Andrew Albers will represent Canada on the World Stage again next month at the World Baseball Classic. (submitted photo/Amanda Fewer)
North Battleford's own

Andrew Albers to represent Canada at World Baseball Classic

Feb 14, 2023 | 3:00 PM

When Team Canada takes to the field for the 2023 World Baseball Classic, there will be a familiar face in the pitching rotation for fans of the sport in the Battlefords and across Saskatchewan.

North Battleford’s Andrew Albers has been named to represent Canada at the event which will be held next month, March 7-21 around the globe in Taichung (Taiwan), Tokyo (Japan), Phoenix, and Miami.

“I’m really excited about it, and really looking forward to putting on the Team Canada jersey one more time,” Albers said of the opportunity ahead.

“This is kind of the one international tournament all the big-leaguers go play in, and I think it’s gained a lot of notoriety over the last few years with more of the big-name, big-league guys, so I’m looking forward to it and it will be fun to go down and compete against the best players in the world.”

(Twitter/@baseballcanada)

This will mark the fifth year of the World Baseball Classic, a tournament that has traditionally been held every four years, but was postponed in 2021 due to the pandemic, and last held back in 2017.

This will be the third time Albers has suited up for Canada at the event, having also played at both the 2017 and 2013 tournaments. It’s just part of a long list of international events for which the veteran has donned the red maple leaf.

Albers won two gold medals with Canada at the Pan American Games (2011, 2015), twice played at the Baseball World Cup/later known as ‘WBSC Premier 12’ (’11, ’15), and was a key piece to Canada’s success at the World Baseball Classic qualifier in ’12, and at the Olympic qualifier in ’21.

Now as he enters his late-30s, Albers, 37, said it’s an experience he’s going to relish, coming off a challenging last 18 months.

Albers did not play last season, recovering from arthroscopic surgery on his elbow at the end of the 2021 season to clean up bone spurs and abnormal bone growth in the arm. That was then followed by the MLB strike that delayed the start of the ’21-22 campaign.

Signing late with the Seattle Mariners organization, Albers then failed his physical with the team. However, rather than be discouraged, he used the time away to continue to rehab, and now with the arm feeling better is looking forward to what could be his final time representing the nation on the world’s largest stage.

“I think it’s a little more special as things kind of wind down, and obviously the career’s probably on the tail end here and this might be the last time I get to do it,” Albers said. “So I’m going to just try to take it all in and appreciate that part of it a little bit more.”

“I was fortunate enough they asked if I could play in this one. I felt like I got to a spot where I can compete going down there, so I’m just really excited about it and looking forward to it.”

Albers is one of 17 pitchers named to Canada’s 30-man roster. Ten players on Team Canada played in the major leagues in 2022, including 2020 National League MVP, Freddie Freeman of the LA Dodgers and two-time Golden Glove outfielder, Tyler O’Neill of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Canada’s full roster is available here.

Martin.Martinson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @MartyMartyPxP1

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