissenbaum (Toronto, Ont.) of the Stony Brook Seawolves, 40-for-58 (69).

2011 _ OF Chase Larsson (Vancouver, BC), of the Cameron Aggies, 39 of 41 votes (95.1).

2010 _ OF Marcus Knecht (North York, Ont.) of the Connors State Cowboys, 49 of 51 (96.1).

2009 _ 3B Jesse Sawyer (Calgary, Alta.) of the South Dakota State Jackrabbits, 33 for 49 (67.3).

2008 _ DH Mike Gosse (Pitt Meadows, BC) of the Oklahoma Sooners, 35 of 42 (83.3).

2007 _ 1B Kevin Atkinson (Surrey, BC) of the New Mexico Jr. College Thunderbirds, 55 for 62 (88.7).

2006 _ OF Jon Baksh (Mississauga, Ont.) of the Florida Tech Panthers, 40 of 63 (63.5).

2005 _ 1B Karl Amonite (Woodslee, Ont.) of the Auburn Tigers, 55 for 62 (88.7).

2004 _ OF Charlie MacFarlane (Lantzville, BC) of the Cumberland Bulldogs, 36 for 45 (80).

2003 _ C Aaron McRae (Delta, BC) of the LSU-Shreveport Pilots, 37 for 49 (75.5).

2002 (tie) _ OF Ryan Kenning (North Vancouver, BC) of the New Mexico State Aggies and RP-SS Jesse Crain (Toronto, Ont.) of the Houston Cougars, nine first-place votes on 18 ballots (50%) in 2002.

2001 _ LHP Jeff Francis (North Delta, BC) of the British Columbia Thunderbirds, six of seven (85.7).

2000 _ OF Ben Emond (Farnham, Que.) of the Texas Longhorns our inaugural year.

Elliott: Canadian Baseball Network POY: David Mendham