St. Marys - Trail, BC's Jason Bay' walloped the game-winning homerun for the Boston Red Sox in his first post-season game last night in Anaheim, joining Corey Koskie (Anola, MB) and George "Twinkletoes" Selkirk (Huntsville, ON) and the only Canadians to overcome the playoff jitters in the ultimate fashion.

Meanwhile, in Chicago, Dodgers catcher Russell Martin (Montreal) belted a ninth-inning bomb giving his team another insurance run, and making him the eighth Canuck to homer in post-season history. Larry Walker (Maple Ridge, BC) leads all of Canada's 230 major leaguers with seven career post-season homeruns. Tip O'Neill (Woodstock, ON) hit five, Selkirk and Justin Morneau (New Westminster, BC) each have a pair, while Bay, Martin, Koskie and Vancouver's Dave McKay each have one under their belts.

When Ryan Dempster (Gibsons, BC) faced Martin in Chicago last night, it was only the third game in history that a Canadian pitcher was matched up against a Canadian hitter. Martin walked and flew out twice in his three plate appearances versus Dempster in the first, third and fifth innings, respectively. On October 7, 2004 in game two of the NLDS, Mascouche, QC's Eric Gagné (Dodgers) struck out Walker (Cardinals) in the eighth inning. Then, three nights later, in game four, Walker singled off of Gagné in the ninth inning.

Two other possible matchups in the first round include the Cubs Rich Harden (Victoria, BC) facing Martin in game three of the NLDS, as well as Gagné facing Fredericton's Matt Stairs (Phillies) in the other NLDS series. Both Gagné and Stairs would likely come off of their respective benches.

Back to the Dempster-Martin combination, last night was only the 12th ever that two Canadians or more appeared in the same playoff game:

1 – 1995, ALDS, Rheal Cormier (Moncton, NB) and Stairs play together for the Red Sox in game one v. Indians.
2 – 1997, ALDS, Paul Spoljaric (Kelowna, BC) and Rob Ducey (Cambridge, ON), play together for the Mariners in game two v. Orioles.
3 – October 5th 2004, ALDS, Morneau and Koskie play together for the Twins in game one v. Yankees
4 – October 6th, 2004, ALDS, Morneau and Koskie play together for the Twins against Paul Quantrill (Port Hope, ON) for the Yankees in game 2, but they do not face each other.
5 – October 7th, 2004, NLDS, Gagné plays for the Dodgers against Walker for the Cardinals in game two.
6 – October 8th, 2004, ALDS, Morneau and Koskie and Jesse Crain (Toronto) play together for the Twins against Quantrill for the Yankees in game 3, but they do not face each other.
7 – October 9th, 2004, ALDS, Morneau and Koskie play together for the Twins in game four v. Yankees.
8 – October 10th, 2004, NLDS, Gagné plays for the Dodgers against Walker for the Cardinals in game four.
9 – 2006, ALDS, Morneau and Crain play together for the Twins in game one v. A's.
10 – 2006, ALDS, Morneau and Crain play together for the Twins in game three v. A's.
11 – 2007, World Series, Jeff Francis (Vancouver) plays for the Rockies in game one against Gagné for the
Red Sox.
12 – 2008, NLDS, Dempster plays for the Cubs against Martin for the Dodgers.

Canadian World Series Champions:

Arthur Irwin (Toronto), 1884, Grays
Tip O'Neill (Woodstock, ON), 1886, Browns
Bill O'Neill (St. John, NB), 1906, White Sox
George Gibson (London, ON), 1909, Pirates
Jack Graney (St. Thomas, ON), 1920, Indians
Selkirk, 1936-39, 41, Yankees
Ron Taylor (Toronto), 1964, Cards
John Hiller (Toronto), 1968, Tigers
Taylor, 1969, Mets
Rob Butler (Toronto), 1993, Blue Jays
Gagné, 2007, Red Sox

ST. MARYS – 2 October 2008