Remembering some of Canada's greatest baseball players

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Yesterday in Cincinnati, Joey Votto appeared in his 1,989th Major League Baseball game, surpassing Larry Walker for the most ever by a player from Canada. In honour of that achievement (and also, quite frankly, because it's the dog days of August) how about we remember some Canadian baseball guys today? Here's a slightly (OK, quite) nerdy look at a few of the best this country has produced, starting with the big three and moving on to some honourable mentions:

Joey Votto: Currently in his 16th big-league season, all with the Reds, the 38-year-old Torontonian is arguably the best pure hitter ever to come out of Canada. Though he's never won a batting title, Votto has led the National League in on-base percentage a whopping seven times, including three years when he topped the entire majors. He's shown plenty of pop too, hitting 24 or more home runs nine times and at least 36 three times. Votto's best year was 2010, when he won his only NL MVP award after leading the league in both on-base and slugging percentage while socking 37 homers, driving in 113 runs and adding 16 stolen bases. Votto has walked 425 more times than any other Canadian and is also the country's career leader in OBP and OPS+ (that's on-base-plus-slugging percentage, adjusted for league and ballpark). By Baseball Reference's measure, he ranks 143rd all-time in Wins Above Replacement with 64.6, just ahead of Hall of Famer Willie McCovey.

Larry Walker: The only Canadian hitter in the Baseball Hall of Fame is the country's all-time leader in home runs (383), batting average (.313), RBIs and stolen bases.