Gord Ash to be Inducted into Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame

The 2019 Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held on Saturday, June 15 in St. Marys, Ontario.

The 2019 inductees include former players Ryan Dempster and Jason Bay, along with current Philadelphia bench coach Rob Thomson and current Milwaukee executive Gord Ash.

The press conference for the 2019 inductees will take place on Saturday from 9:30 a.m. until 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time at the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum (386 Church St. S.) in St. Marys. All one-on-one interviews must be done during this time.

After the press conference, the induction ceremony will take place on the Hall of Fame grounds at 386 Church St. S. starting at 1 p.m. ET.

Born in 1951 in Toronto, Ont., Gord Ash began his career with the Toronto Blue Jays in the ticket office in 1978. He would serve in several positions as he rose through the organization’s ranks, including 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.

In his five years as assistant general manager with Toronto, Ash performed much of the behind-the-scenes work on player contracts, including working on those for key free agent signings like Dave Winfield, Jack Morris, Paul Molitor and Dave Stewart, who helped the club secure back-to-back World Series titles in 1992 and 1993. When legendary Blue Jays general manager and Canadian Baseball Hall of Famer Pat Gillick departed following the 1994 season, Ash was named his successor, which made him just the fourth Canadian to be a GM in the Major Leagues.

During Ash’s seven-year reign as general manager, the Blue Jays drafted future stars Roy Halladay (1995), Vernon Wells (1997), Michael Young (1997), Orlando Hudson (1997) and Alex Rios (1999).

Ash worked as a baseball analyst for TSN before he was hired to be the assistant general manager of the Milwaukee Brewers under fellow Canadian Baseball Hall of Famer Doug Melvin (Chatham, Ont.). Ash served in that role for 12 seasons and helped build the roster of the 2008 Brewers that advanced to the postseason, ending the club’s 26-year playoff drought. He also assisted in constructing the 2011 Brewers, who finished with a franchise-record 96 wins and won the National League Central Division title. Since 2015, Ash has worked as the vice president of baseball projects for the Brewers.

In all, Ash has spent more than 40 years in professional baseball. During that time, he has also served as a respected voice on several important MLB committees, including those that have helped shape the collective bargaining process and Minor League facility standards. He is one of just six Canadians to serve as a big league general manager. The others are George Selkirk (Huntsville, Ont.), Murray Cook (Sackville, N.B.), Doug Melvin (Chatham, Ont.), Alex Anthopoulos (Montreal, Que.) and Farhan Zaidi (Sudbury, Ont.).

Ash is involved with the Special Olympics Canada Foundation and donates annually to various charities in Ontario and Wisconsin.

Share this article:
Sign up for the Sports Newsletter