World Baseball Classic 2013: Stubby Clapp returns to shepherd baseball in Canada

Fans of the great St. Louis Cardinals teams of the mid-aughts and very goofy names will have to keep Team Canada in their thoughts during 2013's World Baseball Classic: Larry Walker and the immortal Stubby Clapp have been announced as members of the team's coaching staff. Walker, the final piece in the 2004 Cardinals' unfair offense, will coach first base and also act as hitting coach, while Clapp, one of the most popular Memphis Redbirds of all time, will do as-yet-undetermined additional coaching.

Clapp was on Canada's active roster in the first World Baseball Classic, back in 2006; he retired from baseball after the season, in which he also hit .323/.447/.429 for the Edmonton Cracker-Cats of the defunct Northern League. Walker has spent the last few years being underrated by Hall of Fame voters, mostly.

Both of them have earned a permanent measure of fame in St. Louis, if for somewhat different reasons. So sure, root for Team USA—what is the point of international sporting contests, if not the chance to chant U-S-A with a lot of other people? But keep these Cardinals connections—and the chance to wear your Stubby Clapp shersey—in mind if you need a secondary rooting interest.

[Post originally appeared on SB Nation St. Louis. For more World Baseball Classic roster updates, particularly where they concern Cardinals legends, minor leaguers, and injury-prone pitchers, follow our 2013 WBC storystream. For a story about why Larry Walker should be in the Hall of Fame, click here.]