October 10, 2024

By Kevin Glew

Canadian Baseball Network

According to Canadian baseball historian David Matchett, the Cleveland Guardians made history in their 3-0 American League Division Series loss to the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on Wednesday when four Canadians appeared in the game for them.

This marked the first time that four Canadian major leaguers have played in a post-season contest for the same team.

Batting fifth and starting at first base, Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) went 1-for-4 for the Guardians, while his brother, Bo, caught and hit eighth. He went 0-for-2.

Left-hander Erik Sabrowski (St. Albert, Alta.) made his postseason debut when he entered the game in the fourth inning and proceeded to strike out two in 1 1/3 scoreless frames.

Workhorse right-hander Cade Smith (Abbotsford, B.C.) was later summoned from the bullpen with two outs in the sixth inning and fanned Tigers catcher Jake Rogers – the only batter he would face.

Smith has appeared in all three games in the series and has yet to allow a hit in 3 1/3 innings, while striking out seven batters.

Matchett and the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame also shared that four Canadians have played for the same team in the same MLB regular season game four times:

-The Naylor brothers, Sabrowski and Smith appeared in the same game for the Guardians on September 10 and September 25 this season.

-On April 29, 2015, Michael Saunders (Victoria, B.C.), Russell Martin (Montreal, Que.), Jeff Francis (North Delta, B.C.) and Dalton Pompey (Mississauga, Ont.) played for the Toronto Blue Jays in their 4-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.

-On May 1, 2015, Martin, Saunders and Pompey suited up for the Blue Jays and Andrew Albers (North Battleford, Sask.) pitched in relief in the Blue Jays’ 9-4 loss to Cleveland at Progressive Field.

As I noted last week, the Guardians are the first team in major league history to have four Canucks on their post-season roster.

According to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, there have been five previous teams that have included three Canadians on their post-season rosters:

2022 Cleveland Guardians – Josh and Bo Naylor, Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.)

2022 Toronto Blue Jays – Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Montreal, Que.), Jordan Romano (Markham, Ont.) and Zach Pop (Brampton, Ont.)

2016 Toronto Blue Jays – Russell Martin (Montreal, Que.), Michael Saunders (Victoria, B.C.) and Dalton Pompey (Mississauga, Ont.)

2011 Milwaukee Brewers – John Axford (Port Dover, Ont.), Taylor Green (Comox, B.C.) and George Kottaras (Scarborough, Ont.)

2004 Minnesota Twins – Jesse Crain (Toronto, Ont.), Corey Koskie (Anola, Man.) and Justin Morneau (New Westminster, B.C.)