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Canadian Baseball League
2014 Articles


Kokanee Deal Superstars

(CBL Newswire) - by Zeke Lewis of the Creston Craze

Last week the Creston Kokanee said goodbye to the two greatest players in franchise history dealing Lyn Mize to Toronto and Bob Augustine to Yellowknife. With the Kokanee in the middle of a rebuilding phase fans knew this day was coming, but it still didn’t make things any easier when it finally did. Last evening’s game was the first home game for the team since the trades and fan reaction was mixed.

“I don’t believe in letting your best players go…never have…never will” said season ticket holder Ralph Jenkins. “I guess I’m a traditionalist and remember when players would spend their entire career with one team.” Long time fan Sarah Wilson was a bit more enthused about the moves. “I watched Isaac Lambden play his first game for Creston on TV the other night - man is he an exciting young player to watch. We will miss Lyn and Bob, but it’s nice for them that they get to play some place that’s more competitive right now”.

Team Owner and GM Mike Roberts said he knew the moves were not going to be popular with all fans but insisted that in order to get the team back to a competitive level there was no choice. “I hate fire sales as much as anybody” said Roberts. “But if I didn’t make these moves then our road to building a competitive team was going to be much, much longer.” Roberts has been critized in the past for being on the wrong end of some one sided deals but promises fans that these two deals will turn out to be good ones for the team in the long run. “I’ve made inexperienced mistakes” admits Roberts. “However, I’ve learned some valuable lessons and I’m ready to make up for those mistakes by building a winner here in Creston. I love this town, this team and all of its fans and I want to build a great team here they can be proud of”.

It’s tough to see these two future hall of famers go with major career milestones so close. Mize is just 7 wins shy of 200 and Augustine is only 26 homeruns away from 500. Many would have liked to have seen those accomplishments come in a Kokanee uniform. However, the two have both left Creston fans with 13 years of great memories caped by the organization’s first and only championship in 2008.

“You don’t replace guys like Mize and Augustine” stated Roberts. “And I’m not only talking about their on field accomplishments , those speak for themselves. The two are class acts. There are just no controversies surrounding them ever – that’s a tough thing to find in athletes these days. Their involvement in the community is admirable as well. Although it’s sad to see these two go I am happy for them that they get the chance to be on contenders. Yellowknife and Toronto got themselves some fierce competitors in these two. We wish them the best….except of course in the dreaded games where we have to face them”.

The Kokanee are finished playing Toronto and Yellowknife this season so fans will have to wait until next year to react to the player’s first visits back to Columbia Brew House. It remains to be seen if next year’s Kokanee team, which should be more competitive than it is this season, is up to the challenge. You can bet on those series selling out pretty quickly when 2015 tickets go on sale.

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