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Team Canada manager Ernie Whitt and coach Larry Walker laugh during a workout before their World Baseball Classic games in Toronto, March 6, 2009.MIKE CASSESE/Reuters

Ernie Whitt still gets chills when he remembers watching his Canadian team erupt in excited celebration after making the final out that sealed the nation's first-ever baseball gold medal at the Pan Am Games, in 2011 in Guadalajara, Mexico.

In a baseball life that has included 15 seasons in Major League Baseball, managing Team Canada to that tournament victory – capped by a 2-1 nail-biter over the United States – ranks among Whitt's proudest moments.

The former catcher, who spent 12 seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays, was born and raised in Michigan but considers himself "Canadian at heart." Since 1999, he has repeatedly said yes to managing Canada's men's national team at various events, and his passion for international ball still burns as he readies for another Pan Am Games.

"To a lot of those young men, that gold medal in 2011 was like winning the World Series," said Whitt, recalling that Canada defeated host nation Mexico 5-3 in the semifinals before toppling the heavily favoured Americans in the final. "It always felt like we were watching other countries celebrate, and finally, it was us."

Today, Whitt is a roaming instructor, on the road working with catchers in the Philadelphia Phillies system. After his playing career ended in 1991, he served as a bench coach and a first base coach with the Jays, and managed a Phillies' minor-league team.

Whitt recalls when he was first approached by Baseball Canada's manager of baseball operations at the time, Kevin Briand, prior to the 1999 Pan Am Games in Winnipeg. He was flattered to be asked to manage the team, but didn't envision at the time how much he was going to enjoy the experience.

"It was interesting to see how each country played the game a little differently," said Whitt. "It was so different from big-league or minor-league baseball where, if you have a bad game, you think 'Oh well, get 'em tomorrow,' In international tournament play, every game is like a playoff game, and players approach it with such passion and pride in their country. I absolutely loved being part of it."

Under Whitt, Canada earned a bronze medal in Winnipeg and made two Summer Olympic appearances, finishing fourth in Athens in 2004 and sixth in Beijing in 2008. He also managed Canada's three World Baseball Classic entrants (during the 2013 Classic, there was a full-scale brawl in the ninth inning of a 10-3 Canadian romp over Mexico). His Canadian team also took bronze in the 2011 IBAF World Baseball Cup.

Canada's 24-man roster for these Pan Ams, being played in Ajax, Ont., will include mainly minor-league pros. Teams aren't allowed to select anyone on a 40-man major-league roster, and it's tough to land minor-leaguers who might get big-league call-ups this summer. Whitt says that since the team is light on positional talent, it will lean on pitchers with big-league experience, such as Andrew Albers (North Battleford, Sask.), Shawn Hill (Georgetown, Ont.) and Jeff Francis (Delta, B.C).

Canada may be the defending champ, but it's not the favourite in the eight-team Pan Am tournament. The hosts rank sixth in the International Baseball Federation's world rankings; Japan is currently first, the U.S. is second and Cuba is third.

At this tournament, the U.S. is deep, and Cuba has access to players who might be major-league stars if they chose to defect or got permission to seek contracts in North America.

"When we won gold in 2011, we, as a staff, stood in the dugout as the players went on the podium," said Greg Hamilton, Baseball Canada's director of national teams. "We all hugged and watched the Canadian flag raise higher than the Cuban and the American flags, which is something very rare in baseball, and it brought a tear to everyone's eye, including Ernie's. He's an honourary Canadian, and he's all in."

The Canadians open the tournament July 11 with a preliminary-round game versus another tough opponent, Dominican Republic.

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