The Call to the Hall

By IAN WILSON & JOE McFARLAND

The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum has named its 2025 class of inductees and the group includes a home-run hero, a southpaw strikeout artist, a baseball pioneer, a national development guru and a pair of stars in the women’s game.

The six being honoured are former Toronto Blue Jay baseball basher Jose Bautista; lefty pitcher Erik Bedard; longtime Canadian Junior National Team (JNT) head coach Greg Hamilton; women’s national team standout Amanda Asay; All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPL) star Arleene Noga; and Gerry Snyder, who was key in bringing the Expos to Montreal.

Asay, Noga and Snyder are all being recognized posthumously.

Here is a closer look at the half-dozen inductees:

JOSE BAUTISTA

It didn’t matter that his birth certificate read “Dominican Republic” when Jose Bautista stepped to the plate in the seventh inning of Game 5 of the 2015 American League Division Series (ALDS). In that moment and the many joyous scenes that followed, the right-handed slugger was all Canada.

When he parked a 1-1 offering from Sam Dyson of the Texas Rangers into the left-field bleachers of Rogers Centre and secured a series win for the Jays, the three-run shot and the bat flip from “Joey Bats” uncorked a wild celebration for the entire nation.

On that stage, Bautista was fierce, defiant and unapologetic. Canadian baseball fans loved the bravado of it all. It served as a reminder that the Blue Jays have two World Series championships under their belt and that this hockey-mad country is also very much a baseball nation. Touch ’em all and then make way for Jose.

“I think everybody kind of remembers the big moments like that, you know. Joe Carter’s home run, Kawhi Leonard’s shot, so this one’s one of those moments and I think that definitely changed how much more people wanted to embrace me and share their love, not only for the Blue Jays but for what I was doing,” said Bautista during a Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame press conference.

Of course, Bautista’s decade-long tenure with the Jays was filled with many more impressive moments than that. The bat flip was simply the punctuation mark on an excellent career.

In his 10 seasons with Toronto, Bautista suited up in 1,235 games. He is near the top in many of the team’s all-time offensive categories, including first in WAR (38.3), second in home runs (288), runs (790) and walks (803). He also ranks third in total bases (2,210), RBIs (766) and slugging percentage (.506). He had his name was added to the Blue Jays’ Level of Excellence at Rogers Centre on August 12, 2023.

“I’d like to think that the impact that my teams had in Toronto, we kind of elevated the interest in the game within the country, which kind of has a trickle down effect. I’d like to think that it kind of reactivates the grassroots level and gets the kids excited and back into playing, so maybe that’s one way we had an impact. We were fortunate to do this for a living and I don’t think a lot of us take it for granted, but sometimes we don’t realize that our impact goes beyond the ticket booth and goes into areas like this.”

Bautista has connected with fans across Canada. He participated in several of the team’s Winter Tours and the draft pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates traveled to Saskatoon in 2024 to speak at a sports celebrity dinner event. During that trip, Bautista, pitcher Jose Berrios and broadcaster Buck Martinez also stopped in at the Gordie Howe Sports Complex to work with up and coming baseball players.

He reflected on the depth of the Blue Jays popularity during the press conference.

“It’s not common for any other team, maybe the Yankees a little bit just because of their history. It was when I was taking some of those trips with the Blue Jays Winter Tour that I realized how massive the reach was within the whole country … when I was moving around and we went to a few different cities and I saw the love and how big the turnouts were and the people’s energy and emotion just by seeing us and wearing their Blue Jays gear, you could tell it was genuine and you could tell it was massive,” said Bautista.

“I’ve been to a few spots with the Winter Tour and then I’ve also gone for other business engagements or speaking opportunities. I’ve been to Calgary, Edmonton, I’ve been to Vancouver, been to Regina, been to Saskatchewan.”

GREG HAMILTON

He’s been a prominent coach and leader with Baseball Canada for decades and Greg Hamilton can now take his place among the nation’s best and brightest at St. Marys, Ontario.

“Having grown up in the Canadian baseball system and spent the vast majority of my professional baseball career working for Baseball Canada, it is an absolute honour to be inducted,” said Hamilton, who has also been made a part of the Baseball Ontario Hall of Fame and the Okotoks Dawgs Hall of Fame.

After serving as the pitching coach of Canada’s Senior National Team from 1992 to 1995, Hamilton was named the head coach of the Junior National Team, a post he continues to hold. He has collected three medals at the U-18 Baseball World Cup, including a silver in 2012 and two bronze in 1997 and 2006.

His medal haul also includes a pair of gold from the 2011 and 2015 Pan Am Games, where he worked as the general manager of the Senior National Team. In addition, Hamilton has assembled teams for the 2004 and 2008 Olympics and five World Baseball Classic events.

Along the way, he has worked with budding Major League Baseball (MLB) players such as Michael Soroka, Justin Morneau, Jason Bay, Josh Naylor, Russell Martin and Michael Saunders.

During the press event, Hamilton discussed the thriving baseball scene in Alberta and Saskatchewan and the impact the Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL) has had.

“The growth has been tremendous, exponential really, when you look at the capacity and the size of some of the facilities and the efforts that are going into the building facilities, year-round programming. The Western Canadian (Baseball) League, the summer collegiate league which is filling up stadiums in Alberta and Saskatchewan, and obviously creating interest with youth that are able to identify with summer collegiate players that are coming into town and playing in a really good collegiate league. It’s reflective of a minor-league baseball environment in many of those communities,” said Hamilton, who received Baseball America’s Tony Gwynn Award in 2022 for his lifelong contributions to the sport.

