(Scotiabank Field at Nat Bailey Stadium - Vancouver, B.C.) - Every time I check in on the Toronto Blue Jays and see 20-year old Roberto Osuna pitching, I just shake my head and smirk. I think about roads travelled by baseball players and the always interesting routes they take to get to the Major Leagues.

I remember the first time I saw Roberto Osuna pitch for the Vancouver Canadians. The clubhouse down in Everett was where I first found Roberto, a soft-spoken, almost aloof pitcher that had scraggly hair, a thick Mexican accent and a little softness around his stomach. To be honest, if you put Roberto up against any of our pitchers from that season, I probably would have pegged him 'least' likely to find his ways toward the bright lights of the Major Leagues because he just didn't look the part.

It was as if his heart rate never got over 70 and if the fire alarm went off in that same clubhouse, he might be the guy to kick back and read a few pages from an Archie comic before debating whether or not to saunter out the front door and distance himself from the flames.

Then I saw him pitch.

I will never forget watching in complete disbelief as Osuna faced the Aquasox out at Memorial Stadium. The 17-year old, highly-touted prospect was untouchable, and I mean untouchable.

He pitched five scoreless innings for the Canadians back on July 28th, 2012 and struck out thirteen. You read right, of the 15 outs he recorded, 13 of them were strikeouts. That night he pitched against the late Victor Sanchez who this off-season passed away but was just as touted as Osuna, and just as young. We all came to see Sanchez, a blue chip prospect within the Seattle Mariners organization, but it was Osuna who stole the show.

Vancouver would lead 5-0 over the Aquasox heading into the bottom of the 8th inning before Everett came alive with a flurry of offense that exposed the Canadians bullpen. In the bottom of the 10th inning, Canadian-born Zack Breault offered up a pitch to Everett catcher Mike Zunino who proceeded to crush it over the left-center field fence giving the Aquasox an improbable 7-6 victory in 10 innings.

I remember the game for so many reasons, but beyond seeing Sanchez and Zunino, beyond seeing Vancouver collapse against a bitter division rival, I remember thinking that I will never again judge a book by its cover.

Osuna was magical that night, and from that point on, the players and yours truly, treated him differently.

That is with the exception of one afternoon in the Tri-Cities of Washington State.

I smile as I think back to this moment in time that perhaps will shine a little light on a young man's arm that was obviously kissed by the Gods, but perhaps needed a little help in what some call the "Church of Baseball".

The Canadians were getting hot come August of 2012 and as we've seen for five straight summers, Vancouver is always a second half team.

The calendar flipped to August and wouldn't you know it, the Canadians were red hot! A three-game sweep of the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes followed by a three-game sweep of division foes Eugene in Oregon and suddenly the Canadians were atop the division.

A series opening victory in Tri-City, WA gave the Canadians a seventh straight victory and all while wearing the trendy alternate black jersey. For those who might not know, you get a choice on the road between either the standard grey uniform or should you want to mix it up and save a clubhouse attendant an extra-long night you can choose the alternate jersey.

The boys were riding the streak and all seven victories came while wearing the darkest of the jersey options.

Now here's something you might not know about having the privilege of being tabbed as the game's starting pitcher. You get to pick the jersey that your teammates will wear come game time. That is unless you are riding a seven-game winning streak. Half of the players in the Canadians clubhouse had already started to button up their black jerseys about 45 minutes before game time when Vancouver outfielder Matt Newman noticed that Osuna was putting on his grey jersey.

Pitcher Matt Johnson looked around and finally glanced at Osuna and said "black, right?"

Osuna, looking back at Johnson with a look that you might find on someone just waking up from a nap responded by saying "gris".

The clubhouse stopped. I mean the entire clubhouse stopped what they were doing and almost in disbelief asked if Osuna was joking. He was not, and the seven-game winning streak was suddenly on the line in more ways than one.

The great, fictional legend Crash Davis, catcher for the Durham Bulls once said "Never mess with a winning streak", a quote that for this article I will make family-friendly.

Osuna had gone against the grain, and the Canadians? Well they got completely thumped with Osuna giving up just one hit over his three and two-thirds innings of work, while allowing three walks and the first run of the game.

It wouldn't be the last run of the game for the Dust Devils who at game time were completely oblivious to the jersey debacle back over in the Canadians clubhouse.

The final score? Tri-City 8, Vancouver 1.

I wish I could tell you that the boys were kind to Roberto that night, but it was as quiet a clubhouse as I had ever come across as the C's packed up for the night thinking ahead to the rubber match of the three-game series.

The next day, I got a text message at about 4:30pm. It was from one of the players that read "séance in the clubhouse'.

What? A séance?

I closed the top of my laptop and walked down the concourse path out at Gesa Stadium and walked past the Vancouver clubhouse door having no idea what I was walking into.

Every single player was standing in a large circle with the lights down low. In the middle of the circle were bats, gloves, a peanut butter sandwich and a whole bunch of other items that the Canadians felt were 'cursed'. In the exact middle of the circle, with at least half a bottle of Costco-sized baby powder shaken around it was a lone chair.

The ringleaders summoned one man to that chair, his name?

Roberto Osuna.

Osuna sat in the middle of the circle as players showered him with bottled water and chants that had players busting out laughing as they tried to get all players from all backgrounds to join in. The moment was priceless, fun and the sign of a team that despite a streak being broken, were simply loving life in the Minor Leagues together.

The lesson was quickly learned, the demons exhumed from the bats, gloves and Roberto himself and life resumed back on the diamond.

I will never forget after the final chants bellowed by the players, the moment when Roberto, still a teenager and a little shy at the time, raised both his arms as if he had just won something. Every player around him laughed and high-fived or fist-bumped Roberto. His smile was as electric as his arm in that moment, and being a part of that, for me, was much like Red looking at the postcard sent back to Shawshank Penitentiary after he realized that Andy had made it across the border and into Zihuatanejo. Perhaps as you read on I will try to find a better comparison as that has clearly missed the mark.

The Canadians would lose the series finale to Tri-City, but not to worry as Vancouver would go on to win a second straight championship in 2012, ironically wearing the same black jerseys that Roberto shunned earlier in the year.

Fast forward just under three years from that chair doused in baby powder and there stands Roberto Osuna, on a different mound this time, out at Rogers Centre, pitching against the Tampa Rays. By the time Roberto got back to Toronto, he had already chalked up three scoreless outings on the road as the Jays rolled out the talented Mexican in both New York and Baltimore.

Roberto Osuna.

Between his time in Vancouver and his first stop at Yankee Stadium, there was a Tommy John Surgery, an extensive rehab and the tension filled road back to complete health and optimism.

But he made it, becoming the 7th former Vancouver Canadians player to suit up for the Toronto Blue Jays joining Marcus Stroman, Kevin Pillar, Aaron Sanchez, Dan Norris, Dalton Pompey and his good friend Miguel Castro.

Although he has yet to make a start for the Blue Jays, I can only imagine what his answer will be when his first start is penciled in and a teammate looks over at him to ask what colour jersey should the boys putt on for that night's game.

I can only imagine.

I think that's why every time I check in on the Toronto Blue Jays and see 20-year old Roberto Osuna pitching, I just shake my head and smirk.

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