HOFer Norton started our national Jr. program

June 17, 2016

Norton inducted into Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame

By Adam Morissette
Baseball Canada
OTTAWA - Former National Team Coach and longtime Canadian baseball scout Wayne Norton was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame on the grounds of the hall in St. Marys, Ontario.

The Port Moody, BC native and current Canadian scout with the Seattle Mariners organization entered the hall along with former Toronto Blue Jay and Cy Young Award winner Pat Hentgen, former Montreal Expo Dennis Martinez, longtime Toronto Blue Jays Executive Howard Starkman, former Blue Jays TV analyst Tony Kubek, the late William Shuttleworth.

“This is a tremendous honour for Wayne and his family,” said Baseball Canada President Ray Carter who will be on hand for the induction ceremony in St. Marys. “From a personal standpoint, I have known Wayne for many years and this recognition cannot go to a more deserving individual who has impacted the game in Canada at many levels.”

After a professional playing career that consisted of over 1,200 minor league games, Norton began a stint with Baseball Canada that saw him coach teams that participated in the Senior World Cup and Intercontinental Championships in 1973 and 1974 before managing the club that represented Canada at the 1975 Pan Am Games in Mexico City. 

Norton was also largely responsible for creating Baseball Canada’s Level 2 coaching manual in the late 1970s. In 1986, he shifted his focus to the National Baseball Institute as he created a place for some of Canada’s top up-and-coming players to hone their skills including future big leaguers Denis Boucher, Paul Spoljaric, Rob Butler, Jason Dickson, Aaron Guiel, Corey Koskie and Matt Stairs. From there, Norton began his career as a scout working for his old foe from his playing days and dear friend, Pat Gillick, the then general manager of the Baltimore Orioles. 

When Gillick became GM of the Mariners in 2000, he brought Norton with him as a scout covering Europe and Canada in a position he holds to this day. Norton is responsible for signing big leaguers Holland’s Greg Halman (deceased), Michael Saunders (Victoria, BC), Italy’s Alex Liddi and Phillippe Aumont (Gatineau, Que.), and is the signing scout for up-and-coming M’s prospects Tyler O’Neill, a Junior National Team graduate.

Was it a tribute to Norton that Saunders hit three homers and knocked in eight runs Friday night in Baltimore?

Howard Starkman was hired by the Blue Jays in 1976 as Director of Public Relations and stayed in the role until 1998. In 1999, he was elevated to VP Media Relations with the Blue Jays, before transitioning to VP, special projects from 2002-2014. Starkman served as media relations liaison for Team Canada during the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006 and played a major role in bringing the World Baseball Classic to Rogers Centre in Toronto in 2009.