Todd Mervyn Betts (born June 24, 1973) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

first base A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

man and a

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the Baseball scorekeep ...

Career

The

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

chose Betts in the fourteen round in the 1993 Major League Baseball draft. He later played with the

Brantford Red Sox The Brantford Red Sox are an independent team of the Intercounty Baseball League based in Brantford, Ontario. They play their home games at Arnold Anderson Stadium. History The Brantford Red Sox were founded in 1911 when they joined the Canadi ...

in the Ontario, Canada,

Intercounty Baseball League The Intercounty Baseball League (IBL) is a Canadian baseball league, comprising teams of college players and others from North America and beyond. The teams are located in Southern Ontario. The league was formed in 1919 and has enjoyed much succ ...

. In 2003, he played for

Yakult Swallows The Tokyo Yakult Swallows () are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams in Tokyo, the other being the Yomiuri G ...

in the

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

(NPB). After the 2003 season, he became a free agent. In 2004, he played for

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

organization. During the 2004 season, he was selected for

Canada national baseball team The Canada national baseball team represents Canada in international baseball. They are overseen by Baseball Canada, the governing body of baseball in Canada. Canada was an inaugural member of the World Baseball Classic, making its debut in th ...

at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

. Canada finished in fourth place. He later signed with the

La New Bears LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smi ...

of the

Chinese Professional Baseball League The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL; ) is the top-tier professional baseball league in Taiwan. The league was established in 1989 and played the first season in 1990. CPBL eventually absorbed the competing Taiwan Major League in 20 ...

(CPBL) in early 2006 and played with that team until July 2006. As of May 2006, Betts held the highest batting average and RBI in the league. However his performance slumped after he suffered

vertebra Each vertebra (: vertebrae) is an irregular bone with a complex structure composed of bone and some hyaline cartilage, that make up the vertebral column or spine, of vertebrates. The proportions of the vertebrae differ according to their spina ...

injuries in June after which La New Bears ended his contract in July 2006. On July 25, 2007, he signed a contract with the

Edmonton Cracker-Cats The Edmonton Capitals, originally the Edmonton Cracker-Cats, were a Canadian professional independent minor-league baseball team that played between 2005 and 2011 in several leagues. The Capitals were based in Edmonton, Alberta. The team was fou ...

, hitting .275 with 1 home run in 33 games. He next began his coaching career in 2008 between Team Canada and the Ontario Prospects helping develop professional hitters yearly before moving to the Ontario Blue Jays and Toronto Mets. When he ended his active professional baseball career, he founded his own company, 4 Corners Elite Development, which helps children improve their overall skills. ((https://fourcornerselite.com/))

References

External links

1973 births Living people Akron Aeros players Baseball players from Toronto Baseball players at the 1999 Pan American Games Baseball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Burlington Indians players (1986–2006) Calgary Cannons players Canadian baseball coaches Canadian expatriate baseball players in Japan Canadian expatriate baseball players in Taiwan Canadian expatriate baseball players in the United States Canton-Akron Indians players Columbus Clippers players Edmonton Cracker-Cats players Kinston Indians players La New Bears players Nippon Professional Baseball first basemen Northeastern Oklahoma A&M Golden Norsemen baseball players Olympic baseball players for Canada Pan American Games bronze medalists for Canada in baseball Pawtucket Red Sox players People from East York, Toronto Portland Sea Dogs players Somerset Patriots players Tacoma Rainiers players Watertown Indians players Yakult Swallows players Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games {{Canada-baseball-first-baseman-stub