Cubs' Jameson Taillon honors family history with return to Team Canada for WBC

GOODYEAR, Ariz. — At 8 years old, Jameson Taillon wasn’t exactly thrilled to be trapped at a table listening to his grand-mother’s tales of World War II. She talked about the war all the time, but he didn’t yet have enough understanding of the world to appreciate what his grandparents went through to escape Hungary.

Now 34, Taillon cherishes the memories of those conversations with his grandmother, Agnes Kormendy, and the recollections she also wrote down in a book — a preservation of family history that is the emotional core of his commitment to Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic.

“Canada just welcomed her,” Taillon, a Texan with dual U.S.-Canadian citizenship, told the Sun-Times recently. “She built an incredible life and family in Canada.”

On Monday, Taillon made his last spring training start with the Cubs before joining the Canadian national team in Puerto Rico for the World Baseball Classic. He’s expected to make his first start of the tournament on Sunday against Panama.

“I’m doing it more to honor my family and what Canada means to my family, and how great it’s been to us,” he said. “I still want to win and stuff, but I think helping Canada grow baseball is also a big deal.”

His northerly ties are extensive. Both his parents were born and raised in Canada and made sure their four kids visited their grandparents there each summer growing up. Taillon’s brother Jordan was born not far from Toronto. The eldest, Justin, returned to get his master’s degree from the University of Guelph in Ontario. There are additional family members up north, and plenty of friends.

Taillon represented Canada in the WBC once before, in 2013, when he was a 21-year-old Pirates prospect just a few years removed from being selected No. 2 overall in the MLB Draft.

“Being a prospect at the time, I was just handled carefully in a lot of ways,” he said, “protected a little bit.”

But playing outside the organization on the international stage of the WBC was like stepping into another world. Taillon, who had never pitched above Double-A at that point in his career, was tabbed to start against Team USA in pool play. He faced a lineup that had the Phillies’ Jimmy Rollins, the Reds’ Brandon Phillips, the Brewers’ Ryan Braun and the Twins’ Joe Mauer hitting back-to-back-to-back. After getting through them, he still had to worry about the Mets’ David Wright, the Orioles’ Adam Jones and the Rays’ Ben Zobrist in the bottom half of the order.

“That was the big thing for me, was putting my big boy pants on and going out there,” Taillon said. “I was scared as [hell]. But you’re out there facing [future Hall of Famer] Joe Mauer, who’s coming off MVPs, and Ryan Braun, and it’s like, well, you have no choice but to just try to do your best.”

His best was pretty darn good. He held Team USA to just one earned run and four hits in four innings before the Americans eventually won 9-4. The game was tied when he handed over the ball.

His WBC return comes at a wildly different point in his career. Far from a burgeoning prospect, Taillon is entering his 10th major-league season. He has played for three different organizations, come back from cancer and two separate Tommy John surgeries and continued to evolve as a pitcher.

He joins Team Canada as an elder statesman, focused on preparing for his season with the Cubs but with a foundation solid enough to also balance a commitment to his WBC team.

“I’m excited,” Taillon told a small group of reporters Monday as he stood near a batting cage at Goodyear Ballpark. “I wish I was throwing better going into it, but honestly, I think it could be good. A little change of scenery — get out of Arizona, go compete.”