Amanda Asay to be inducted into Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame

Prince George baseball legend Amanda Asay will be inducted this spring into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.

The 15-year national team member, who played pivotal roles in helping Canada win five Women’s World Cup medals, was named Wednesday to the class of 2025 and on June 7 she will be inducted posthumously in a ceremony in St. Mary’s, Ont.

Asay, who died Jan. 7, 2022 at age 33 in a skiing accident, will be represented by Loris and George Asay, her parents from Prince George.

“I think of Amanda everyday so it was with tremendous pride to learn that she will be inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame,” said Loris Asay, in a post on the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame website. “She would be, as I am, thrilled to know of this recognition of her commitment to the sport of baseball.”

Joining Asay among this year’s inductees is longtime Toronto Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista, former Baltimore Orioles/Seattle Mariners pitcher Érik Bédard (a native of Navan, Ont.), junior national head coach Greg Hamilton (Toronto).

All-American Girls Professional Baseball League plyer Arleene Noga (Ogema, Sask.) and former Montreal city councilor Gerry Snyder, who helped bring Major League Baseball to Canada, were elected by the Hall of Fame’s Veterans Committee and will also be inducted posthumously in the June ceremony.

“We found out two weeks ago but we were sworn to secrecy, and that was pretty hard,” said George Asay. “I can tell you this, there were some high-5s and I got some airtime when we found out. She’s had some accolades, but this is on a national scale.

“Amanda’s induction into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame is an incredible honour. Baseball Canada and the Hall have done Amanda so proud, much as she has, and continues to, make us her proud parents,” he said.

“It is truly hard at this point to process it all. To be included with baseball legends the likes of Russell Martin, Wayne Norton, Rusty Staub, Fergie Jenkins, Dave Stieb, Andre Dawson, Justin Morneau and Ashley Stephenson – one just can’t list all the baseball giants enshrined. It is, and will continue to be, a source of pride for the entire Asay family.

Asay’s national team number 19 was retired on May 7, 2023 when the Blue Jays and Baseball Canada visited Nelson, her home at the time of her death. In 2024 Asay was inducted into the Prince George Sports Hall of Fame and was selected for the BC Sports Hall of Fame later that same year.

Asay joined the national women’s team in 2005 and became one of the longest tenured players. She was a tournament all-star at first base in her first Women’s World Cup in 2006 and was the team MVP.

In 2016, she pitched a complete game in a 2-1 semifinal win over Chinese Taipei and also hit .333 on the way to the silver medal.

At the 2018 World Cup, Asay pitched two wins while compiling a 1.58 earned run average and also hit .500 in the tournament to lead Canada to the bronze medal.

She also played 2015 Pan Am Games team that won the silver medal in Toronto, which Asay ranked as the highlight of her career. That year, the Canadian men’s baseball team won gold and men’s and women’s fastball teams each won Pan Am gold.

Asay was a catcher throughout most of her baseball career but played mostly at first base and pitcher while with the national team.

“She threw from the ear, which is what a catcher does,” said George. “She fired the ball to the plate like a catcher would throw. Even though she knew the difference she’d get up on the mound and that would go away. She was very effective mixing up pitches and she had a great breaking ball and she could spot her fastball.”

Asay, a multisport athlete, attended Brown University (2006-09) where she played varsity hockey and softball. She went on to earn a master’s degree in science and PhD in forestry at UBC and was based in Nelson at the time of her death.

She loved sharing the secrets of the game with young players and in her later years with the national team she was like an on-field coach for her teammates, most of whom were in their early ‘20s. George said his daughter had the qualities that make a good coach.

“For her, baseball was never about her, it was about the team and the sport as a whole, that’s just the way she was and that’s why she gave back so much,” said George. “She went to Cuba and put on camps there with Baseball Canada and she did that in Nelson, Toronto and Prince George and that’s part of it too, I think, how much she gave back and how good she was at that too.

“I think she would have been a great national team coach.”