Mitch Canham
Mitchell Dean Canham (born September 25, 1984) is an American baseball coach and former catcher. He is currently the head baseball coach at Oregon State University and previously served as the manager of the Clinton LumberKings, Modesto Nuts and the Arkansas Travelers.
 Canham playing for the Lake Elsinore Storm in 2008 | |
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Oregon State |
| Conference | Pac-12 |
| Record | 5–9 |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | September 25, 1984 Richland, Washington |
| Playing career | |
| 2004–2007 | Oregon State |
| 2007 | Eugene Emeralds |
| 2007–2008 | Lake Elsinore Storm |
| 2009–2010 | San Antonio Missions |
| 2010 | Portland Beavers |
| 2011 | Midland RockHounds |
| 2011 | Sacramento River Cats |
| 2012 | Memphis Redbirds |
| 2012 | Long Island Ducks |
| 2013 | Northwest Arkansas Naturals |
| 2013 | Omaha Storm Chasers |
| 2014 | Harrisburg Senators |
| 2015 | Lincoln Saltdogs |
| Position(s) | Catcher |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 2016 | Clinton LumberKings |
| 2017–2018 | Modesto Nuts |
| 2019 | Arkansas Travelers |
| 2020–present | Oregon State |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 5–9 |
| Tournaments | NCAA: 0–0 |
In college, he played for the Oregon State Beavers baseball team.[1] Canham was on both the 2006 and 2007 OSU teams which won back to back NCAA Baseball National Championships at the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, as well as the 2005 team which made it there and lost in two games. He was drafted by the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball with the 57th overall pick in the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft.[2]
Amateur career
Canham played for the Lake Stevens Junior Athletic Association (LSJAA) Tigers from 1995-1996. Canham attended Lake Stevens High School in Lake Stevens, Washington, where he was a three-sport star and honor student.[3]
Canham was named to the preseason All-American second team by the Collegiate Baseball newspaper and as a third team All-American by Baseball America. He ended the season as a third-team All-American selection by the Collegiate Baseball newspaper.[4] In 2006, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Falmouth Commodores of the Cape Cod Baseball League.[5]
Professional career
Canham began his professional career in 2007 with the Short-Season Eugene Emeralds of the Northwest League and the Class-A Advanced Lake Elsinore Storm. With the Emeralds Canham batted .293 with two home runs, four doubles, one triple, 34 hits and 18 RBIs in 28 games. In just two games with the Storm Canham had no hits and one RBI.
In 2008 Canham spent the entire season with Lake Elsinore of the California League. He hit .285 with eight home runs, 28 doubles, five triples, 119 hits, 13 steals and 81 RBI in 113 games.
2009 saw Canham a promotion to the Double-A San Antonio Missions of the Texas League. He finished the '09 campaign batting .263 with six home runs, 20 doubles, three triples, 107 hits, five stolen bases and 53 RBI in 111 games.
Coaching career
Canham was named the manager of the Clinton LumberKings for the 2016 season. In 2017 and 2018, Canham was the manager of the Modesto Nuts. Canham managed the Arkansas Travelers for the first half of the season before resigning.
On June 13, 2019, Canham was named the head coach for the Oregon State.[6]
Head coaching record
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oregon State Beavers (Pac-12 Conference) (2020–present) | |||||||||
| 2020 | Oregon State | 5–9 | 0–0 | Season canceled due to COVID-19 | |||||
| Oregon State: | 5–9 | 0–0 | |||||||
| Total: | 5–9 | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
Personal life
Canham's mother died while he was a freshman in college.[3] His younger brother, Dustin Canham, died in 2008 while serving with the United States Marines in Djibouti; the circumstances surrounding Dustin Canham's death received national attention based on a perceived cover up by the military and allegations that the death was due to hazing.[3][7]
Canham's great uncle, Major General Charles D. W. Canham, commanded the 29th Infantry Division's 116th Infantry Regiment during its D-Day landing on Omaha Beach, earning the Distinguished Service Cross for valor in combat.[3]
References
- "Mitch Canham". OSUBeavers.com. Archived from the original on 2014-11-10. Retrieved 2006-06-21.
- "2007 MLB.com Draft Tracker". MLB.com. Retrieved 2007-06-21.
- "ESPN - A brother's burden: Baseball in a time of tribulation - MLB". Retrieved 2008-07-17.
- ""LOUISVILLE SLUGGER'S" ALL-AMERICAN BASEBALL TEAMS". Retrieved 2007-06-30.
- Lauren Malone (August 1, 2006). "Behind the Eyes of the Major League Scouts". capecodbaseball.org. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
- Steve Gress (June 13, 2019). "OSU baseball: Beavers set to hire Mitch Canham as new coach". www.gazettetimes.com. Retrieved June 13, 2019.
- Johnson, Gene (2008-07-02). "Marine's death in Africa wasn't hazing, Corps says". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved 2008-07-17.