It's not just the name, or the fact that he's a good guy. The reason that the Canadian Olympic men's baseball team won't be the same without Stubby Clapp is because there is an art to handling the pressure of international sports that can only come with experience in dealing with international amateur umpires or officials or players. Ask anybody whose played at that level: it's one thing to be a pro in North America and another to find yourself in the Far East where the wrong look or reaction is open to cross-cultural interpretation. It demands a whole different level of sensibility and, yeah, maturity. It's a different kind of frenzy. Not to go all Grange on you, but as a partial and at times interested observer of the Toronto Raptors, I always thought Jose Garbajosa brought a certain educated edge to the game that the Raptors have failed to replicate in his absence. Frankly, had they had Garbajosa last year I think they would have beaten the Nets in their playoff series.

Shi Davidi of Canadian Press does a nice job summarizing the Ballad of Stubby Clapp  and, you know, I can kind of see the Houston Astros point of view. You want to coach? Coach. You want to play? Don't retire. Work visas for foreign players and coaches aren't thrown around carelessly by Major League organizations and as Davidi points out, the Astros have been relatively supportive of the Canadian Olympic program.

But it's just not going to be the same without Clapp. One of the keys to the Canadian men's team and, by extension, the team that represents  Canada at the World Baseball Classic is that there is a fierce loyalty to Baseball Canada on the part of Canadian Major Leaguers because it is through Baseball Canada that many of them were noticed. I remember watching Russell Martin agonize over his decision to not join Canada for the first WBC because he knew he needed to stay in the Los Angeles Dodgers camp and impress a new regime. I remember talking to him in Vero Beach the day he'd essentially made up his mind and the disappointment was palpable. Thursday, Toronto Blue Jays Canadian-born assistant general manager Alex Anthopoulos - an up-and-comer in the game - relayed a conversation  he'd had with Blue Jays minor leaguer A.J. Wideman about Clapp's influence in the clubhouse. "Best teammate he's had," said Anthopoulos, pretty much echoing what Matt Stairs or Justin Morneau would tell you.

(As an aside, scuttlebutt among some of the Canadian Major Leaguers is that Larry Walker, who is currently a roving coach with the St,. Louis Cardinals, is a candidate to join the team as a coach, although a few players say they wouldn't put it past Walker to ... nah, let's hold that thought.)

There's a way out of this that could keep both sides happy: let Clapp join the Olympic team as a coach, only when the competition actually begins. That way, the Canadian team would have access to his innate strengths, while the Astros can take comfort knowing he's actually coaching. Clapp will meet with the Astros this weekend to press his case.