Hamilton Cardinal star and league MVP signs on for 2024 season
Published January 11, 2024 at 8:45 am
The reigning MVP is back in the fold for the Hamilton Cardinals.
Outfielder Tyler Duncan is coming off a historic season in the Intercounty Baseball League in 2023 when he hit .355 and set new Cardinals franchise season records for home runs (17) and RBIs (54). Duncan, who will suit up at Bernie Arbour Stadium for his third season with the club in 2024, became the first Hamilton Cardinals player to receive the John Bell Memorial Trophy as the league’s most valuable player.
A former member of the Canadian Junior National Program, Sooke, B.C. native Duncan was selected by the Seattle Mariners in the 30th round of the 2016 MLB Draft before attending Arkansas State University.
“Dunc only had three homers in our first 35 games-ish, and then at one point it felt like he’d hit one every AB,” said Cardinals General Manager George Halim. “We’re really proud of him for winning MVP. If anyone’s healthy enough to try and win it with a clean slate next season, it’s probably him. Dunc rakes, doesn’t sit and his defense has its own highlight reel.”
Duncan has also become a leader in the local baseball community by leading the Hamilton Cardinals Skills Clinics and Summer Camp.
The Cardinals finished 19-23 last season in a year marked by a championship from the nearby Welland Jackfish – their first – but earned honours on the field with Duncan and off with majority owner Eric Spearin being named IBL Executive of the Year.
The club, which won their only league championship in 1978, will also have a new skipper in 2024 in Lenin Picota, a Panamanian who played ten years minor pro ball and was a coach with Panama’s national team at World Baseball Classics in 2009, 2017, 2022 and 2023.
The Intercounty Baseball League, the highest level of amateur baseball in Canada, has been in existence for 105 years.
