he crack of the bat, the smell of brand new
leather and fresh cut grass. Spring is in the
air and baseball everywhere is starting up—
right from tee ball to the professional ranks.
Vancouver has had relatively good weather, with
warm sunny days that will bring out the crowds to
the Vancouver Canadians games. Home games are
being played at one of the oldest stadiums in pro-
fessional baseball, Nat Bailey Stadium. The
Canadians had a record of 75—68 in 1997 and

hope to improve upon their record this season.

The Canadians
started off their sea-
b son on the road,
which is probably

good because they
were playing in

warmer weather in
QO | | QO e Tucson, Arizona. It
was their first four

game series of the
season. The
Canadians were
| II-S vs. Tucson last
‘ year. But Tucson has
a new look—instead
of the same old
Tucson Toros, they are now the Sidewinders. Their
new Major League Affiliation is expansion club
Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Canadians came out of the series winning
only one game in the four game series. After losing
the first game by a
story Jonathan D. Chapman close score of 5—4,
the veteran left-hand-
photo by Dave Tam ed pitcher Rich
Robertson won the second game in a strong fashion
with a [1-4 win. Power hitter Troy Neel and Tom
Nevers hit the Canadians’ first two home runs of
the year to help seal up the win. The next two
Canadians games were lost by scores of [2—I and
9-5,

After leaving the Tucson series with a 1-3
record, the Canadians were on the road to
play the Tacoma Rainers. The Canadians
finished the 97 season 12-4 vs. the
Rainers and were looking forward to
a series sweep. The opening game

 

  

was started by rookie sensation

May 1998 Page 28

Vancouver
Canadians begin

the new 798 season

Jarrod Washburn. Washburn was selected in the sec-
ond round by the Anaheim Angels of the free agent
draft. Washburn was a native of Wisconsin and
atcended the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh.
Washburn recorded the win by a score of 8-4,
while Anthony Chavez recorded his first save of the
year. The next games after Jarrod Washburn’ stellar
performance were yet another two losses (both
game’s scores were 4-2), giving them a 2-5 record
going into the last game of the Tacoma series. The
Canadians were desperately looking for the win.
Geoff Edsell came into the ball game in the middle
innings and looked great. His hard setup was a save
situation for Chavez in the bottom of the 12th
inning where the Canadians won the game with a
score of 8—6. The Canadians were going home for
the home opener with a losing record of 3-S.

The crowd was pouring into the Nat for the C’s
home opener. The attendance on hand for the
evening ball game was 4,114. The series was to start
out against the Las Vegas Stars, who are the affiliate
for the San Diego Padres. The series would end up
a disappointing one, as the C’s would lose three of
the four games to drop them into third place in the
Western Division of the Pacific Conference with a
record of 4~8. But have no fear Canadians fans—
the other teams in the Western division have been
having their own problems as well. The C’s are only
back from first place Tacoma Rainers and Calgary
Cannons by a single game.

There were some highlights in the series vs. the
Stars. Left hander Jarrod Washburn won his second
game in as many games started. Washburn had a
2.93 ERA, 10 strikeouts, and only allowed batters
to hit a .204 average. Catcher Ben Molina is still
hitting excellently, maintaining his above .400 aver-
age and having a team leading number of hits, with
17 going into the second series of the homestand
against the Salt Lake Buzz.

The C’s first game of the four game series was a
much needed win to raise their numbers in the
standings. The C’s got off to a slow start in the
game and didn't get their bats off their shoulders
until the late innings when they finally

scored a run in the seventh. Scott
Schoeneweis got his first win of the
season to give himself a record of
I-I, as he pitched 7.0 innings only
allowing 7 hits and handing out 7