The Countdown Is On!

The countdown to Canadians Baseball is on as your Boys of Summer arrive at historic Scotiabank Field at Nat Bailey Stadium on Sunday, June 11th to get a mini-camp underway in advance of the season opener. Here is a timeline of what your hometown C's are going to be up to over the next few days.

(Scotiabank Field at Nat Bailey Stadium - Vancouver, B.C.) - The countdown to Canadians Baseball is on as your Boys of Summer arrive at historic Scotiabank Field at Nat Bailey Stadium on Sunday, June 11th to get a mini-camp underway in advance of the season opener. Here is a timeline of what your hometown C's are going to be up to over the next few days.
Thursday, June 8th:  Players that are currently down in Dunedin, Florida will be informed whether they are heading to Bluefield, Virginia or Vancouver, B.C., Canada. For many of these players who have been working in the sweltering heat of Florida, this is pretty much a win-win situation as they go from playing at the Spring Training Complex with no more than a few fans watching their intrasquad games to suddenly playing in front of a stadium full of fans.  
Passports and paperwork are completed and the roster is sent north to give the Canadians Front Office a few days to prepare and align each player with a local housing family.  
Sunday, June 11th:  The coaching staff and players board a flight from Tampa, Florida through to Vancouver, B.C. and likely arrive late in the evening and head to the hotel for the evening. This flight with stopover and three time zone changes is plenty to get these guys all tuckered out. Not to worry, a good night's sleep and then we let the good times roll.
Monday, June 12th:  Led by Canadians manager Rich Miller, the players will arrive for the first time at Scotiabank Field and meet clubhouse attendant John Stewart and the rest of the support staff for this year's team. They'll be given uniforms, a clubhouse stall to keep their personal items and then its on to the field where Canadians Communications Director Rob Fai will be waiting with a number of items for them to take on including a number of photos, videos and media interviews.
A short practice and the first chance to meet up with the Housing Families and a good ol' fashioned BBQ to wrap up the first full day in Canada.
Wednesday, June 14th:  After a practice on Tuesday, this is the day that the Canadians board a bus in the late afternoon and head south to Eugene, Oregon which depending on the time the boys leave is about an eight-hour bus ride. A few naps, a bunch of text messages and a handful of conversations will get the boys down to Oregon with enough time to get a good night's sleep before the 2017 Season Opener over at PK Park.
Thursday, June 15th:  The players will head over to PK Park which is found on the campus of the University of Oregon and the process begins;
* Unload the bus and set up the lockers in the clubhouse.
* Head over to the batting practice facility to get some early work in and some additional stretching.
* Take batting practice and try to stay cool.
* Head back to clubhouse and get a small meal in before the 7:05pm start time.
* Line up on the field and watch as the Emeralds unveil the 2016 Northwest League Championship banner.
* Play ball for the first game of 76 games over the next 82 nights!
After the game, the players head back to the clubhouse, shower, eat and head back to the hotel so that they can wake up and do it all over again!
Monday, June 19th:  After the Canadians finale of this five-game series that can be heard live on TSN1040 or at www.canadiansbaseball.com, the players will back up at be on the road by about 11pm. It's another eight hours north and into Vancouver, but with the Housing parents ready to take them home it will be tons of fun just hours from now.
Tuesday, June 20th:  It's the Home Opener with more than 6,500 rabid baseball fans ready to pack The Nat and cheer on our hometown C's. Players will arrive and do their early work and then by game time the adrenalin will kick in as the Canadians look to get back to the winning ways of 2011, 2012 and 2013 when they brought home the Northwest League Championship!
Best of luck to our Canadians and come on out to Scotiabank Field this summer to cheer on the future of the Toronto Blue Jays!
-30-