Michael Saunders is coming home – and he’s bringing decades of big-league experience with him.
The former Major League Baseball (MLB) All-Star and Olympic athlete is set to join the Lambrick Park Secondary School Baseball and Softball Academy coaching staff this fall, returning to the same Victoria school where he once honed his own game as a teenager.
“My dream has always been to be able to get back,” Saunders said. “Victoria gave so much to me and everyone knows Victoria is a phenomenal place to raise a family.”
The move has been years in the making.
Saunders, who officially retired as a player in 2019 after a nine-year MLB career with a majority of his career spent with the Mariners, Blue Jays and Phillies, has spent the last six seasons coaching – first with the Atlanta Braves and now with the Seattle Mariners.
But his heart was always set on coming back to Victoria.
“It’s been a five-year sort of work in progress,” he said. “We finally pulled the trigger.”
His full-time return to Victoria is scheduled for the end of August, with coaching duties at Lambrick set to begin with the 2025-26 school year.
His title is simple – just “coach” – and Saunders said that’s exactly how he wants it.
“I’ll be helping out wherever I’m needed really, and putting the kids first,” he said. “Hopefully helping them realize their dreams.”
Saunders’ baseball journey has already covered a lot of ground. An 11th-round draft pick of the Mariners in 2004, he made his MLB debut in 2009 and went on to appear in 775 games, batting .232 with 81 home runs and 263 RBIs.
His breakout season came in 2016 when he earned an All-Star nod with the Blue Jays. Internationally, he wore the Maple Leaf at the 2008 Olympics and 2013 World Baseball Classic.
Once he retired, the coaching door opened immediately – first managing the Braves’ Single-A affiliate by 2021, then moving to a roving outfielder/baserunning coordinator.
He now serves as the Mariners’ baserunning coordinator, but said the grind of pro ball eventually made the choice clear.
His new role allows him to coach and develop young athletes while finally getting to be a more present father.
“Before, I was home for a week and then gone for two. And even when I was home, I was still working,” he said. “Now, when I move to Victoria for this job, I can drop the kids off at school in the morning, head to Lambrick, then pick them up and take them to their sports. It’s just more consistent – and that’s what I want.”
Saunders and his wife have three kids: a 12-year-old daughter, a 10-year-old son, and a 7-year-old daughter.
None of them play baseball or softball competitively – a detail he’s more than fine with.
“They do pretty much everything but,” he said, laughing. “And I’m very much OK with that.”
While family drove the move, it’s also about giving back to the game that shaped him.
“There’s a real desire to bring something back to the sport that gave me so much along the way,” Saunders said.
Lambrick Park was a natural landing spot.
Saunders has kept close ties with Mike Chewpoy and Rocky Vitale, longtime leaders of the school’s baseball and softball academy.
He joked he still gives Chewpoy a hard time for launching the program a couple of years after he graduated.
“We used to joke around or daydream about me coming back and coaching here one day,” he said. “Once the family move became real, it turned into something serious.”
The academy’s mission – to push athletes both on and off the field – aligns perfectly with his coaching philosophy.
“It’s not just about taking your game to the next level,” he said. “It’s about character, leadership, and development as a person.”
Saunders said he’s amazed by how far the local baseball scene has come since his high school days.
“Kids are so much more advanced than I was,” he said. “The consistency, the tools, the coaching – it’s incredible. Baseball has really taken a step in the right direction on the Island, and in Canada in general.”
He remembers growing up idolizing Canadian stars like Larry Walker, Justin Morneau and Joey Votto. Back then, baseball wasn’t the typical Canadian dream – but that’s changed.
“We’re not just a hockey country anymore,” Saunders said. “Canada is competing at world-class levels in all kinds of sports. And programs like Lambrick’s are a big part of that.”
Saunders said he sees his new role as both a homecoming and a chance to shape the next generation of talent – whether they dream of college ball, the pros, or simply growing as teammates and leaders.
“If I could go back in time, this is something I would’ve jumped at,” he said. “Now I get to help others make the most of it.”
