The Villager

The 27-year-old pitcher and High Park resident has seen his share of success playing America's pastime - from a five-year stint in the Seattle Mariners organization to his current role as a relief pitcher for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the Intercounty Baseball League (IBL). And though it isn't the first time Lockwood has suited up for the national baseball squad, it is a great way to cap off his career, he told The Villager.

"Without a doubt it is the absolute pinnacle of my career (playing for Canada) and though no one wants to say 'to finish off my career', I couldn't imagine something I would be more honoured to do than represent Canada," he remarked.

That said, the six-foot-two, 195-lb. right-handed hurler is nowhere near the point of total retirement from baseball. He credits much of his playing success and general enjoyment of the game to the Leafs' owner Jack Dominico (Lockwood was apart of last year's IBL championship winning Leafs team).

"Jack's been integral in my career," he said. "I certainly will keep my commitment to play for (the Leafs) for years after (the Olympics)."

Before being named to the national team, Lockwood was a major part of a 6-5 victory versus Chinese-Taipei that solidified Canada's spot at the 2008 Games.

He grew up on Glendale Avenue and is proud to note, "I've been a High Park boy all my life." He started out playing T-ball for the High Park Braves before graduating to junior ball. Fast-forward, and after five years in the Mariners' farm system (he signed as a non-drafted free agent in 2003), he decided it was time to do something outside of baseball.

"I retired in '07 (from the Mariners) and... I didn't want to spend all of my twenties in minor league baseball. It's a grind... a very gruelling schedule... I didn't want it to reach a point where I was 30 years old and the only thing my resume stated is 'baseball player'," he explained. "I also knew I'd have a good chance at joining (Team Canada) if I retired and also to come back and play for Jack (Dominico)."

As for Team Canada, it will get together to participate in a golf tournament at the Lionhead Golf and Country Club in Brampton on July 29 and then hold a practice on July 30 at Connorvale Park in Etobicoke from 3 to 6:30 p.m.

Thereafter, the club travels to North Carolina to compete in a pre-Olympic exhibition series from Aug. 1-4 against the American Olympic team. A pair of exhibition matches against the Netherlands on Aug. 9 and 10 in Beijing would round out Canada's pre-Olympics schedule before opening the tournament versus China on Aug. 13. Canada will also compete against the U.S., Holland, Cuba, Chinese-Taipei (Taiwan), Japan and Korea.

When asked what led him on the road to being a pitcher instead of playing another position, Lockwood admitted he was never the fleetest of foot.

"I realized early I wasn't a tremendous athlete," he laughed. "I wasn't very quick. I could hit the ball but I had a great arm so I started to focus on pitching. It was clearly my best shot at... going to play professionally and internationally."

And it was the 1992-93 World Series Championship-winning Toronto Blue Jays that inspired a 10-year-old Lockwood to turn towards the diamond instead of the ice rink.

"A lot of it had to do with the Blue Jays in '92-'93," he said. "Watching Toronto go absolutely bananas as (the Jays) won the World Series, I was inspired to want to be one of those guys. I think a lot of other kids felt the same way."

For kids today dreaming of making it to the Major League or onto the international stage, Lockwood's advice to youngsters is to be a complete student of the game.

"There's so much knowledge about the game and you don't necessarily get that from watching it. You have to ask questions of people who know a lot about it," he said. "The difference between a good player and a great player are subtle things... the more you can be a student of the game, the more you can learn (the better)."