W. G. Braund
As a boy, Will Braund’s life revolved around playing baseball. He played every single afternoon and from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. on weekends, with only short breaks for meals. He hung up his glove at 39 as the third baseman and manager of a men’s league team but later worked as an instructor for the Toronto Blue Jays at their summer camp for teenagers.
After earning an Honors degree in History he taught for several years, during which he was nominated for the Governor General’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. After being promoted to principal he was elected Chair of the 1,100 member Toronto School Administrators’ Association. Later he was named to the Executive of the Ontario Principals’ Council.
Will retired a few years ago but still fills in for principals a few days a month. He lives north of Toronto with his beautiful wife Trudy and their son Tyler and close to his older brother Matthew. When not at school Will reads voraciously about the history of baseball. Along with two former colleagues and teammates he started a blog called lateinningsblogspot.com to which he is the main contributor on the subject of baseball history. While interested by the biographies of a lot of players, Will has never not found anyone who had a more fascinating and even bizarre life and career than Rube Waddell. Not even Babe Ruth.