For the longest time, Terry Puhl was the ranking Canadian position player among Major Leaguers. Ferguson Jenkins pitched. Terry Puhl played. And for the longest time after his retirement from the Houston Astros, Puhl limited his involvement in the game to coaching and managing his sons' teams while making a name for himself as an investment counsellor and a regular at charitable functions in and around Houston. You could find his name in the society pages as often as the sports pages.
Then came the World Baseball Classic. "The baseball bug bit me again, I guess," said Puhl, now the manager of the Canadian national baseball team, on Saturday at Baseball Canada's annual fund-raising dinner at the Renaissance Hotel. "I called Greg Hamilton (general manager of Canada's national program) and asked him if there was anything available with the team - coaching, whatever. At the time he said they'd selected all the coaches. But when Ernie's (Whitt) responsibilities as a coach with the Blue Jays opened up the possibility of managing - well, it took me maybe two minutes to say yes."
Canada finished fourth at the Americas Olympic qualifying event in early September, keeping alive its chances of advancing to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing by putting itself in position to advance to a second-chance qualifying tournament, which is scheduled to be held some time during the spring of 2008. It was Puhl's first tournament in charge of the team and Hamilton said Puhl did a remarkable job after admittedly being thrown in to the role.
The national team plans to skip the Pan American Games in Brazil to focus on November's World Cup in Taiwan, knowing that with the Pan Ams falling in the summer there is no way major league organizations would free up players. Saturday was Baseball Day in Canada - at least, as far as the crowd gathered at the Renaissance Hotel was concerned.
Reigning American League most valuable player Justin Morneau of the Minnesota Twins was the headliner at Baseball Canada's annual fund-raising banquet, and he was joined by fellow Major Leaguers Eric Gagne of the Texas Rangers, Russell Martin of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Jeff Francis of the Colorado Rockies and players such as Adam Stern and Adam Loewen who could very well fill out the ranks in 2007.
As long-time baseball executive Jim Fanning, now an ambassador with the Toronto Blue Jays, remarked: "You can put an entire roster of Canadian players together now and that is simply tremendous." Puhl, a native of Melville, Sask., who still has family in that province as well as in Manitoba, played 1,516 games with the Astros from 1977 to 1990 and retired after brief stops with the New York Mets and Kansas City Royals.
Gifted athletically, Puhl relied more on guile than power and his 10-for-19 performance in the 1980 National League Championship Series loss to the Philadelphia Phillies was cited by former teammate Bob Watson as being "one of the best clutch performances in team history." Watson calls Puhl "the quietest base runner you've ever seen or heard."
"That was Terry — quiet, kind of reserved," Watson said, in an interview during the 2005 World Series. "The same things he had as a ball player make him successful as a businessman." Puhl remains a player in the Houston business community, but as he said with a laugh on Saturday: "I have compliance from all sides to do what I'm doing, now. Our last son is going to be out of high school, so I've been given a little more freedom."
In addition to his contract with the Canadian team, which runs through 2008, Puhl is also starting up the baseball program at the University of Houston-Victoria. "This is an opportunity that really has awakened a passion that was hidden," Puhl said. "This level ... the university level ... that's where I want to be. I think I can do a lot more at this level - I'm talking about working with young men who are 19, 21 - because at that stage you can make a big difference in their careers and techniques. At the pro level, it's more about moving them ahead. Developing chemistry. By that time, most of them have already developed their mechanics - good or bad."
As for the evolution of the Canadian game? Yes, Puhl is proud. "I love watching the young talent that's coming up," he said. "These players aren't just major league players They're great major league players. You're talking about guys who can make a difference, like Morneau and Gagne."
Hamilton said that Puhl was a natural to replace Whitt, who simply couldn't dove-tail his responsibilities as a Blue Jays coach with that of being national team manager. "Terry did a really good job at the qualifying tournament, because he didn't know much about the history of the players but he did a really nice job. It was important that we get someone in here with a major league background - in Terry's case, a storied major league background - and a bit of a name, because the nature of the job is there isn't much time for somebody to come in and prove themselves to the players. You need to be able to get their attention right away."
- globesports.com broke the news of Lyle Overbay’s signing with the Blue Jays Saturday night and this is a good deal for both the team and player. Overbay’s consistent left-handed bat and his professional approach will be more important than ever this season with the teams righty-heavy lineup.
- Mark McGwire breaks his silence, sort of.
- Kevin Kennedy is one of my favourite people because he actually has opinions as opposed to the recycled Internet stuff trotted out by so many of the game’s former managers and general managers who pass themselves off as “insiders” – many of whom were fired from their executive or managerial jobs because, let's face, it, they weren’t any good. But he’s wrong in saying it’s time to turn over the Hall of Fame voting to some combination of players, broadcasters and writers. The notion that this group is somehow more impartial is laughable. All that needs to happen is for Hall of Fame voters to be restricted to choosing just three players per ballot. That would stop most of the silly increasing or decreasing of retired players' votes on an annual basis.
- Dave Stewart, the agent for Paul Lo Duca, has risen to his client’s defence after bizarre criticism leveled at the New York Mets catcher by recently-signed Blue Jays pitcher John Thomson.
- Speaking of Thomson, sounds as if the Blue Jays signed him only after failing to land Ryan Franklin despite the fact their offer to Franklin is said to have been more than the amount he took from the St. Louis Cardinals.
- Canadian-born Russell Martin earned rave reviews as a rookie catcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers this past year to the point where constantly-tinkering G.M. Ned Colletti told reporters at the winter meetings that he considered him "an untouchable." Martin, in town for Saturday's Baseball Canada fund-raiser, wanted to talk about David Beckham, the newest signing of Major League Soccer's L.A. Galaxy. "Wow," said Martin, "never thought I'd be playing in the same city as David Beckham."
There is a chance that Becks might take in a Dodgers game or two, since he is apparently a bit of a cricket and baseball buff. Of course, Martin already knew this season was going to be different than last year, which is why he's wintering in Arizona at the renowned Athlete's Performance Institute (API) in Tempe, Az. Last winter, he hung around with Eric Gagne and worked out with his personal trainer. "That was a big help, because I was able to talk to Eric about a lot of the mental things involved with being a major leaguer," said Martin, who skipped the World Baseball Classic because he realized after the first few days of spring training that he had a chance at making the major league roster. "This year, I need to worry more about developing my game. I've been there for a year, so I know a little more about what to expect."
Martin said he will focus more this spring on honing his skills and increasing his knowledge of pitching, despite the fact that his handling of the Dodgers staff earned rave reviews. "Last spring, I had to impress a new manager (Grady Little) so a lot of the time I was thinking about whether or not I was getting people's attention - you know, was I doing the right thing at the right time so people would notice me." Martin lived with pitcher Brad Penny during the 2006 season ("I just kind of moved in and, you know, felt really comfortable so I never really left," Martin said, laughing) but now he plans on getting his own apartment during the season. Gagne, of course, will be with the Texas Rangers, and Martin said that too will take some getting used to. "Even when he was hurt, Eric was such a competitive guy whether he was playing chess or video games that it wore off on people," said Martin. "He'll be missed. But that's the way the game goes, eh?"
