Episode 165: Chris Reitsma

He was the first Canadian to be selected in the first round of the Major League Baseball Draft, taken 34th overall by the Boston Red Sox in the 1996 Draft. Chris Reitsma went onto a seven-year MLB and 12-year pro career. Best-known for his time in Atlanta, where in 2004 he had 84 appearances as the set-up man to John Smoltz, Reitsma later groomed another young prospect, Mike Soroka, to be taken in the first round by the Braves in 2015. Giving back to the baseball community in his home province has become a point of pride for the now-44-year-old, as he is now serving as the Senior Director of Baseball Operations and Pitching Director with the Webber Academy Wildcats in Springbank, just west of Calgary. Reitsma recently took some time out of his busy schedule to talk about his entire baseball journey and what he’s hoping to build at Webber.