Top 5: Born in Canada

Baseball Names & Numbers by Thomas Holmes

4 min readJul 1, 2022

Today we honor our neighbors to the north. Here in America, July 1 has no special significance; however, in land of the Maple trees, it is called Canada Day. It is a holiday like our Independence Day. Although, Canada Day does not represent independence from British rule, it created the structure of providences and territories we see today.

In the Canadian sports world, hockey is king. Boys are given ice skates and hockey sticks, whereas in America it is a bat and glove. But the love of a sport knows no boarders. To prove my point, a second Canadian-born player was recently inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Plus, the greatest hockey player of all time, Wayne Gretzky, admitted in an interview that he wanted to play baseball.

Let us get right down to it. Here are my top five players born in Canada.

5. Russell Martin-Born on February 15, 1983, in East York, Canada. This catcher played for 14 years in the MLB. Martin began his career with the Dodgers. While in LA, Martin had his two best seasons, 2007 and 2008. In 2007 he earned a Golden Glove and a Silver Slugger award. He was selected to the all-star game both years. Martin was nominated for two more all-star games. In 2011, playing for the Yankees and 2015 with the Blue Jays.

Martin makes my top five list because he is in the top 10 of Canadian-born players in WAR, Hits, HRs, RBIs, doubles, walks, and all-star appearances.

4. Justin Morneau-Morneau was born in New Westminster, Canada on May 15, 1981. During his 15 years in the MLB, he spent 11 of them in Minnesota. He was the Twins starting first basemen from 2003 to 2013. Almost all of his career highlights occurred while playing for the Twins: 4x all-star, 2x Silver Slugger, and an MVP award in 2006. In 2008, Morneau accomplished a rare feat of playing in 163 games in one season! After a brief time with the Pirates, Justin spent two years with the Rockies. In Colorado, Morneau led the league with a .319 batting average while wearing fellow Canadian Larry Walker’s number 33 years before his induction into the Hall of Fames.

Among other Canadian-born players, Morneau ranks third with hits, RBIs, all-star appearances, and doubles. He ranks fourth in home runs with 247 and ninth with WAR.

3. Joey Votto-He was born in Toronto on September 10, 1983. Joey Votto is the only active player on my list. His numbers are flirting with Hall of Fame status numbers. The 16-year veteran has played in six all-star games and won a league MVP award in 2010. Votto ranks second among Canadian-born players in hits, RBIs, home runs, WAR, and batting average. If he stays on pace for the next six years, Votto will reach milestone numbers of 3000 hits and 500 home runs, punching his ticket to Cooperstown. His current WAR numbers tie him with Hall of Famers Andre Dawson and Willie McCovey.

2. Larry Walker-The greatest Canadian hitter was born on December 1, 1966, in Maple Ridge (can’t get any more Canadian than that!). The recently inducted Hall of Famer, 2020, leads Canadian players in all offensive categories. Walker has the most hits, RBIs, and home runs. He has played in five all-star games, won seven Golden Glove awards, and three Silver Slugger awards. In addition, he has won three batting titles batting an astounding .363, .379, and .350!

1. Fergie Jenkins-Birthplace: Chatham, Canada. Date of birth: December 13, 1942. Fergie Jenkins was the first Canadian-born player to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991 (Larry Walker was second). For 29 years, he was the only Canadian enshrined in Cooperstown. The 1971 Cy Young award winner had seven 20-game seasons and led the league with complete games four times. In the same season, Fergie started 39 games and completed 30 of them! His career number of innings pitched is a monumental 4500 innings. Baseball is different now. Complete games are scarce. Coaching theories have changed. In today’s game factors such as fatigue and injuries are more of a concern and relief pitching is used often. A complete game is a rare feat. It would be surprising to see current pitchers complete five games in a season.