Mr. Speaker, congratulations to Surrey's Adam Loewen, who, at 18, was selected fourth overall in major league baseball's first year player draft. This is the highest a Canadian has ever been drafted. Adam, a 220 pound six foot, six inch, left handed pitcher with a smoking mid-90s fastball, plays with the Whalley Chiefs, a team with a long, proud history of baseball in Surrey.
As a child and youth, my son played baseball. I spent a number of years coaching. I vividly recall the wide eyes, the flushed cheeks, the dusty faces, the skinned knuckles, elbows and knees, the broad smiles and the high fives after a difficult catch or a good hit. Many had dreams of the big leagues, but as they matured, followed other successful paths in life. I still see them today, now fathers themselves, some coaching their own children.
Adam Loewen is one of the rare few who, through dedication and hard work, have brought that boyhood dream within reach. We wish him success and look forward to that day when the dream is fully realized, the day he throws his first major league pitch.