STEED LANDS COACHING POSITION WITH BRAVES
Thunder Bay, Ont., – The Thunder Bay Border Cats are proud to announce that manager Mike Steed has accepted a position as a minor league pitching coach with the Atlanta Braves. The 51-year-old native of Beamsville, Ont., has been assigned to the Single “A” Augusta Green Jackets in the Braves organization for the 2022 season. Steed, who also held the position of pitching coordinator for the Ontario Blue Jays junior program, was scheduled to return to Thunder Bay as manager of the Border Cats for the 2020 season. However, that season and the following two seasons were forced to be cancelled due to the Covid pandemic. He was under contract with the Border Cats through 2024. Steed was very familiar with Thunder Bay and the Northwoods League as he was the Border Cats pitching coach in 2009 and served as manager of the club in 2010 and 2011.
“We are extremely excited for Mike and his wife Marlene as he moves into professional baseball with the World Champion Atlanta Braves and getting the opportunity to work for a major league organization led by fellow Canadian Alex Anthopoulos,” said Border Cats vice president Bryan Graham. “Mike is a baseball lifer and it’s great to see all of his hard work pay off with a coaching position with the Braves,” added Graham. “We are also very grateful that he will continue to assist in the recruiting of players for the Border Cats moving forward.”
The Border Cats will not be participating in the 2022 Northwoods League season, but plan to return for the summer of 2023.
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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Having completed its’ 28th season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires, and front office staff, over 270 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and World Series Champion Max Scherzer (NYM), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and 2019/2021 Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and 2021 All-Star, MLB Gold Glove winner and 2019 Second Team All-MLB shortstop Marcus Semien (TEX). All league games are viewable live for FREE via the Northwoods League website at watchnwl.com. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.
