You’d better believe it is so, Joe.

Cincinnati Reds third baseman Joey Votto today became the third Canadian to named Most Valuable Player by claiming the prize for the National League after batting .324 with 37 home runs and 113 RBI. He ranked fourth or better in each of those categories, and ended the reight of the St. Louis Cardinals’ Albert Pujols, who’s won the award the past two seasons and in three of the past five.

The Etobicoke, Ont., native also became the first Canadian to win the National League’s Hank Aaron Award, which goes to the league’s top hitter as voted on by fans and the media. That award has been given out since 1999.

Larry Walker was the first Canadian to win an MVP award, in 1997 as a member of the Colorado Rockies. Justin Morneau won is in 2006 with the Minnesota Twins.

Game over.

Someone had to say it, right?

Montreal’s Eric Gagne officially called it a career after failing to make a comeback with the Los Angeles Dodgers — the team with which he made the biggest and most exciting impact.

Gagne’s career has undoubtedly been marked with the highest highs (setting a record for consecutive successful save attempts with 82), and the lowest lows (being named on The Mitchell Report as a player who’d used human-growth hormone), but his overall effort and the phenomenon he created in Los Angeles make him our Canadian of the Week.

Gagne is one of just nine relief pitchers to have ever won the Cy Young Award, taking it in 2003, when he successfully converted all 55 of his save attempts during his record streak.

Gagne’s arrival on the mound during those years made for such a sure finish that the stadium scoreboards flashed “GAME OVER” when he took the ball.

The Mitchell Report, rightly, put a damper on Gagne’s success, and he was never able to regain the strength and success he’d had in that three-year stretch with the Dodgers. He admitted in an L.A. Times interview to using the drugs, but said it was only to recover from a knee injury.

With spring training underway, it’s time to turn our attention to baseball. The Montreal Expos may be history, but Canada’s contribution to the sport isn’t limited to the departed Olympic Stadium residents and the Toronto Blue Jays.

This week’s Heritage Minute brings us back to 1946 and Montreal’s contribution to Jackie Robinson’s controversial breaking of the color line in Major League Baseball.

That year, Robinson played his first professional games with the Montreal Royals, the AAA minor-league affiliate of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

This video is a touch controversial because while it shows some of Robinson’s teammates displaying some discomfort with his place on the team, and shows the Royals’ opposing pitcher throwing at Robinson in his first at-bat, it mostly turns into a heart-warming, heroic and welcoming tale — all within 60 seconds.

We’re pretty sure Robinson’s trip through the minors wasn’t quite so rosy, but history has a tendency to re-written (and re-enacted) to our liking.

Heritage Minutes are 60-second short films that are shown in between some TV shows in Canada — and they’re amazing. We’re planning to bring you a “Heritage Minute” every Thursday on COTW.

Enjoy.

Unfortunately, this week’s Heritage Minute couldn’t be provided here for your viewing pleasure, so you’ll have to check it out here.