“I think the impact has been huge and I think it’s going to continue to be. A tip of the cap to all those people that are behind the (WCBL) and many of those academy programs that are being developed and continue to give kids a chance to build out their games and really, really work at it on a day in and day out basis.”

AMANDA ASAY

Nicknamed “Ace,” Amanda Asay lived up to the moniker in more ways than one.

The Prince George, B.C. native joined the Baseball Canada Women’s National Team in 2005 and quickly became one of the best players on the team. Known as a leader on the mound, Asay was also more than capable at the plate and actually preferred to be a catcher.

She was the national team’s most valuable player in 2006 and 2016, helping Canada capture several medals along the way at the Women’s World Cup and the Pan Am Games.

Her parents, Loris and George, say she was always destined to represent the maple leaf.

“All we would have to do is take a picture of her room as an adolescent and you would have known,” George said. “Maple leafs everywhere … that’s what she lived for.”

Unfortunately, Asay passed away after a tragic skiing accident in January 2022 at the age of 33. Her parents say it’s unbelievable to think their daughter will be going into the Hall of Fame with so many baseball legends.

“To stand in front of the amazing people that are part of baseball and promote women’s baseball – although that wasn’t her primary goal – she just loved the game,” George said. “She would have been over the moon.”

ERIK BEDARD

By the time he was in Little League, it was apparent that left-handed pitcher Erik Bedard was going places in baseball.

At that level, Bedard and his teammates on the Orleans Little League Junior Red Sox captured a Canadian championship in 1992. From there, the native of Navan, Ontario pursued a post-secondary path with Nowalk Community Technical College

The Baltimore Orioles came calling in 1999 and made Bedard a sixth-round selection in that year’s MLB draft. He rose through the minor-league ranks steadily and was a regular part of the O’s rotation by 2004.

His best season took place in 2007, when Bedard went 13-5 with a 3.16 earned run average (ERA) and 221 strikeouts over 182 innings pitched. The southpaw finished fifth in American League Cy Young Award voting that year and established a single-season MLB record for the most strikeouts by a Canadian-born lefty.

Three years with the Seattle Mariners followed, as did seasons with the Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, Houston Astros and Tampa Bay Rays.

He is currently the leader among Canadian left-handed pitchers in major-league starts (230), innings pitched (1,303.2) and strikeouts (1,246).

ARLEENE NOGA

Few athletes from Saskatchewan are as decorated as Arleene (Johnson) Noga.

Born in Ogema in 1924, she quickly became known as one of the top softball players in the province when she was scouted by the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. They almost immediately offered her a contract, joining the Fort Wayne Daisies for 15 games in 1945 before being traded to the Muskegon Lassies.

Noga went on to set the league record for best fielding percentage by a third baseman while suiting up in over 300 consecutive games, earning the nickname “Iron Lady.”

After her days in the AAGPBL, she returned to Regina and played on nine provincial championship-winning softball teams.

“Mom just did it for the love of the sport and playing was her passion,” her daughter, Carol Lee Noga Scott, said. “She didn’t tell a lot of ball stories as it was more about the people.”

Carol Lee says didn’t actually know a lot about her playing days until the movie, A League of their Own came out, shedding a light on the AAGPBL. Her mother actually served as a technical advisor on the set.

“I know she was proud of her achievements,” Carol Lee said.

“She always tried taking the focus off of her and talk more about the league and the honour of playing in the league.”

She says her mother didn’t realize the impact she had on the game, which included coming back home to coach and appear at clinics or speaking engagements to provide words of encouragement.

Noga, who passed away in 2017, is also a member of the Regina Sports Hall of Fame, Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame and the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame.

GERRY SNYDER

The pioneering spirit of Gerry Snyder ensured that Major League Baseball found a home in Montreal and in Canada.

Without his efforts in bringing the Expos to Quebec for the 1969 season, who knows what the fallout would’ve been across the country.

Would the Toronto Blue Jays have followed suit? Would the Pioneer League bring its minor-league brand of baseball to Lethbridge, where the Expos operated a rookie-level franchise? Would the Pacific Coast League (PCL) still have set up shop in Calgary and Edmonton?

It’s hard to know the total impact of Snyder’s work, but suffice to say it had a massive affect on the Canadian baseball scene.

“We have always been so proud of our dad for everything he did, but bringing the Expos, the first Canadian major league baseball team ever to Montreal, Quebec, in Canada, we all agree must have been one of the proudest moments of our lives, our mother’s, and his,” said Arlene Kenrick, Gerry Snyder’s daughter on behalf of the Snyder family in a statement.

“Our dad would have been so very happy to have received this phenomenal news! He was determined that whatever it took to achieve his dream of promoting Canadian baseball, he would do. I’m sure he never thought that he would receive this important recognition from the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. He loved his sports and was extremely passionate about promoting baseball in Canada. Thank you on behalf of a man who believed in perseverance being a pathway to success.”

Read more about Snyder in his Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame bio, which was written by Canadian Baseball Network journalist Kevin Glew.

The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame’s 2025 class will be honoured in a ceremony at the Hall of Fame grounds in St. Marys, Ont., on June 7.

“We are proud and excited to celebrate the outstanding careers of this year’s inductees in St. Marys this June,” said Jeremy Diamond, chair of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame’s board of directors.

“Each of them, in their own distinct way, has had a tremendous impact on the game of baseball in our country.”