STARTING PITCHER FOR CANADA
MIKE JOHNSON
Bats – Left; Throws – Right; Born – October 3, 1975
CAREER: Mike Johnson pitched for the La New Bears of the Chinese Professional Baseball League in 2008. He was named the CPBL
MVP after leading the League with 20 wins in his first CPBL season, becoming the first 20-game winner since 2000. Johnson ranked
second with a 2.45 ERA and fourth with 107 strikeouts. In 2009, Mike will make his second Korean Baseball Organization appearance
as he pitches for SK Wyverns. He previously pitched for Kia Tigers in 2003 and 2005. He played independent league baseball from
2006-2007 and spent the 2002 season in Japan with the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes. Johnson pitched in the Majors for five years with
Baltimore (1997) and Montreal (1997-2001). He was originally drafted by Toronto in the 17th round of the 1993 First-Year Player
Draft.
INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE: Mike was a member of the Canadian team that participated in the 2004 Summer Olympics in
Athens, Greece, the 2007 World Cup in Taipei City, Taiwan and the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.
NOTES ON CANADA:
***Exhibition Games Results: March 3 at Dunedin – Canada 6, Toronto 4; March 4 at Clearwater – Philadelphia 9, Canada 2; March 5
at Tampa – Canada 6, New York (AL) 0.
***Team Canada is 1-0 against the USA in WBC history, posting an 8-6 victory at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona in 2006 (Pool B).
Canada scored in each of the first five innings to build an 8-0 lead. Four of the runs were a result of the number nine hitter, Adam
Stern, who tripled in a run, singled in two, and drove in another with an inside-the-park home run in the fifth inning. Left-hander
Adam Loewen pitched 3.2 scoreless innings for the win, while right-handed reliever Steve Green recorded the save.
***Manager Ernie Whitt on choosing Mike Johnson to start the opener: “Basically, we chose him because we feel that he can pitch on
this stage. He’s done it before. He’s our most experienced guy, and we don’t think that the fact of playing in front of the home
crowd will bother him.”
***Mike Johnson on getting the start at home: “Just a great opportunity. A couple of years ago, I never thought I would be here, let
alone starting the first game against the U.S. in front of the hometown crowd. We have a really good team here and a great lineup.
I’m just going to try to go out there and give us, the team, a chance to win, pitch three, four, five solid innings and give our offense
and defense a chance to win the game.”
***Justin Morneau on how important this tournament is as a Canadian ballplayer: “With how much fun we had last time, and the big
win that we got against the U.S., it will be even better if we did that at home. At the same time, we can’t put too much pressure on
ourselves. It’s enjoyable any time you get to play for your country and get together with these guys. We have a blast together –
everyone knows each other pretty well.”
***Morneau on having Larry Walker as a coach: “It’s pretty special to have a guy like that. He is the greatest Canadian position player
that we’ve seen in Canada, and one of the greatest all-around baseball players in the last 25 years. I’ve been picking his brain a lot
and just asking little things about what he liked to do when he was hitting, what he was trying to do in spring training, all these
things.”
***Joey Votto on playing in his hometown: “I’m very excited. I got to sleep in my bed last night, and I hopped on the train and took it
down to Union Station and you know, I just love this city. I get to have family and friends at the game and see my family
afterwards, have dinner. It’s just really, really special for me.”
STARTING PITCHER FOR UNITED STATES
JAKE PEAVY
Bats – Right; Throws – Right; Born – May 31, 1981
CAREER: Jake Peavy of the San Diego Padres is participating in his second World Baseball Classic. Team USA won both of his 2006
WBC starts, a 2-0 win vs. Mexico in the first round and a 4-3 victory vs. Japan in Round Two. In 2008, Peavy led the Majors with a
1.74 ERA at home as he posted a 2.85 ERA overall in 27 starts. In 2007, he became the eighth pitcher since 1969 to win the Triple
Crown with 19 victories, 240 strikeouts and a 2.54 ERA. In addition, he became only the 10th pitcher ever to win the Cy Young Award
by unanimous vote. Jake is a two-time NL All-Star, including making the start in the 2007 Mid-Summer Classic. Peavy was drafted by
the Padres in the 15th round of the 1999 First-Year Player Draft.
NOTES ON UNITED STATES
***Exhibition Games Results: March 3 at Tampa – USA 6, New York (AL) 5; March 4 at Dunedin – Toronto 6, USA 5; March 5 at
Clearwater – USA 9, Philadelphia 6.
***Over the exhibition schedule, Ryan Braun led Team USA with a .375 batting average and three hits, and tied with Brian McCann
with six total bases. Chipper Jones led the way with three runs scored, and tied with Adam Dunn and David Wright with 10 atbats.
Adam Dunn paced the team with five RBI. Roy Oswalt tossed 3.1 innings, the most among pitchers, while Heath Bell,
Jonathan Broxton, Matt Lindstrom and Matt Thornton all pitched in two games.
***Derek Jeter on what it means for the USA to win the WBC: “It means a lot to us. It was disappointing for us last time around.
There’s four of us that are here this time that played on the team in 2006, and it was a huge disappointment. I mean, you hear
about it throughout the year, so you definitely want to come here and play a lot better than we did the first time around. I know
baseball is a big sport, it’s bigger in our country than it is here in Canada. So it means a lot to people, and it means a lot to the
players in our locker room.”
***Jeter on playing for Davey Johnson: “Davey’s been great. I had the opportunity – he managed against me a lot when I came up,
and to have the opportunity to play for him now, he’s a player’s manager. He’s fun to be around. He’s easy to talk to. He remains
positive. And, you know, this is an experience that I’ve been looking forward to, and I’m sure I’ll remember for a long time
because I have the utmost respect for him.”
***Manager Davey Johnson on Canada’s pitcher, Mike Johnson: “He’s a Mussina look-alike. Mike pitched for me in the Baltimore
organization. I’m sure he is a little different now. His role model was definitely Mussina. He had a fastball, curveball, a great
change. I’m sure he’s probably turning it over and doing a few things. I always thought he was going to have a pretty good career,
but he is a quality pitcher.”
***Jake Peavy on his start against Canada: “I don’t think with the line-up we just went over and the scouting reports, they’re going to
sneak up on anybody. They are running out there nine major baseball players, MVP candidates. They played better than we did
when we faced them last time during the first round, so, we’re as prepared as we’re going to get physically at this time of year.”
***Peavy on wearing the USA jersey: “There’s a lot of pride when you put the red, white and blue on. You are representing your
country. When you see Team Canada across the way, hear their national anthem and watch those guys salute their flag and vice
versa on our end, when the Star Spangled Banner is played, it will be a pretty special feeling having the red, white and blue on.
Having a chance to represent your country and play for the pride
