Historical Big League Hoser

Who was the first Canadian-born player I recall?

Apr 15, 2025

Good day eh and welcome to the first-ever Historical Hoser. Some time ago, I used to do some version of this, and I am bringing it back to go along with our regular Inductee In An Instant posts. The Inductee posts are those who have been inducted to the Canadian Baseball HOF but aren’t necessarily Canadian-born. The Historical Hoser will be for those dirtbags born north of the 49th and their journey.

I’m not sure how I ever found out that this player was born in Canada. It was during a time when there was no internet to search for random facts like “Canadian-born MLB players,” and you would have to pick it up from a broadcast, or someone would tell you, running with it until you found out otherwise 🤣. In that spirit, I believe my dad told me about this player, and I asked a friend, “Hey, did you know… was born in Canada?” They confirmed they already knew, and I’m late to this nugget of info! I'm not sure how accurate this series of events is, but their likelihood is high. That all being said, grab a snack and a beverage, and let’s get into the first Canadian-born player I can recall…

Historical MLB Hoser

DOB: April 9/1961, Kapuskasing Ontario

Drafted: 1982 MLB Draft by the California Angels in the 4th round (88th selection) out of the University of Vermont

MLB Debut: May 1/1985 v Toronto Blue Jays (15,016th player in MLB history) 6.1 IP, 7 H, 4 K, 1 BB, 5 ER, L

Last Appearance: July 20/1996 v Kansas City Royals (1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER)

The athletic roots come from their father, who was a professional hockey player that had a cup of coffee in the NHL with the Minnesota North Stars. Due to the nature of the life of a pro athlete, our Historical Hoser moved around a fair bit before settling in Pawling, NY, where he was a two-sport athlete playing hockey and baseball at Trinity-Pawling. He was an outstanding player on the mound and at the rink, playing both sports at the University of Vermont for the Catamounts, turning down an Arizona State baseball scholarship to do so.

Skilled on the ice as well as the diamond, our HH (Historical Hoser) was a finalist for the 1982 Hobey Baker Award, presented annually to the most outstanding men’s college hockey player in the U.S. They were so impressive on the ice that they were drafted by the Winnipeg Jets (4th Round, 64th overall) in 1981, spending 78 games with their AHL affiliate during the 1983-84 season before retiring from hockey to focus their efforts on the mound

After making his debut with the Angels, the rightie spent 7 seasons on the West Coast with California before spending the next five in Chicago with the White Sox.

A fun fact about our HH pitcher—well, maybe not so fun for them—is that they were the pitcher who gave up the first father-son, back-to-back home runs in MLB history to the Griffey’s.