Baseball fans have a great chance to see players who will one day star in the majors. The best junior-aged players on the planet will be in Thunder Bay later this month for the World Junior Championships.
The tournament begins July 23.
This event has been the result of years of hard work by a group of dedicated volunteers. The first pitches came 10 years ago.
Organizers got the ball rolling toward this year's event by staging a mini tournament featuring the Canadian and American national junior teams. In case you didn't notice at the time, let me refresh your memory of who played at the Port Arthur Stadium at the time.
On the Canadian team was a catcher from Quebec who now plays for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Russell Martin.
On Team USA were former Blue Jays pitcher Brandon League and Detroit Tigers hurler Jeremy Bonderman. Oh, and behind the plate was none other than reigning American League MVP and three-time batting champion Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins.
The event was popular so organizers duplicated it in 2002. Current major leaguers on the USA roster that summer include Ian Stewart, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Delmon Young, Lastings Milledge, Ian Kennedy and Chad Billingsley.
So, as you can see, there will be players performing during this month's World Junior Baseball Championship who will one day be in the major leagues, quite possibly stars.
