With the World Baseball Classic coming up, we here at UmpBump couldn’t help noticing how many good young players there are on the team from Canada, so we figured it was time to revisit the All-Time Canada team.

You will recall that last time, we had a bit of trouble filling out the whole team.  But with some of the new players that have come onto the scene since then, and a little more digging into history, we find that its quite easy nowadays to field a full All-Canadian squad that is actually very very good.

Here’s the starting lineup we came up with…

C Russell Martin
1B Justin Morneau
2B Dave McKay
3B Corey Koskie
SS Frank O’Rourke
LF Tip O’Neill
CF Jason Bay
RF Larry Walker

As you can see, this is actually a pretty decent lineup. Outfield is a particular strength, where George Selkirk (127 OPS+) and Jeff Heath (139 OPS+) just missed the cut, but would definitely be part of a very powerful bench, along with 1B Joey Votto and DH (when necessary) Matt Stairs. Tip O’Neill vies with pitcher Fergie Jenkins for the title of Greatest Canadian Baseball Player Ever, having batted .435 for the 1887 St. Louis Browns and having topped .300 six other times. Poor Corey Koskie was a superior defender at third and a very patient hitter at the plate before a horrific concussion derailed his career. The middle infield is the major weakness, where O’Rourke and McKay provide little offense, although McKay did make it into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, mostly on account of his long and distinguished coaching career.

Where the Canucks really gear it up is in the starting rotation:

SP1 Ferguson Jenkins
SP2 Russ Ford
SP3 Rich Harden
SP4 Erik Bedard
SP5 Ryan Dempster

Ferguson Jenkins, the only Canadian-born Hall of Famer thus far, once won 20 games or more in 7 out of 8 seasons including a run of 6 in a row, while Russ Ford won 20 games 3 times while compiling a 2.59 career ERA. And Rich Harden is famously fragile, of course, but when healthy he has compiled a 136 career ERA+.

Another major strength of the Canadians is their kickass bullpen, which is worth listing in full…

CL Eric Gagne
RP John Hiller
RP Paul Quantrill
RP Jesse Crain
RP Jeff Zimmerman
RP Rheal Cormier

Eric Gagne had the greatest run of any reliever in the history of the game for three years from 2002-04, and John Hiller was a dominant finisher for Detroit in the ’60s and ’70s, with a career ERA+ of 134. Paul Quantrill and Rheal Cormier both enjoyed long, successful careers, while Jeff Zimmerman was brilliant before flaming out from injuries.

The Final Verdict: The Canadian team is very good, and could probably win the World Baseball Classic, but it would have some trouble trying to match up to some of the other all-time teams we’ve profiled here on UmpBump, such as the Mormons or the Smiths, and its fragile pitching staff would face injury woes over any extended period of time.

Last March, I went to the Tampa to watch some spring training baseball with my dad and friends Zvee, Dan and Henry. While we were watching Jason Marquis pitch, Henry pointed out that we were privileged to be watching one of the greatest Jewish baseball players of all-time. He also mentioned that, as it stands, the list of great Jewish baseball players isn’t all that impressive.

Recently, Justin Morneau hit his 30^th home run for the Twins, making him the first Twins player to hit 30 in a season since 1987. It also made him only the fourth Canadian to hit 30 homers.

So here’s the question: if you assembled two teams, one made up of the greatest Jewish ball players of all time and one made up of the best Canadians, which would win?

The best Canadian team (and feel free to disagree) would probably look something like this:

Larry Walker OF Had the luxury of playing in Coors before they starting freezing their balls.

Rob Ducey OF He was once traded for himself.

Corey Koskie 3B Koskie’s entry music when he comes to bat is usually a song by Rush, also Canadian.

Justin Morneau 1B Having one heck of a year.

George Selkirk RF Replaced Babe Ruth in the Yankees’ lineup in 1934, hit .290 over nine seasons, topping .300 five times and twice driving in more than 100 runs.

Jeff Heath OF From 1945 to 1955 he held the major league record for career home runs by a player born outside the United States.

Bob Emslie P Was the first Canadian pitcher of note, and won more games in a big league season than any other Canadian, posting a 32-17 mark for the 1884 Baltimore Orioles. A poor start in 1885 sent him back to the minors, with a career major league record of just 44-44.

Ferguson Jenkins P Was probably the best Canadian player of all, a 6′5″ right-hander from Chatham, Ontario, who compiled a 284-226 record over nineteen seasons from 1965 to 1983. At his peak, Jenkins (the only Canadian-born Hall of Famer) won 20 games or more seven times in eight years.

Eric Gagne P Was on pace to become the most dominant closer ever. Then he went off the juice.

Rheal Cormier P Otherwise known in Philadelphia as the guy who only allows inherited runners to score, but never his own, leading to a deceptively low ERA.

The Jewish All-Star Team would look like this:

Moe Berg C Was not only a secret agent in Germany and Japan in the 1930s, but also worked in the OSS during World War II.

Hammerin’ Hank Greenberg 1B A four-time All-Star and two-time MVP in just nine seasons.

Buddy Myer SS Won the batting title in 1935.

Al Rosen 3B A four-time All-Star, led the league in dingers twice, had five straight 100-plus RBI campaigns, and won the MVP award in 1953.

Shawn Green OF A one-time 30-30 player, now finishing up his career with the Mets.

Sid Gordon OF A two-time All-Star who cranked 25-plus homers in five straight seasons and three years of 100-plus ribbies.

Gabe Kapler OF Gets included on this list just for having rock-hard abdominals.

Sandy Koufax P Just the greatest left-handed pitcher of all time.

Ken Holtzman P Threw two no-hitters for the Cubs and won three World Series rings with the A’s.

As you can see, it was hard to field complete teams on either side. But at the end of the day, I have to say the Jewish team is a little more impressive. Koufax was the man. There aren’t any names like that on Team Canada. Who knows? Maybe in ten years we’ll look at the Canadian roster and see two future hall of famers in Justin Morneau and Eric Gagne? But for now, it’s the Hebrew squad all the way.