Team Canada Workout Slated For Ball Hall On Monday

11 draft picks en route to World Juniors

St. Marys - The Canadian National Junior team, the baseball equivalent of those hockey players we love watching at Holiday time, are stopping to practice at the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in St. Marys, Ontario on Monday, July 5th, at 11:15am on the St. Marys Cement Company Field.

Following the workout, the Nats will spend some time instructing the participants in the Hall of Fame's KIDS ON DECK summer camp program, followed by lunch and a swim in The Quarry with the kids. After playing a round of golf being provided by the St. Marys Golf & Country Club, the Nats will continue on their training journey across the northern USA, and ultimately landing them in Thunder Bay for the 2010 World Junior Championship that Canada is hosting beginning July 23.

Team Canada's roster includes 11 recent draft picks.

For those wishing to observe the practice, there is no charge. Players will be accessible afterwards briefly for autographs, etc.

Greg Hamilton, field manager for Team Canada, asked that the players be given a special tour of the Hall's museum upon their arrival prior to practice.

"As good as these guys are and as immersed as they are in baseball, most of them are unaware of the magnitude of amazing history Canada has in the baseball industry, and we're hoping that the visit will inspire them to want to create some of their own history," Hamilton said from his office in Ottawa.

The only Canadian Junior team to ever win a World Championship did so in 1991 in Brandon, Manitoba, and that team, and their field manager, John Haar, are enshrined in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.