O Canada

Last month, during the WBC, I confessed to having a warm spot for Adam Stern. The more I see of this guy, the more I like what I see. He did everything in the game yesterday - including singing the Canadian national anthem!
Although he later confessed to just lip-synching - said he "didn't want to be too loud." One of my favorite moments was him trying to give Ortiz a high five - and Papi holding his hand up so high that Stern had to jump up to reach it!

Yesterday, during the game, he hit a two-run double, then stole third base. He was originally slated to go back down to Pawtucket on April 20th (so he could get in more playing time), but with Coco on the DL for 15 days, Stern has a great opportunity to show Francona what he can do now. He's shown he's got a dirt-dog mentality - flopping into third head first - and he can obviously hit. Let's keep him with the big club for a while - especially since poor Wily Mo looks to be a fan target this year.

And did I mention that he's awfully cute too?
I mean, check out those big brown eyes. I think I see a candidate for the Pups in the Park Calendar this year!

Edit: Just wanted to add this link to an article about Adam in the Toronto Sun. A sample:

Drafted by Toronto's Bill Byckowski in the 22nd round in 1998, Stern had choices: 1) Sign with the Jays. 2) Attend Seminole State Junior College, maintaining his right to sign with the Jays for 50 more weeks, or 3) Go to Nebraska to improve and get an education.

He chose door No. 3 and Atlanta made him a third- round choice in 2001.

And this good news:

A trip to Pawtucket still may be in Stern's future, but he at least plans on being in the organization for a while.

I hope so!