Lawrie's biggest impact may not be on the diamond

Toronto, ON – He's destined to become the next face of the franchise. He's made even the staunchest supporters of Shaun Marcum accept that Alex Anthopoulos made the right decision to acquire his services. He's produced since his first game as a Toronto Blue Jay and continues to build his legend, seemingly by the day.

His name is Brett Lawrie.

But for everything that Lawrie has done on the field, and likely will, over what looks to be a long career in the big leagues, his biggest impact may not be the numbers he puts up while patrolling third base for the Blue Jays. It's what he is likely to do for the city of Toronto and a generation of kids across the country hoping to follow in his footsteps.

"It's tremendously important for Canada," said Greg Hamilton, head coach and director of Canada's national teams. "To be a homegrown Canadian with the potential for stardom, I think it has, or will have, an immense impact on the young, Canadian baseball players that aspire to play the game, that are presently playing the game, and the ones that dream of playing at the highest levels."

Hamilton coached Lawrie while he was a member of the Canadian Junior National Team and he saw more in Lawrie than just an innate ability to hit a baseball. He saw a player who knew what he wanted and wasn't scared to go after it.

"He was a special talent, obviously," said Hamilton. "His intensity, his aggressiveness, and really his complete confidence in his abilities. He loved to compete and he had full belief in his talents and his ability to get it done on the field from a competitive perspective."

For those who didn't get to see Lawrie play while he grew up, it's easy to understand what Hamilton is talking about after watching him over his first three weeks in the majors.

Lawrie is a true competitor, affectionately referred to in baseball circles as a "dirtbag," and complete with an infectious energy. He's a player Blue Jays fans would fall in love with solely based on his emotion and style of play, regardless of where he was born. The fact the 21-year-old happens to be Canadian is icing on the cake.

Where Lawrie separates himself from the rest of the Canadian baseball stars that play in the major leagues is the letters he wears across the front of his jersey.

Blue Jays fans were impatiently waiting for Lawrie's arrival and he's done more than what anyone could have expected since stepping onto the big league scene. He has already found himself adjusting to major league pitching and has hit the cover off the ball since the moment he arrived in Toronto.

"It hasn't surprised me," Hamilton said of Lawrie's development. "Anything that Brett accomplished and accomplishes, he's always done it at an accelerated level and accelerated pace. He doesn't have fear. He has full belief in his abilities and he has an exceptional ability to hit. And he's got a lot of dimension to what he does from an offensive perspective and he's very athletic.

"I'm not surprised that he's moved really quickly and I'm not surprised that he has a real bright future in the game."

It's a bright future that has been on full display all season, not just with Toronto. Lawrie obliterated minor league pitching while playing with the Las Vegas 51's, a Blue Jays Triple-A affiliate. He hit .351 with 18 home runs, 61 RBI and a 1.060 on-base plus slugging percentage, forcing his way to the majors.

"He's a rare talent and a person that has total conviction around those talents, which is really exceptional in many ways," said Hamilton.

How rare a talent is Lawrie? Consider this: Lawrie is currently one of only eight players, aged 21 or younger, with at least 50 at-bats in the big leagues this season. Mike Stanton, Starlin Castro, Eric Hosmer, Freddie Freeman and Mike Trout are five of them - a group also on the fast track to stardom.

What makes it so significant is how rare it is to see players this young in the big leagues, let alone excelling.

"I think Brett has the ability to impact the game at the highest level," said Hamilton. "He's got a chance to be an exceptional player at the major league level in all dimensions and facets of the game. He certainly has a chance to be a real overall talent, with the potential to be very special offensively. He's always been a pure hitter."

Lawrie said that he was no 'savior' for the Blue Jays franchise when he first arrived, and he's right -- it takes more than one player to save a franchise. But what he is, however, is an inspiration.

"To have a Canadian player that has come through the system and to now be playing on Canada's major league team, I think it has the potential to impact the Canadian marketplace and aspire a generation of Canadian baseball players," said Hamilton.