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With Russell Martin returning to his roots, here are five other notable Canadians

Five other Canadians who also returned to their roots

By Michael Clair

On Monday, the Blue Jays inked Russell Martin to a five-year, $82 million contract, getting a powerful and patient batter, a master at the art of pitch framing, a terrific beard-grower and, coincidentally, a Canadian citizen.

The Blue Jays have cornered the market on Canadian pitch-callers, having recently employed George Kottaras from Scarborough, Ontario and the Vancouver-born Mike Nickeas. With both now free agents, Toronto clearly had no choice but to sign the 32-year-old Martin who was born a 15-minute drive from Toronto in East York, Ontario.

But Martin isn't the only Canadian who has plied his baseball skills in his home country. Here are five notable Canadian players who called the Great White North home: 

5. Romel Canada

Okay, this one is a bit of a stretch. After all, Romel hails not from Canada, but from Philadelphia. And he never reached the Major Leagues, instead topping out at AAA in 1972.

However, he was in Montreal's system. He then brought a little Canada to Mexico, going on to win the batting title with the Saltillo Saraperos in 1978. 

And if you still refuse to accept a man named Canada on this list, fine, here's Youppi: 

Youppi

4. Brett Lawrie

Drafted in the first round by the Brewers in 2008, the Blue Jays brought the Langley, British Columbia native home by trading for the infielder in 2010.

Since making his Major League debut in '11, Lawrie has hit .265/.323/.426 with 43 home runs while battling a variety of injuries. Fortunately, none of them have sapped his dancing abilities: 

Lawrie

3. Rob Ducey

Ducey is a rare breed -- one of only four Canadians to play for both the Blue Jays and the Expos. The other three: Matt Stairs (who we'll see in a minute), Shawn Hill and Denis Boucher. 

Ducey also was involved in one of the stranger trades. A Blue Jay from 1987-'92, Ducey was traded from the Phillies back to Toronto on July 26, 2000. Two weeks later though, the Jays sent Ducey back to Philadelphia. 

2. Matt Stairs

With his husky build, killer mustache and as the record-holder for most career pinch-hit home runs, the New Brunswick native is a hero to many dinger-loving baseball fans. 

Oddly enough, despite hitting 265 home runs with 13 different teams, the only clubs that Stairs didn't  homer with were the Expos and Nationals -- the teams that he began and ended his career with. 

And this from the man who said: 

"I'm not going to lie: I try to hit home runs and that's it. I'm not going to hit a single and steal second base, God knows that."

Last year, on the fifth anniversary of his go-ahead home run in Game 4 of the 2008 NLCS, Stairs tweeted this: 

Oh yeah, he also loves animals. As I said: Hero.  

1. Larry Walker

And finally, the Canadian statesman with the greatest nickame: Larry "Booger" Walker. Hailing from Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Walker even references his native land in his Twitter handle: CdnMooseLips33. 

The Hall of Fame candidate (Through his first four years on the ballot, he has so far topped out at 22.9% of the vote) started his career with the Expos, hitting .281/.357/.483 with 99 HR in his six seasons with the team. 

Not that all of Walker's time in Canada was perfect: 

Read More: Toronto Blue JaysRussell Martin