On June 7, 2025, Baseball Canada will proudly celebrate the induction of two remarkable contributors to the sport - Greg Hamilton and Amanda Asay - into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in St. Marys, Ontario.
Hamilton has led Baseball Canada’s Men’s National Teams since 1998 while Asay, who will be inducted posthumously, was a standout performer on the Women’s National Team over a 16-year career. Also entering St. Marys and the Hall of Fame this weekend are former Toronto Blue Jays All-Star slugger José Bautista and 11-year Canadian big leaguer Érik Bédard who suited up for Canada in the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006.
The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame’s Veterans Committee has also elected former All-American Girls Professional Baseball League legend Arleene Noga and Gerry Snyder, the Montreal city councillor who played a crucial role in bringing Major League Baseball to Canada. Both Noga and Snyder will be inducted posthumously.
Architect of Baseball Canada’s Men’s National Teams
Born in Toronto and raised in Peterborough, Ontario, Greg Hamilton has been a cornerstone of Baseball Canada for over three decades. A graduate of Princeton University, where he excelled in both hockey and baseball, Hamilton transitioned into coaching after his playing days. His early coaching career included a successful stint in France, where he led the Barracudas de Montpellier to three consecutive national championships and served as the pitching coach for the French National Team
Hamilton's tenure with Baseball Canada began in 1992 as the pitching coach for the Senior National Team. In 1998, he took the helm of the Junior National Team program, transforming it into a globally recognized program. Under his guidance, the team secured medals at the U-18 Baseball World Cup—bronze in 1997 and 2006, and silver in 2012.
The lives and careers that Hamilton has influenced during his tenure have been immeasurable with numerous players from the Junior National Team program reaching the highest ranks of baseball including the Major Leagues.
Since 1998, there have been 390 Canadian Junior National Team players selected in the MLB Draft, including 13 First Round picks while 35 graduates have made the big leagues including All-Stars Justin Morneau, Russell Martin, Michael Saunders, Michael Soroka and Josh Naylor.
Hamilton’s fingerprints have been all over some of Canada’s most successful teams in international competition at the men’s level. Twice he built teams that have qualified and participated in the Olympic Games (2004 & 2008) while all five of Canada’s entries at the World Baseball Classic have been overseen by Hamilton.
Notably, he assembled the squads that clinched gold medals at the 2011 and 2015 Pan American Games - the first in Baseball Canada's history - and a silver medal in 2019.
In recognition of his lifetime contributions to baseball, Hamilton received Baseball America's Tony Gwynn Award in 2022 while he’s previously been inducted into the Peterborough Sports Hall of Fame and the Baseball Ontario Hall of Fame.
His induction into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame is a testament to his unwavering commitment to the sport and its development in Canada.
A Legacy of Excellence and Inspiration
Amanda Asay, born on May 16, 1988, in Prince George, British Columbia, was a trailblazer in women's baseball. Joining Baseball Canada's Women's National Team in 2005 at the age of 17, Asay became the team's longest-serving member where she demonstrated exceptional versatility playing pitcher, first base and catcher.
Her international career was marked by participation in seven Women's Baseball World Cups, where she helped Canada secure five medals: two silver (2008, 2016) and three bronze (2006, 2012, 2018). Notably, in the 2006 World Cup, she batted .500 with nine RBIs, earning a spot on the tournament's All-Star Team and being named Women’s National Team MVP. In 2016, she pitched a complete game to lead Canada to a 2–1 semi-final victory over Chinese Taipei.
Asay also represented Canada at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, the first major multi-sport event to feature women's baseball, where the team won a historic silver medal. Her contributions extended beyond the field; she was a two-time recipient of Baseball Canada's Women’s National Team MVP award (2006, 2016) and was ranked seventh in Baseball America's list of top female baseball players worldwide in 2017.
A true multi-sport athlete, Asay played collegiate hockey and softball at Brown University from 2006 to 2009. She continued her hockey career at the University of British Columbia (UBC), where she also pursued advanced studies, earning a Master of Science and a Ph.D. in Forestry. Her research focused on kin selection in trees and their communication through underground mycorrhizal networks.
Tragically, Asay passed away on January 7, 2022, at the age of 33, following a skiing accident near Nelson, B.C., where she was working as a Silvicultural Systems Researcher for the Ministry of Forests. Her legacy continues to inspire; in 2022, her jersey number 19 was retired during a ceremony in Nelson, BC attended by many of her former teammates and in 2024, she was inducted into both the Prince George Sports Hall of Fame and the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame.
Amanda’s family including her parents, Loris and George Asay, will be in St. Marys to participate in the ceremony to honour their daughter’s induction.
Asay will become the second former member of the Women’s National Team program inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame joining Ashley Stephenson who was a member of the 2024 class.
Be sure to follow Baseball Canada’s account on Instagram (baseballcanada) on June 7th for coverage of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony!
.png)
