By Sam Cortes, Communications Coordinator
A movie could be made about Corey Koskie’s path to the big leagues.
Born in the small town of Anola, Manitoba, Koskie played hockey, baseball, and volleyball. At the age of 18, he earned a scholarship to play for the University of Manitoba’s Men’s Volleyball Team, and was committed to focus on volleyball full-time in 1992.
The summer before he was scheduled to start his volleyball career at the U of M, Koskie played junior baseball for the Elmwood Giants, and won both the provincial championship and the Manitoba Junior Baseball League’s rookie of the year award.
A Big Move
A coach at Des Moines Area Community College caught wind of Koskie’s talents on the baseball diamond and relentlessly called him for weeks trying to recruit him to play for his team in Iowa.
This left Koskie with a tough decision to make.
“I remember getting down on my knees and praying, what do I do here?” Koskie said. He ultimately chose to move to the United States and play college baseball, and never looked back.
Climbing the Ranks
Koskie was dominant in his first season in Iowa. He was named a second team all-American, and after a summer with the Manitoba provincial team, he transferred to the National Baseball Institute in Surrey, BC where he was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 26th round (715th overall) in the 1994 MLB draft.
Koskie climbed the ranks of the minor leagues for five years before he finally made his major league debut for the Twins on September 9, 1998.
On that day, Koskie became the fourth Manitoban to play in a Major League Baseball game.
Koskie’s Mark
Koskie quickly proved he belonged in the league and found a home at third base for the Minnesota Twins, Toronto Blue Jays, and Milwaukee Brewers over a span of nine big league seasons.
For his career, he racked up 936 hits, 124 home runs, and 506 runs batted in while maintaining a .275 batting average.
His best season came with the Twins in 2001 when he finished 25th in MVP voting and became the first third baseman in American League history to record 100 runs scored, 100 runs batted in, and 25 home runs in one season. He was also the recipient of the Tip O’Neil award given out annually to the best Canadian baseball player.
After a few more solid campaigns, injuries closed the book on Koskie’s storied career as he suffered a broken thumb in 2005 and a concussion in 2006.
He was inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 2013 and is also a member of the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame and the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.
Koskie’s community rewarded his career further by re-naming the Elmwood Giants baseball field “Koskie Field”.
