July 12, 2024

By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

More than once we have been asked either in person or via email:

“Why is a player from Northville, Mich. listed No. 1 on the Canadian Baseball Network draft list?”

Well, Dante Nori was born at Mount Sinai Hospital on University Avenue in downtown Toronto. He lived here for two years. And Dante often hung out at the Air Canada Centre before, during and after Toronto Raptors games.

You see Dante’s father Micah Nori was both a scout and an assistant coach for the first 15 years of the Raptors’ existence. Micah shared a condo with Raptors’ assistant coach Butch Carter -- the man who hired him for the 1995-96 season -- at 99 Harbour Square.

Next was a condo on Lombard Street between Adelaide and Richmond. Melissa and Micah Nori, wed in 2002, had their final Toronto residence near Tip Top Tailors, where the old triple-A Toronto Maple Leafs played, renting from ex-Raptor Matt Bonner.

Melissa and Micah would eat brunch at Marche and dine at their favourite spots like Terroni, or Kit Kat, Jacob, Vaticano, Sotto Sotto and the Keg. Melissa would shop in Yorkville since they were near the Eaton Centre.

“Toronto was so safe, so clean,” Micah was saying the other day. “I loved that it was a melting pot and not the racial tensions you have some places in the states. We enjoyed the theatre and walking around downtown. I liked the different areas to go experience different foods ... the Spadina area, the Danforth for Greek dessert, little Italy for Italian food.

“We loved the summers, sitting on patios, the Caribana Festival, Blue Jays games, taking Dante to Toronto Island on the ferry leaving from near the Westin.”

The assistant hoops coach with the Minnesota Timberwolves sounds a lot like Lee Mazzilli, whom the Blue Jays acquired from the New York Mets in 1989. Mazzilli was in Toronto for about a week before he announced: “This city is just like New York ... 20 years ago. It’s clean and safe.” At the time, Mazzilli had 4,745 at-bats and only 41 in Toronto with the Texas Rangers and New York Yankees in 1982.

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Micah saw a lot of Raptors over the years and says he is probably closest to Alvin Williams, since “we are about the same age and I would rebound, workout with him and to this day we are in contact quite often.” Same for Charles Oakley, Antonio Davis, Vince Carter, Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan and Ed Davis.

Dante’s favourite hoopsters were Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, “he liked them the best. Those two are his buddies.”

“They were always super nice to him,” Micah said. “Dante was at the age he could understand who they were and understand what was going on. All the players treated him great.”

Micah’s favorite memory of the SkyDome where the Raptors started out was actually baseball. The SkyDome reminded him of the AlamoDome in San Antonio ... “as huge venues could mess with the depth perception of the shooters.”

“Carlos Delgado and I became good friends,” Micah said, “He gave me tickets to watch three straight games against the Boston Red Sox. I saw Curt Schilling, Tim Wakefield and (Hall of Famer) Pedro Martinez start and I was 10 rows behind home plate.”

At the Air Canada Centre the former Sacramento Kings, Denver Nuggets and Detroit Pistons and Raptors assistant, remembers the first playoff games against the New York Knicks, then beating New York the following year and the series against the Philadelphia 76ers.

“I enjoyed the Canadian anthem during the playoffs when the crowd would take over and sing,” Micah said. “It gave me chills.”

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We guessed that Micah found his love of baseball from his father Fred. Not exactly. Because growing up “everything was seasonal, football in the fall, basketball in the winter, baseball in spring and summer.”

“This was before all the specialization of year-round single-sport focus. However, baseball was something I would do year-round because we had a batting cage with an old iron mike pitching machine you could load up and hit by yourself. So baseball became my favourite.”

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Dante Nori is the top Canadian born player on all lists we have found ... as he is ranked:

80th on Baseball America’s top 500 combined list of high schoolers and collegians.

48th on MLB Pipeline’s top 250 combined list of high schoolers and collegians.

47th on Perfect Game’s top 500 list of high schoolers and collegians.

53rd on ESPN’s top 154 list of list of high schoolers and collegians.

And he is No. 1 on our Canadian Baseball Network draft list.

Fact is it is like one scout told a pitcher’s mother a couple of decades ago ... “You know what mom … I don’t care where your son is on this list or that list ... Last week I went to Loblaws and tried to pay for groceries with a copy of the list. Guess what? They made me put everything back.”

The decision on draft day Sunday night won’t be made off a list. Who goes where will be decided in each respective team’s war room where arguments rage at times.

We’re saying Dante Nori already has some people in his corner ... people who will give him some money to spend at Loblaws or whereever.