Hamilton, Carter, Baba on Top 100 list

Thursday, January 3, 2013

OTTAWA-Over the holidays Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun revealed his annual Top 100 ‘Most Influential Canadians in Baseball’ list and once again many names with ties to Baseball Canada made the cut.

Coach and Director of National Teams Greg Hamilton, who has become a regular amongst the top 5, came in at #3 behind only Blue Jays President Paul Beeston, who took the honour of being #1, and Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos who was listed at #2.

Hamilton was praised for Canada’s National Teams having ‘another strong year’ in 2012 where the Junior National Team won silver at the IBAF 18U World Championships, while the Senior Team won the World Baseball Classic Qualifier in September. In 2011, Hamilton sat atop of the list after Canada won bronze at the IBAF World Cup and later captured the gold medal at the Pan Am Games. The JNT also came away with the silver medal at the COPABE 18U Qualifier.

Also making the Top 100 was Baseball Canada President Ray Carter at #40 and Director General Jim Baba at #55. Both have been fixtures in the Top 100 since the first edition of the list came out in 2007.

Baseball Canada’s André Lachance (Manager of Baseball Operations) and Jason Dickson (Vice-President) received honourable mentions.

Others in Top 100 with ties to Baseball Canada (role listed in brackets):

10. Joey Votto – Cincinnati Reds (Player)
11. Larry Walker – HOF Candidate (Player & Coach)
14. Fergie Jenkins – Hall of Famer (Coach)
20. Vince Horsman - Pitching Coach, Class A Lansing (Player)
21. Scott Diamond- Minnesota Twins (Player)
25. Walt Burrows – MLB Scouting Bureau (Scout)
27. Brett Lawrie – Toronto Blue Jays (Player)
30. Ryan Dempster – Boston Red Sox (Player)
33. Justin Morneau – Minnesota Twins (Player)
36. Russell Martin – Pittsburgh Pirates (Player)
39. Mike McRae – Coach, Canisius College (Coach)
44. Wayne Norton – Scout, Seattle Mariners (Coach)
46. Alex Agostino – Scout, Philadelphia Phillies (Coach)
50. Denis Boucher – Scout, New York Yankees (Player & Coach)
52. Jay Lapp – Scout, Milwaukee Brewers (Coach)
53. Terry McKaig – Coach, UBC (Player & Coach)
54. Chris Mears – Scout, Boston Red Sox (Player)
56. Kevin Briand – Cross-checker, Toronto Blue Jays (Player & Staff)
58. Bill Byckowski – Cross-checker, Cincinnati Reds (Player)
60. Gary Picone – Coach, Lewis-Clark State (Player & Coach)
65. Danny Thompson – Ontario Terriers (Coach)
66. Steve Wilson – Pacific Rim Supervisor, Chicago Cubs (Player)
68. Tom Valcke – GM, iCASE (Coach)
69. Paul Quantrill – Pitching Coach, Ontario Terriers (Coach)
74. Stubby Clapp – Hitting Coach, Dunedin Blue Jays (Player & Coach)
76. Rob and Rich Butler – Home Run Academy (Players)
78. Les McTavish – Coach, Vauxhall Academy (Coach)
81. Mike Lumley – Coach, London Badgers (Coach)
86. Stu Scheurwater – Minor League Umpire (Umpire)
88. Joel Landry – Coach, ABC (Coach)
89. Rob Ducey – Carmen City Dolphins (Player & Coach)
94. Jean Philippe Roy – Coach, Québec City (Coach)
97. Michel Laplante – President, Québec Capitales (Player)

For the complete list, please click here.

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