“The Toronto Blue Jays are tremendous supporters of Baseball Canada and are bringing the development and promotion of amateur baseball in Canada to the forefront,” said Baseball Canada President Ray Carter in the release. “From the extremely successful Blue Jays Honda Super Camps to supporting our National Championships and coach education programs, our partnership with the Blue Jays is tremendously valuable and I look forward to seeing it grow in the coming years.”

In the new deal, the Blue Jays will provide sponsorship funds for all nine of Baseball Canada’s National Championships this summer, ranging from 13-year-old boys and girls to senior men and women, while receiving full-page advertisements in all tournament programs as well as banners on outfield walls at the ballparks.

Another interesting tidbit mentioned in the release is that the Blue Jays have created a public service announcement that features third baseman Brett Lawrie, Minnesota Twins first baseman and former MVP Justin Morneau and Milwaukee Brewers stud closer John Axford encouraging children across Canada to play baseball. Definitely a great thing to see.

- JM

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Image courtesy of Baseball Canada

No. 44: Thomas Robson

Starting pitcher / 18 years old / 6′4″ 205 lbs

Born: June 27, 1993 in Ladner, BC, Canada

Bats: Right    Throws: Right

High School: Delta Secondary School (Ladner, BC)

College: N/A

Drafted By: The Toronto Blue Jays in the 4th round (139th overall) of the 2011 Amateur Draft

Signed For: $325,000 ($136,000 above slot)

Pre-2011 Rank: N/A

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But then tonight’s Game 5 happened, and it centered on Mike Napoli — the catcher who everybody knows that the Jays acquired this offseason but shipped to Texas before he ever put on a Toronto uniform.

After Adrian Beltre tied the game on an epic, knee-down solo home run off Chris Carpenter, Napoli stepped into a two-out, runners on the corners situation. Just getting under a pitch, Napoli flew out again to center field to end the inning, narrowly missing out on a go-ahead three-run home run. Carpenter escaped the jam with the game still tied, and proceeded to shout expletives at Napoli as the inning ended.

The very next inning, Napoli threw out Allen Craig trying to steal before he clobbered the game’s decisive hit in the eighth, a two-run double to the gap in right center. Then, as Albert Pujols struck out swinging, Napoli fired a perfect throw to the right side of second base to retire Craig trying to steal again. Plus, after Lance Berkman swung well in front of the final pitch of the game, Napoli chased down the ball that had skipped away from him to record the final out of the game. Is it Wednesday yet? Game 6 is definitely going to be interesting.

There was, however, another interesting baseball game tonight, as Canada defeated Mexico 5-3 in the semi-final of the Pan American Games. They’ll now play the U.S. in tomorrow’s gold medal game, and there are some Blue Jays roots on the team worth mentioning.

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