Stubby Clapp not going to Beijing

Canada’s Olympic baseball team will have to compete at the Beijing Games this summer without its most popular and scrappiest player, CBCSports.ca has learned.

Baseball Canada was informed that second baseman Stubby Clapp was denied permission to play for the Olympic team.
.....
“The Houston Astros have turned down our request for Stubby to play for us,” Hamilton told CBCSports.ca. “It’s a blow. Stubby Clapp brings leadership to the team and in many ways is the face of the program.”