One of the athletes at the Pan Am Games that local Battlefords residents will be watching closely this week will be Andrew Albers.
Albers is pitching for Team Canada’s baseball entry at the games. The team, managed by former Toronto Blue Jays star Ernie Whitt, will be playing their games this week at the President’s Choice Ajax Pan Am Ballpark on the outskirts of Toronto.
The left-handed pitcher was announced in mid-June as part of the roster for the Canadian team, a roster that also includes his teammate Jeff Francis of the Buffalo Bisons.
Albers, who has a minor league contract with the Toronto Blue Jays this season, has spent most of 2015 with Buffalo of the AAA International League.
The North Battleford native was on the Toronto Blue Jays 40-man roster at one point and was called up for one game in the major league against Cleveland before returning to Buffalo.
Albers was later removed from the Jays’ 40-man roster, a move that freed him up to join the national team for the Pan Am Games.
The Team Canada roster is full of names from minor league baseball ranging from the AAA level to the single-A and independent leagues.
Albers is one of the few players in the tournament who has both major league and Pan Am games experience. He recorded a win for Canada at the Pan Am Games in 2011 and pitched at the World Baseball Classic in 2013.
His international experience also includes a season of Korean pro baseball with the Hanwha Eagles in 2014.
Canada’s schedule includes games with the Dominican Republic July 11, followed by games the next three days against Colombia, Nicaragua and Cuba. Following a day off July 15, the national team takes on Puerto Rico July16 and the United States July 17. The medal round begins July 18 and concludes with the bronze-medal and gold-medal games on July 19.
