St. Marys – Back in the year 1884, when saline infusion replaced milk as a blood substitute, Charles "Old Hoss" Radbourn won the pitching "Triple Crown" with 59 wins, 441 strikeouts and 1.38 an ERA, and a record 29 Canadians played in the major leagues.

When Cambridge, Ontario's Scott Thorman suited up for the Atlanta Braves last night, he became the 21st Canadian to suit up for a major league club this season, the most in any one season since 1884.

Scott Thorman, who went hitless in his debut (not uncommon when you face Curt Schilling!), also became the 225th Canuck to toil at the big league level.

On Saturday, Aldergrove, BC native Scott Mathieson took the mound for the Philadelphia Phillies, becoming number 224 overall.

Earlier this season, Chelsea, Quebec's Russell Martin and Surrey, BC native Adam Loewen were called up by the Los Angeles Dodgers and Baltimore Orioles, respectively, taking their place in history as numbers 222 and 223.

With Jeff Zimmerman hoping to return from a prolonged stint on the DL, and promising Canadians like Steve Green, Maxim St. Pierre, Eric Langill, Mike Meyers, Pierre Luc Laforest, and Luke Carlin excelling in Triple-A, these numbers are bound to increase.

The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame has received Martin's cleats and Loewen's hat from their first major league games, and is in the process of securing game-used items from Mathieson and Thorman's first game.

"Canada's provincial and national team program is certainly doing an excellent job these days in identifying and developing top prospects, but this surge is also related to the high times Canada was experiencing in the early 1990's," said Ball Hall president & CEO Tom Valcke.

"Kids tend to quit baseball when they are 11 or 12 years old, but there was strong grass roots interest that overcame that tendency back then due to success Canadian baseball was having when the Blue Jays were winning a pair of World Series, the Expos had the best team in baseball in the strike-shortened season (1994), Canada won its first World Championship in 1991, and baseball became an official Olympic medal sport in 1992.  The National Baseball Institute (Vancouver) and Academié Baseball Canada (Montreal) were also taking off at that time.  The young men we're seeing arrive in the majors now were the young boys ten to 15 years ago who decided to stick with baseball."

Alpha-listing of Canadians who have played in the majors in 2006:

Jason Bay, Trail BC - Pittsburgh Pirates

Erik Bedard, Navan, ON - Baltimore Orioles

Jesse Crain, Toronto, ON - Minnestoa Twins

Rheal Cormier, Moncton, NB - Philadelphia Phillies

Aaron Guiel, Vancouver, BC - Kansas City Royals

Ryan Dempster, Gibsons, BC - Chicago Cubs

Jeff Francis, Vancouver, BC - Colorado Rockies


Eric Gagné, Mascouche, QC - Los Angeles Dodgers

Rich Harden, Victoria, BC - Oakland Athletics

Shawn Hill, Mississauga, ON - Washington Nationals

Corey Koskie, Anola, MB - Milwaukee Brewers

Adam Loewen, Surrey, BC - Baltimore Orioles

Russell Martin, Chelsea, QC - Los Angeles Dodgers

Scott Mathieson, Aldergrove, BC - Philadelphia Phillies

Justin Morneau, New Westminster, BC - Minnesota Twins

Peter Orr, Richmond Hill, ON - Atlanta Braves

BravesChris Reitsma, Calgary, AB - Atlanta Braves

Matt Stairs, St. John, NB - Kansas Ciy Royals

Adam Stern, London, ON - Boston Red Sox

Mark Teahen, Canada - Kansas City Royals

Scott Thorman, Cambridge, ON - Atlanta Braves


Number of Canadians who have played in the major leagues, by season:

Year- Total

1884 - 29

1900 - 0

1910 - 9

1920 - 5

1930 - 2

1940 - 5

1950 - 6

1960 - 5

1970 - 8

1980 - 8

1990 - 7

2000 - 17

2001 - 15

2002 - 16

2003 - 14

2004 - 19

2005 - 19

2006 - 21 (so far)

ST MARYS – 20 June 2006