January 12, 2024

By Kevin Glew

Canadian Baseball Network

Michael Saunders will become the 12th member of Baseball Canada’s Wall of Excellence on Saturday.

The national team alum and ex-big leaguer will be the third outfielder to be honoured on the wall, joining Larry Walker (Maple Ridge, B.C., 2008) and Jason Bay (Trail, B.C., 2014).

Saunders (Victoria, B.C.) will be officially inducted on to the wall at Baseball Canada’s Awards Banquet & Fundraiser at the Toronto Marriott City Centre Hotel on Saturday night.

The left-handed hitting outfielder, who honed his skills with the Victoria Mariners of the B.C. Premier Baseball League, joined the Junior National Team in 2003 and would later play in several competitions for Canada, including the 2008 Olympics and the 2013 World Baseball Classic.

After being selected by the Seattle Mariners in the 2004 MLB draft, Saunders also forged a successful nine-season major league career in which he hit 81 home runs (12th most by a Canadian) in 775 games with the Mariners, Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies.

The 6-foot-4 outfielder hit 10 or more home runs in a major league season four times, including clubbing 24 for the Blue Jays in an All-Star campaign in 2016.

Here are 10 things you probably don’t know about Saunders:

-He played in the Little League World Series with his Gordon Head Baseball Association squad from Saanich, B.C. (who were representing Canada) as a 12-year-old in 1999.

-In 2004, he was selected in the 11th round of the MLB draft by the Seattle Mariners. He was scouted and signed by the legendary Wayne Norton (Port Moody, B.C.), who was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2016.

-He batted leadoff and scored two runs and stole two bases for the World Team in the 2007 MLB All–Star Futures Game against the U.S. at AT&T Park in San Francisco. Joey Votto (Etobicoke, Ont.) batted cleanup for the World team and homered off Clay Buchholz in the sixth inning, while Jimmy Van Ostrand (Vancouver, B.C.) took Clayton Kershaw deep in the seventh inning. The World Team won the game 7-2. Among the other players on the U.S. team were Evan Longoria, Jay Bruce, Colby Rasmus and Justin Upton.

-When Saunders received his first big league call-up, he reported to the Seattle Mariners’ clubhouse in the morning for a day game on July 25, 2009. The only player in the clubhouse was Ken Griffey Jr. So Griffey Jr. was the first major league teammate he met. You can listen to Saunders recount his first conversation with Griffey here (starting at around the 6:30 mark).

-Despite playing only 100 games with the Mariners in 2010, Saunders topped American League left fielders in double plays turned (thanks to his throws) with four.

-He went 8-for-11 (.727 batting average) and had seven RBIs in three games for Canada in the 2013 World Baseball Classic. Canada didn’t advance out of their first round pool, but Saunders was named MVP of that pool. He was also later named an outfielder on the All-Tournament team.

-When Saunders started in right field for the Blue Jays on April 25, 2015, with Dalton Pompey (Mississauga, Ont.) in left field and Russell Martin (East York, Ont.) at catcher, it marked the first time in major league history that three Canadian-born position players started a regular season game for the same team. In the past there had been two Canadian position players and a Canadian pitcher start for a team in a big league game, but never three Canuck position players.

-When Saunders belted three home runs in a game for the Blue Jays against the Baltimore Orioles on June 17, 2016 at Camden Yards, he became the first – and still only – Canadian to hit three home runs in a major league game for a Canadian team.

-In the 2016 American League Championship Series against Cleveland, Saunders led all Blue Jays batters with six hits, a .429 batting average, a .643 slugging percentage and a 1.071 OPS.

-His 24 home runs for the Blue Jays during the 2016 season are the most a Canadian player has ever hit in a major league season for a Canadian team. In case you were wondering, the most Walker hit for the Montreal Expos was 23 in 1992. Martin also hit 23 for the Blue Jays in 2015.

Previous Baseball Canada Wall of Excellence inductees

Larry Walker (2008)

Justin Morneau (2010)

Joey Votto (2011)

Ernie Whitt (2012)

Ryan Dempster (2013)

Jason Bay (2014)

Russell Martin (2015)

Jeff Francis (2016)

Paul Quantrill (2017)

John Axford (2019)

Adam Loewen (2023)