Canham’s heart and soul

Published 9:00 pm Sunday, April 15, 2007

In late January of 2006, a young man by the name of Mitch Canham helped write the lyrics to a rap song that forecast what his Oregon State University baseball team was going to do that season.

The final line of “O State Ballaz” warned the defending College World Series champions what was going to happen: “And Texas you ‘bout to get your ring took.”

Then, five months later, the Beavers went out and took that championship ring, beating not the Longhorns, but the North Carolina Tar Heels in the final game, 3-2, at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Neb.

Anyone hearing the song – and it was played before every OSU home game – might have thought the Beavers a wee bit presumptuous with lines such as – “We step to the plate and we taking our hacks, so far ahead all you see is our backs” … and “tearing up players with mad skilled attacks, Ballaz title bound and we’re counting the stacks.”

But, hey, if you can back it up, put it out there for everyone to hear.

And the Beavs backed it up.

“The way I look at it,” said Canham, the starting catcher on that championship team, “if you don’t believe you can win it all, why are you even trying.

“Our goal was to win it all and nothing less.”

Now it’s a new season, but for the Beavers, the goal remains the same: win another NCAA title.

“All of us older guys want to go back so bad,” said Canham, a redshirt junior from Lake Stevens, “because we know how incredible it (the experience) is. We’ll do anything to get back to Omaha.”

Which included writing another song about the current season. This one titled, “Still Ball ‘n in 2007.”

And still winnin’.

The ninth-ranked Beavers are 28-8 overall and 4-5 in the Pac-10 after winning two of three against California over the weekend in Corvallis.

“We’ll find out how good we are (from here on),” OSU coach Pat Casey said of his two-time defending Pac-10 champions last week. “We’ll find out what we’re made of.”

Teams already know what Canham is made of. In its power rankings, Rivals.com lists the 6-foot-2, 212-pounder as the No. 1 college catcher in the nation.

Which supports that line in “O-State Ballaz” that goes, “And that cannon on Canham got ‘em sweating, ain’t nobody sending, everybody second guessin’ … “

That cannon threw out 22 of 44 would-be base stealers in 2006, an exceptional performance.

This season, his throwing percentage isn’t as good, but his hitting percentage has jumped prodigiously.

A .299 hitter last year, Canham – a left-handed swinger – leads the Beavers in hitting (.365), home runs (5), walks (21), and hit-by-pitch (7). He is No. 2 in runs batted in with 34.

A good contact hitter, he has struck out only 15 times in 115 at-bats.

“Last year I wasn’t as confident with two strikes and I swung at some bad pitches,” he said in a telephone interview last week. “This year I believe that with two strikes the control is still in my hands. He (the pitcher) has to get the ball over a 17-inch plate and I have an aluminum bat.”

What a difference a year makes. He’s bigger and stronger this year. He’s learned to be more patient, more selective about which pitches to swing at. And he’s toughened up against top flight competition, including back-to-back appearances in the College World Series and a summer spent in the prestigious Cape Cod League where he hit .300.

“His confidence,” said his coach, “is at a high peak.”

You get that way when you win it all.

Many things go into the making of a great athlete. Commitment. Work ethic. Attitude. The people who teach you the game.

“I benefited from going to Lake Stevens,’” Canham said. “I was surrounded by great coaches, Brent Barnes (wrestling), Ken Collins (football) and Rodger Anderson (baseball). All of our coaches put in a lot of effort and pointed us in the right direction.”

High praise. Just as Casey lauds Canham for his leadership.

“Mitch is the best leader in the country,” the coach said. “There’s nobody who has a leader better than Mitch Canham on and off the field. He’s the heart and soul of our club.”

That heart and that soul is never more evident than when he goes out into the community to perform good deeds. Twice at OSU he has organized concerts to benefit Special Olympics, helping make him a national semifinalist for the Wooden Cup, which honors one college and one professional athlete for their character, their teamwork and their citizenship.

“He gets involved in pretty much anything,” said his father, Mark. “He gives back to the people who need it most.”

“The way I look at it, I’ve been through a lot in my life,” Mitch said, “and I’ll help people any way I can.

“I can teach the younger guys the right path to go down, try to lead by example. I have a vision every year to win it all, and if I’m not the best catcher on the best team, I get upset.”

He felt he fulfilled his goal as a catcher last year, when he was on the best team in the nation. As a hitter, he did whatever it took to get the Beavers a championship, be it moving a runner over or taking a pitch in the ribs. He said if he had hit .100 and they’d won the title, he could have lived with that.

An outfielder and third baseman in high school, Canham had virtually no experience as a catcher before he got to college. That he had demonstrated a strong arm in right field convinced Casey that Canham could go behind the plate and do well. “We felt that was the natural spot for him,” Casey said. Also, as a left-handed hitting catcher, his value increases in the eyes of major league scouts.

Where he’ll be taken in this year’s draft is anyone’s guess – Casey predicts the first or second round – but Canham has the option of returning to OSU and playing college ball again next year since he was granted a red shirt year in 2004 after two surgeries. Whenever he turns pro, Canham will ultimately catch in the big leagues, his coach is convinced. “No question,” Casey said.

Early next month, Canham will play in a big-league ballpark for the first time. When the Beavers come to Seattle on May 4 to face the Washington Huskies in the first game of a weekend series, the teams will square off at Safeco Field.

And Canham may have to pinch himself to make sure it isn’t a dream.

“I am so jazzed about that,” he said. “Back in the day, I had a dream of playing on a big-league field, and I’ve dreamt of being a Mariner my whole life.”

His old high school will undoubtedly be well represented that weekend, including his old high school baseball coach, Anderson. And perhaps even the high school’s head custodian, Blaine Bafus.

Both related stories that tell a lot about who Mitch Canham is.

Anderson remembered a time when his wife came into the dugout before a game and some of the younger players ignored her. Much to Canham’s chagrin. “Don’t you guys know who that is?” he asked. “That’s the coach’s wife. Show her some respect.”

Reminded of that the other day, Canham said of Bianca Anderson, “You’re talking about one of the sweetest women I’ve ever met in my life. I care about those people (the Andersons) so much.”

He cares about his old high school, as well. “I love that place,” he said. “It was a big part of my life.”

Canham lived right behind the school and when some kids drew graffiti on it, he came over and chased them off. “He had a lot of pride in his high school,” Bafus, who lived close to Canham, said. “He let them know what they were doing wasn’t acceptable. He was a big enough kid that they paid attention to him.”

Now the nation is paying attention.