Henderson Headlines 2013 Banquet

Thursday October 04, 2012

by Jonathan Hodgson

The Okotoks Dawgs are staying in the family for their 2013 Banquet Speaker, as the club is very proud to announce that Jim Henderson will be the guest speaker at the event on February 2nd, 2013.

The Dawgs have and continue to graduate numerous players to the Major League Baseball Draft, but it was Henderson who became the first Dawgs alum to appear in Major League Baseball when he got the call to the Major Leagues with the Milwaukee Brewers this past July. The season recently came to a close for the Brewers, bringing to an end a superb rookie Big League season for Henderson. In 36 appearances out of the bullpen, Henderson was 1-3 with a 3.52 ERA, 3 saves and 13 holds. In 30.2 innings, he allowed just 26 hits and 13 walks while recording an impressive 45 strikeouts. Soon after Jim’s arrival in Milwaukee, the Brewers, who were 9 games below .500 at the time of his call-up would go on a 24-6 run and come within 1 game of the NL Wild Card.

Henderson first joined the Dawgs as a 12 year-old and played with the club through high school when he joined Canada's Junior National Team and earned a scholarship to Midland College in Texas. He enjoyed considerable success as a 2-way player at Midland, pitching and playing outfield for the Chaperals before he later moved on to star with the University of Tennessee Wesleyan.

Always a true Dawg, Henderson was one of the first players to sign and play with the first ever Dawgs summer collegiate club in 2003, then based in Calgary. It was literally out of the Dawgs outfield that Jim was drafted and signed by the Montreal Expos. He went on to play with the Washington Nationals before being selected in the 1st round of the Re-entry Draft by the Chicago Cubs. Henderson worked his way up to the AAA level with the Cubs before being sidelined with an injury. After working his way back from injury, he signed with the Milwaukee Brewers ultimately earning the closers role with the AAA Nashville Sounds to start 2012. Shortly after earning AAA All-Star honors, Henderson received the call to join the Brewers and made his MLB debut against Washington on July 26th at Miller Park in Milwaukee.

Dawgs Managing Director, John Ircandia on the first Big League Dawg,

"Jimmy was an original Dawg travelling with the youth club to showcases in California, Florida, Arizona, Washington, and Nevada. He was and is an outstanding and dedicated athlete, and he never forgot his roots returning every off-season to mentor and coach the new generation of JDawgs. We are all extremely proud of Jimmy and are thrilled to commemorate his incredible achievement at this year’s banquet."

You can hear Jim speak at the Dawgs 2013 Banquet, set for Saturday, February 2, 2013. Further details will be released as the event nears.

We cannot wait to give Jimmy the welcome back to Okotoks that he deserves as the Dawgs’ first Major Leaguer!