“Pete and I unfortunately, never played together (for Wilson), but we worked out together a lot. He was ahead of me by a couple of years, so I watched him play many games. We practiced a lot together, taking ground balls beside each other and hitting in the cage,” said Thorman, who was the Braves first round selection (30th overall) in the June 2000 MLB Free Agent Draft at the age of 18 years.

“We’re having a lot of fun with this now. He’s a tremendous person and tremendous player. I consider myself very lucky to be able to play with him, and to have a friend as good as him, and to play here and to be in this clubhouse. It’s great,” added the six-foot, three-inch infield/outfielder.

“Pete represents Canada well, and the way we were raised to be.”

In 2006, Atlanta had three Canadians in camp including right-handed pitcher Chris Reitsma of Calgary, Alberta, the Braves one-time closer who signed as a free agent with the Seattle Mariners in January.

“It is unbelievable that it’s such a small world. Baseball circles are very small, and it’s funny the friends and the people you meet in the game, and you never lose them. I have been very lucky to come across a lot of good players, and a lot of good friends,” added the 25-year-old, 235-pound first base candidate.

In the spring of 2007, Thorman has developed a reputation for beating the cover off the ball, as one “beat” photographer covering the Braves camp explained, “He’s been breaking bats like matchsticks.”

Thus far in this spring of 2007, boasts a slugging percentage of .333 and an on-base percentage of .292. Last season with Braves, the former Cambridge Junior Terrier batted .234 in 55 games collecting 30 hits including 11 doubles and five home runs.

Scott’s biggest thrill came last season when his entire family was on hand for his major league debut with the Braves on June 18 when called up from the Richmond Braves to replace the injured Brian Johnson in the lineup, and played his first game against the Boston Red Sox in Turner Field at Atlanta. He went 0-for-4 that night.

Two nights later against the Toronto Blue Jays, he picked up his first Major League hit and RBI in the sixth inning.

When asked if his family gets the opportunity to watch in action often, Thorman grinned, “They see me play whenever we’re on TV. However, my whole family was down (to Atlanta) for my debut last year and they’re all coming down to Spring Training. It’s been a lot of fun,” said the Braves first base prospect who spends the winter months during the off-season with wife Kelly at their home in Cambridge, Ontario.

Nevertheless, it has been a long tough road to where he is now, a road that began impressively with his signing following an Intercounty Baseball League game on Hamilton Mountain in the summer of 1999 as a non-drafted free agent. It hit a resounding high point in the spring of 2005 during the main camp of the Braves when he made the cut.

And now for the third summer in a row, it would appear that Newmarket’s Peter Orr will be playing a part in the fortunes of the National League club.

That is no surprise to Jack Dominico the flamboyant owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the long-time denizens of Christie Pits.

“Orr was awesome, the kid could hit, he could field, he could do everything. He was always a gamer! He’d run through a fence for you,” declared Dominico. Pete was a member of the Maple Leafs for just two seasons, but left an indelible mark an IBL Allstar and the Most Valuable Player in the 1999 playoffs. Led by the spectacular play of Orr at shortstop, the club posted a combined two-season record of 50 wins and 14 losses and captured both the pennant and the playoffs in 1999.

“He (Orr) deserves it; he made it the Bigs with that other kid (Scott) Thorman, who played as a Junior for a couple of games for us. He was a Junior in Cambridge he was pretty good. He was big kid who could hit and could field.”

“So two guys on the Braves, who played for us...,” mused Dominico.

However, the humble native of Richmond Hill tends to downplay his success.

“I went to Junior College (Galveston, Texas Community College) and played Intercounty in the summer and was signed from there (IBL). From there it was on to the Instructional League, but it was kind of a blur, everything was new to me.”

“I didn’t know anybody and I didn’t know how things worked either, so it was a shock to me. It took a while to figure out,” said Atlanta’s always solid infield utility player who in the past two seasons has posted fielding percentages of .974 at second base and .973 at shortstop.

Orr is not alone in his quest for a Major League berth with the club; he is one of two Canadians both of whom have their roots in elite baseball and the IBL. The other is the Braves leading candidate at first base, Scott Thorman of Cambridge, Ontario.

“I knew Scott (previously) because I had played for a team called the Ontario Blue Jays. Gary Wilson from Stoney Creek was our coach, and he always took great care of us.”

“After I left (because of age), I stayed in contact with him (Wilson). Scott was his next kid, and Gary asked me come out and watch him. I threw BP (batting practice) to him a couple of times, and then we started working out together,” said Orr of the workouts that have developed into a strong friendship, and into neighbouring stalls in the Atlanta clubhouse.

Peter, however, is well aware that nothing is forever in Major Baseball. This past January, the club lost one of its three Canadian roster members when Chris Reitsma of Calgary, Alberta, a right-handed pitcher and the Braves one-time closer signed as a free agent with the Seattle Mariners.

“I’m not settled into a position at all (with the Braves), and I think as long as I play I will probably be like that the whole time. I don’t think I’ll ever go into Spring Training with the
attitude that I don’t have to earn a job. This year more than last, I have to battle my way to get a job, I guess. That’s okay, that’s the business, and that’s the way baseball is,” said the
six-foot, one-inch, 185-pound veteran of 214 big league games.

In 20 games in the Spring of 2007, Orr had 16 hits, On Base Percentage of .438, a Slugging Percentage of .419 and a Batting Average of .372. And that’s not a bad effort at all. Currently, Orr is holding his own at third and backing up at short and second base.