Honourable Mention: 2000s Vancouver Canadians

I didn't do minor-league sports any justice by excluding them from my book, but how about the 2004-2005 Vancouver Canadians of the Northwest League?

The Canadians are the only club north of the border in the eight-team Short-Season Single-A league, and have had some regular-season success since becoming a Northwest League franchise in 2000.

However, a league championship eluded them in the mid-2000s, when the Canadians came "oh, so close." Led by manager Dennis Rogers, the C's won the Western Division title in 2004 with a 42-34 record before losing the League Finals to the Boise Hawks.

Undaunted, the C's came "oh, so close" the following season, coming within a flyball of winning their first ever Northwest League championship. In 2005, new manager Juan Navarette guided Vancouver to a second consecutive Western Division title with a league-best 46-30 record. Alas, the Canadians lost in the League Finals once more, this time to the Spokane Indians in the best-of-five series.

The 2005 loss was very difficult for the C's to swallow, as they blew a 2-games-to-1 series lead to the Indians. In the decisive fifth game at Vancouver's Nat Bailey Stadium on September 12th, a brilliant catch by Spokane leftfielder K.C. Herren prevented the Canadians from taking the lead in the sixth inning, changing the complexion of the game.

With the score tied 2-2 in the bottom of the sixth, the C's had runners on first and second, when DH Haas Pratt belted a drive to left-center that seemed destined to give Vancouver the lead. To the C's dismay, however, Herren made a terrific over-the-shoulder catch to preserve the tie. The C's couldn't score in that inning.

Inspired by Herren's catch, Spokane went on to tally the go-ahead run in the very next half-inning. In the top of the seventh, centerfielder Joseph Kemp gave the Indians a 3-2 lead by delivering an RBI single. DH Jonathan Higashi added a sacrifice fly to give the Indians what seemed like an insurmountable two-run lead.

Vancouver plated a run in the bottom of the seventh to cut the deficit to 4-3, but Spokane responded with four big runs in the top of the eighth inning to salt the victory away.

Though the final score of 8-3 seemed like a blowout, the Indians knew that the sixth-inning catch by Herren helped turn the game around.

"When the guy first hit it, I thought it was off the wall... It was an unbelievable catch in a perfect spot for us," said right-hander Kellan McConnell, the Spokane pitcher who gave up the Pratt drive [1].

Indians skipper Greg Riddoch, a former major-league manager, agreed. "It changed the whole complexion of the game," said Riddoch, the ex-San Diego Padres manager. "Those two runners would've scored" [2].

Meanwhile, the Canadians wouldn't make the Northwest League playoffs again until 2010, losing in heart-breaking fashion in the Western Division playoffs that year to the Everett AquaSox. In Game One on September 6th, the C's rallied from 3-0 and 5-3 deficits, tying the game in dramatic fashion in the bottom of the ninth on second baseman Ryan Pineda's two-out, two-run home run to right in the rain. Alas, the AquaSox then scored four runs in the 10th inning to win 9-5, and went on to sweep the series.

The story turned out to have a happy ending for the C's, though, as they went on to capture their first league championship in 2011, defeating the Eugene Emeralds in the playoffs and the Tri-City Dust Devils in the League Finals.

Let's relive the happy moment for the Canadians, as they get the final out of the championship series in 2011, courtesy this YouTube video uploaded by riderpride56:

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[1] Zack Hample, "Spokane Rules Northwest League," milb.com, September 12, 2005
[2] Ibid.