Drew Balen

I am a 4th year Sport Management Student at Brock University. I grew up in rural Alberta in the town of Drayton Valley. So you are wondering how a guy who grew up 1,215 km from the closest Major League Baseball team fell in love with the game. That is simple. My brother and I used to watch Blue Jays baseball on CBC in the mid 90's. But what really got me hooked was getting to watch the game in person which happened at the phone booth in downtown Edmonton home of the Triple A Pacific Coast League Trappers. In the year 2000, I went to Seattle and watched 2 big league games as the Mariners played the Yankees and White Sox in Safeco Field. Since then I've always loved the game both on the field but also the numbers and strategy around the game. I can't hit a home run, run down to first base in 3.6 seconds or throw 90 miles an hour but I would not trade a sunny day at the ballpark for anything.