October 25, 2023

Baseball Canada

OTTAWA, Ont. – Baseball Canada is thrilled to learn that three individuals with close ties to Baseball Canada will be inducted into the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame in May 2024.

Amanda Asay (Prince George, BC), a decorated member of the Women’s National Team who tragically lost her life in January 2022 will be honoured posthumously along with former National Team coach and legendary scout Wayne Norton (Port Moody, BC) who passed away in January 2018 after a courageous battle with ALS.

One of the greatest hitters Canada has ever produced, New Westminster, B.C.’s Justin Morneau is also headed to the hall after a distinguished 14-year career in the big leagues that included an American League MVP Award in 2006.

The 1998 Langley Little League team that represented Canada at the Little League World Series will also be inducted featuring former national team players Jeff Duda, Jordan Lennerton and Sean Sargent.

Amanda Asay was part of national teams that captured five WBSC Women’s Baseball World Cup medals, including bronze in 2006, 2012 and 2018 and silver in 2008 and 2016. She was also part of Canada’s historic silver medal performance at the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto – the first time that women’s baseball was included in a major, multi-sport games. Equally talented at the plate and on the pitcher’s mound, she captured team MVP honours in 2006 and 2016. A talented athlete who also excelled in the classroom, Asay played hockey and softball for Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island for three seasons (2006-2009) while earning a Bachelor’s in Science. She continued her studies at the University of British Columbia where she attained a master’s in science and PhD in forestry while playing two seasons for the Thunderbirds hockey team.

In addition to his 2006 AL MVP Award, Justin Morneau had four All-Star Game appearances, two Silver Slugger Awards and a National League batting title in 2014 on his big league resume. He spent 10 of his 14 big league seasons with the Minnesota Twins, the club that drafted him in the third round of the 1999 MLB Draft, before being dealt to the Pittsburgh Pirates during the 2013 season. Morneau then spent two seasons with the Colorado Rockies before his final big league season with the Chicago White Sox in 2016. A member of the Junior National Team program in 1999, Morneau represented Canada on six different occasions in international competition, including helping Canada qualify for the Olympics in 2003 and participation in four World Baseball Classic events, including 2017 where he played his last game.

After a professional playing career that consisted of over 1,200 minor league games, Wayne 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. He was also largely responsible for creating Baseball Canada’s Level 2 coaching manual in the late 1970’s. 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, 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. Norton was responsible for signing big leaguers Greg Halman (deceased), Alex Liddi and Canadians Phillippe Aumont, Tyler O’Neill and Michael Saunders.