An award-winning pitcher is spending his off-season helping youngsters in the organization that catapulted his baseball career — the Dawgs.

Jim Henderson helps two young players with their pitching mechanics at the Okotoks Dawgs Duvernay Fieldhouse on Thursday. Henderson was named Canada’s Minor League Professional Pitcher of the Year. photo by Bruce Campbell

Jim Henderson, 27, a pitcher in the Milwaukee Brewers’ organization, was selected the 2009 Canadian Minor League Pitcher of the Year by the Canadian Baseball Network.

He is residing in Okotoks for the winter, volunteering his time to help young ballplayers train at Okotoks Dawgs’ camps.

“I was with the Dawgs the first year they started in Calgary when I was 13,” Henderson said. “I got exposed (to scouts) so much by playing with the Dawgs. They helped me out tremendously.”

Henderson played for seven or eight years with the Okotoks Dawgs organization.

It was while with the Dawgs program that Henderson was scouted by Midland College in Texas when he played in a tournament in Arizona — a tournament the Junior Okotoks Dawgs continue to attend.

From Midland College Henderson went to the

University of Tennessee-Wesleyan before being drafted by the then Montreal Expos in 2003.

Boy, have things changed since 2003.

The Expos are gone; Henderson is knocking on the door of the majors with the Brewers; and the Dawgs moved to Okotoks from Calgary in 2007.

To top it off, the youngsters in the Okotoks Dawgs’ camps are taking ground balls and batting practice at the spectacular Duvernay Fieldhouse adjacent to Seaman Stadium.

“It blew me away the first time I saw it,” Henderson said. “It is amazing. To see how far this program has come is amazing.”

Henderson has also come a long way since injuring his shoulder while pitching with the Iowa Cubs in 2008 the Chicago Cubs’ Triple A affiliate. He pitched only one month that year.

He was released by the Cubs and signed with

the Brewers for the 2009 season.

Henderson ended the

2009 season with the Huntsville Stars in Alabama, the Brewers’ Double A club, where he had a 1-0 record and a 2.57 ERA.

“I had shoulder surgery last year (2008) and I need to get stronger,” Henderson said. “But I pitched the full season healthy which was a big step for me.”

He also pitched for the bronze medal-winning Team Canada in the World Cup in Italy in the fall.

“The World Cup was an experience of a lifetime,” he said. “I had an opportunity to try out for the Olympics, but injuries have kept me from participating. To get a medal was a big accomplishment for the team and for me.”

He has signed a minor league contract with the Brewers and his goal is to play for their Triple A affiliate, the Nashville Sounds — just one step from the

Big Leagues (Henderson came close to being called up to the Chicago Cubs

in 2007, but the shoulder injury prevented him from making his Major League debut).

He realizes he would be a million miles away from the Bigs without the help of the Dawgs.

That’s why he is spending the winter in Okotoks, to help train young ballplayers, just like the Dawgs did for him as a youngster.

“I am pretty passionate about the Dawgs program and I want to show these kids that they can do the same things that I have — this is the right place for them,” he said.

bcampbell@okotoks.greatwest.ca

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