Four more names are going to enter the prestigious Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in St. Marys this year.
First up is Trail, B.C. native Jason Bay, who's MLB career spanned 11 seasons with Expos, Mets, Padres, Red Sox, Mariners and Pirates. Among Canadian MLB players, Bay ranks fifth in home runs (222), sixth in slugging percentage (.481), on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) (.841), walks (636) and seventh in doubles (240) and RBI (754). His 1,200 hits also make him one of only 13 Canadians to record 1,000 or more hits in the majors. He also won the Tip O'Neill Award as top Canadian ball player on three occasions.
The second inductee is pitcher Ryan Dempster from Sechelt, B.C. His 16-year career was spent with the Rangers, Marlins, Reds, Cubs and Red Sox, whom he won a World Series with in 2013 at the end of his career. Dempster finished his 16-year major league career near the top of most all-time Canadian pitching categories, including second in wins (132), strikeouts (2,075), starts (351) and innings pitched (2,387). He also ranks fourth in games (579), saves (87) and WAR (22.5). He also had his name added to Baseball Canada's Wall of Excellence in 2013.
Gord Ash is also going to be enshrined this year, as the Toronto native will be celebrated for his long tenure as a baseball executive in numerous roles. He began as a an employee in the ticket office for the Jays in 1978. He would also serve as assistant director of operations from 1980 to 1983 and player personnel administrator from 1984 to 1988, before he was promoted to assistant general manager in 1989. He was Blue Jays assistant GM for five seasons, including the back-to-back World Series championships in 1992 and 1993. After Pat Gillick departed as GM in 1994, Ash became his successor, and he became just the 4th Canadian ever to be an MLB GM. He would serve as Jays GM for 7 years. He then spent time as an analyst before becoming the assistant GM for 12 seasons in Milwaukee. In all, Gord has had over 40 years in the baseball world.
The fourth inductee is Rob Thomson, who was born in Sarnia and grew up in nearby Corunna. Thomson was a 32nd round draft choice of the Detroit Tigers in 1985, and reached as high as class-A ball before shifting his focus toward coaching in 1988. He became a minor league coach for the Tigers for 2 seasons and then joined the Yankees in 1990, and spent 28 years in the majors, serving as the Yankees' minor league coach, manager, field coordinator and director of player development. He joined the Yankees’ big league staff as a special assignment instructor in 2004. In 2008 Thomson was named the bench coach for the Yankees. He helped secure 5 World Series with New York, and joined the Phillies in 2017 as bench coach and is in his second season in that role.
