After a successful baseball season in 2011-12 representing Canada, North Battleford's own Andrew Albers will do it again this year.
The 2013 World Baseball Classic is set for March, but before that, Canada must qualify and Albers has been selected to pitch for the team attempting to qualify later this month.
Canada will play in Regensburg, Germany Sept. 20 to 24, competing with the Germans, Czech Republic and Britain. The top team in the double elimination format will advance to the World Baseball Classic. The reason Canada has to play in the qualification round is because of an early exit in the 2009 classic.
Panama, South Africa, Taiwan, Brazil, Colombia, France, Israel, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Philippines, Spain and Thailand are also competing in qualifiers this month with hopes of joining Australia, China, Chinese Taipei, Cuba, Dominica Republic, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, Puerto Rico, South Africa, United States and Venezuela in the Classic.
Albers was a key member of Canada's Pan American Games championship winning team in October 2011 and the bronze medal winning IBAF Baseball World Cup in Panama, which combined made the most successful baseball season for Canada men internationally ever. Albers is one player believed to be on the bubble to play in the World Baseball Classic next spring.
The majority of the players who will make up Canada's Classic roster will come from the majors, but there is a sense of pride for the qualification roster players as well.
"It would be a tremendous honour to play in the World Baseball Classic against the best players in the world, but I'm probably on the bubble for that, and there are some things we need to take care of first to make sure we get there," Albers told Sportsnet's Shi Davidi.
Albers has pitched 98.1 innings for the New Britain Rock Cats this season in the AA system for the Minnesota Twins. He is 4-3 with the Rock Cats this season pitching in 19 games and has a 3.75 earned run average. He has 73 strikeouts and just 12 walks. Albers was also named a league all-star this season. The Rock Cats regular season ended Sept. 3 with a 75-67 record and missed the playoffs by one win.
